The Penn Relays are always a highlight of the spring season, and this year's edition did not disappoint. Mercer County schools showed up in force at Franklin Field. The results? A half-dozen wheels, a wave of season bests, and another record-breaking run from Lawrenceville's Blair Bartlett. Here's a rundown of Mercer County’s top performances at the 130th Penn Relays.

Individual Events

*Blair Bartlett (Lawrenceville) sets the fast pace in the 3000m at the Penn Relays 2026. | John Nepolitan for RunnerSpace*

Blair Bartlett (Lawrenceville) was named the girls Athlete of the Meet for the second straight year after defending her 3000m championship title with a stunning 9:04.92. That was a junior class national record, the #4 time in US history, and a new Penn Relays record, bettering her own 9:13.60 from just last year.

Despite coming in as the defending champ and the favorite, Bartlett had to work for this hard-fought win over another standout underclassman from New Jersey, Ocean Township’s Leah Starkey. Bartlett set the early pace and quickly dropped everyone except Starkey, who stuck on Bartlett before taking over the lead with 800m to go in an effort to squeeze the kick out of Bartlett. But it didn’t work — Bartlett stayed within a couple steps of Starkey the whole time before launching into another gear with 250m to go and storming to a 4-second victory. She closed her final 800m in 2:16!

You can watch Bartlett’s post-race media interview here, as recorded by Kyle Franko from the Trentonian. And check out Franko’s article on the race here, which features quotes from both Bartlett and coach Derrhyl Duncan.

Bartlett wasn’t the only impressive solo performer at the Penn Relays.

Stella Blanchard (Wilberforce) competed in the girls mile championship and ran a 4:51.22, chopping 3 seconds off her best time from indoors. According to MileSplit’s records, that makes her #3 all-time in Mercer County! She came into the race seeded 13th out of 15 girls, but she wasn’t afraid to mix it up with the front half, and she came away with an 8th place finish to go along with her big PR.

*Anna Casciano (Hun) launches a throw in the shot put championship at the Penn Relays 2026. | tspimages for MileSplit*

Anna Casciano (Hun) also beat her seeding in the girls shot put, as the 8th-seeded senior threw 42-11.5 to earn 4th place and a spot on the podium. She eclipsed 42’ — a mark that only a small handful of Mercer County girls have ever achieved — on four different throws during this competition.

Agrim Jha (WWP North) earned an invitation to run in the prestigious mile championship. The sole sophomore in the field held his own and took 8th place in 4:20.93. That’s his second-fastest time ever, and the fastest mark in Mercer County this spring.

Distance Relays

WWP North (Sara Secora, Nina Dixit, Evelyn Yang, and Allison Lee) placed 8th in the girls Distance Medley Championship of America with a 12:09.39. That beats their best from indoor track and elevates them to NJ #7 this spring. Lee ran a big 4:47.88 anchor leg, the third-fastest closing 1600m in this elite field.

*Bastian Bocklage (Lawrenceville) competes in the 4×800m at the Penn Relays 2026. | Andrew Mills for NJ.com*

Lawrenceville (Ayodele Joa-Griffith, Arunav Sarkar, Hejyule Bae-Robinson, and Bastian Bocklage) lowered their county-leading 4x800m time to 8:06.76 to take 15th in their heat. The Big Red had two boys go sub-2:00 — Joa-Griffith led off in 1:57.62, and Sarkar followed with his own impressive split of 1:58.60.

Boys 4x100m

The fastest performance of the day came from Hun School (Fabian Salam, Warren Hernandez, Justin Bibeau, and Avery Radom), who clocked a 43.38 to finish 2nd in their heat and 10th overall in their event. That time cut nearly a full second off their previous season best and vaults them to #2 on the county leaderboard.

WWP South (Aydun Hines, Caleb Esi, Julius Kinsler, and Eihiko Okamoto) won their heat outright with a 43.59, a new season best that moves them to 3rd in the county.

Ewing (Zaydin Boyce, Kha-neaf Mack Hornsby, Domonique Jones, and Dasan Jones) ran 43.62 to finish 2nd in their heat, just 0.13 off the leader.

Lawrence (Jahlil Whitten, Alex Nikolov, Isaiah Grier, and Jaquann Coleman) joined the 43-second ranks this spring, running a season’s best of 43.82 to finish 2nd in their heat.

Girls 4x100m

Ewing (Karis Crossland, Leah Daniels, Faith Settles, and Angel Johnson) led the way among Mercer County teams by running 49.17, just a tenth off their county-leading season’s best. In the overall standings, that time put them 68th out of almost 600 teams.

Peddie (Safiyyah Malik, Foluke Oladeji, Erin Tam, and Tessa Hughes) dominated their heat by a full second to run 49.67 — a new school record!

Notre Dame (Gabby Mandell, Nye Tatum, Lisa Barber, and Maya Dubois)finished just 0.02 behind Peddie in the overall standing and also won their heat. Their big season’s best of 49.69 moved them to #3 in the county this spring.

Lawrence (Zahra Cooper, Faith Jasper, Soraya Parks, and Samya Jenkins) also set a new season’s best with a 50.54, elevating them to #4 in Mercer County.

Boys 4x400m

Saturday's boys 4x400m heats produced some of the county's best relay performances of the season, with three Mercer County teams winning their heats to bring home some hardware.

Ewing (Kha-neaf Mack Hornsby, Tristan Thompson, Domonique Jones, and Dasan Jones) posted the fastest time of the day among local schools, winning their heat with a 3:27.84. They battled with Cherokee for the first three legs before Dasan Jones’s 50.33 anchor leg put over two seconds between them and the competition.

Nottingham (Michael Juliano, Victor Millan, Liam Cox, and Dharry Victor) also dominated their heat and took home a wheel, crossing the line in season’s best of 3:28.33. Third leg Cox posted a 51.16, the second-fastest individual split in the heat, to help the Northstars pull away.

Notre Dame (Aldric Crawford Jr., Matt Ryba, Jayden Davis, and Amir Mulkey) completed the county's hat trick of wheel winners with a 3:28.89, winning their heat by almost 2 seconds. They went wire-to-wire after Crawford set the tone with a 50.19 opening leg, the fastest split in the entire heat.

Lawrenceville (Brian Gomez, Ayodele Joa-Griffith, Bastian Bocklage, and Corey Woodson) ran 3:31.25 to finish 6th in the prep school heat. Joa-Griffith's paced the team with a 49.29 split.

WWP South (Aydun Hines, Adam Kinsler, Sean Maina, and Julius Kinsler) finished 10th in a loaded heat, clocking a 3:31.38. The headline was Julius Kinsler's incredible anchor leg of 47.22 — one of the fastest relay splits of the entire meet, and by far the fastest in his heat.

Girls 4x400m

The county’s girls were also on fire in the 4x400m at Penn — almost every Mercer County school ran a season’s best on Thursday.

Lawrenceville (Rory Laubach, Yasmin Willie, Mara McKithen, and Jael Gaines) led the way by clocking a 4:00.64 to finish 3rd in the prep school heat. Willie (58.74) and Gaines (57.42) both went well below 60 seconds to lead the Big Red to the NJ #15 time.

Notre Dame (Gabby Mandell, Ava Fallon, Nye Tatum, and Alaina Sabo) took home a wheel after winning their heat by just a half-second in 4:01.41. They led wire-to-wire and demonstrated impressive depth, with all four legs splitting between 59 and 61 seconds. They’re currently #19 in the state.

Wilberforce (Laura Sallade, Emily Prothero, Stella Blanchard, and Eve Szeliga) ran 4:04.22 to finish 5th in their heat. The standout moment was Blanchard's third leg of 56.52, the fastest split in the heat and the fastest of the day among Mercer County girls.

Peddie (Foluke Oladeji, Charis Chien, Lilyana Gordon, and Tessa Hughes) also ran very well in the prep school heat, crossing in 4:06.17 for 7th place. Hughes split 57.71 to give the Falcons a strong finish.

WWP South (Logan Mills, Meadow Boateng, Yona Choksi, and Vidhi Raut) won their heat and took home a wheel in 4:09.11. Mills set them up in first place with an opening leg of 1:01.28, and Choksi's third leg of 1:00.57 put the Pirates out of reach as they won by 3 seconds.

Ewing (Faith Settles, Bryana Mason, Lynsah Rejouis, and Angel Johnson) also took home a wheel, dominating their heat in a season best of 4:11.87. Johnson closed in 1:00.15, the fastest anchor in the heat.

Penn Relays: Bartlett repeats as AOTM to lead Mercer County’s haul of medals