Fast times keep rolling after MOCs with Brooks, the Winner’s Circle, and more
The Meet of Champions is over, but plenty of Mercer County athletes are still cashing in on their fitness gains this season and laying down some top times at end-of-season meets.
Brooks PR Invitational
Allison Lee (WWP North) runs at the front in the early stages of the girls 2 Mile at the Brooks PR Invitational on June 7, 2026. | Photo by @westcoastxc
Remarkably, two Mercer County girls were invited to race the 2-Mile at the prestigious and selective Brooks PR Invitational on June 7 in Renton, WA. Full results here.
Lawrenceville junior Blair Bartlett continued racking up state records. Despite this meet being a bit of a rustbuster for her — because Lawrenceville isn’t at sectionals, groups, or MOCs, she hadn’t raced in almost a month — Bartlett still placed 4th against an elite field in a time of 10:02.78. That officially broke the prior state 2-Mile record of 10:03.18 set by Angelina Perez in 2022, and it raised Bartlett’s incredible state-record tally to nine — on the track alone, not even counting her XC records.
WWP North senior Allison Lee also had an excellent showing and crossed just a few seconds behind Bartlett in their first head-to-head race since 2024. Lee finished 7th in 10:07.47, which is #4 in state history. That’s especially impressive given that she had just run a 10:03.38 for 3200m at MOCs only four days earlier on the other side of the country!
Neither Bartlett or Lee are done yet. Bartlett will head west again for the Nike Outdoor Nationals in Oregon, while Lee will compete at New Balance Nationals Outdoor in Philly.
The Winner’s Circle at The Horse Farm
Princeton, Wilberforce, and WWP North brought a few of their stars to The Winner’s Circle at The Horse Farm, hosted by CBA on June 10. Full results are here, but check out some highlights below.
Girls 400m. There’s no slowing down Wilberforce junior Stella Blanchard. After a historic 800m at the Meet of Champions last week, Blanchard ripped a fast 400m at the The Winner’s Circle, taking the win in a blazing 53.85. That’s #2 in New Jersey and #49 in the United States this spring.
She needed every bit of that big effort to beat out some stiff competition that included Union Catholic’s Sydney Chadwick, who took 2nd in both the 200m and 400mH at last week’s Meet of Champions. Blanchard, the MOCs 800m runner-up, edged just ahead of Chadwick on the homestretch here to win by 0.15 seconds.
Another sprinter finishing strong this spring is WWP North junior Nina Dixit, who dipped under 60 in the open 400m for the first time ever with a 59.97 for 15th place.
Girls 800m. Princeton junior Mila Trkov kept the late-season momentum going by placing Top 10 and setting a PR in the open 800m with a 2:22.73 for 6th place.
Girls 1600m. Princeton teammates Kajol Karra and Grace Hegedus, who both competed in the 3200m at the Meet of Champions last week, dropped down to the 1600m for this meet. Karra took 15th with a season’s best of 5:09.07, which raises her to #6 in the county this spring, and the junior Hegedus just about matched her own season’s best with a 5:12.36 for 20th.
Boys 800m. After running some recent fast splits on WWP North’s all-state 4×800m team, sophomore Rohan Varma and junior Paul Wittenberg got an opportunity to record a fast open 800m, and they made the most of it. Varma used a big last 100m to move up for 3rd place and shatter the 2:00 barrier, crossing in a PR of 1:58.81. Wittenberg also navigated the crowded field well and used a strong kick to join Varma in the sub-2 club after stopping the clock at 1:59.91 for 6th place.
In that same heat, two Princeton juniors were also knocking on the door of 2:00. Fletcher Harrison finished just behind Wittenberg in a new PR of 2:00.10. Crossing right after him was classmate Felix Yu, who broke his own PR with a 2:01.26 for 9th place.
Boys 1600m. WWP North’s Agrim Jha delivered another sensational distance race and took 2nd place in a county-leading 4:15.14. With that new PR, the sophomore standout is now NJ #14 in the 1600m this spring, to go along with being NJ #12 in the 3200m. In addition to a fast time, Jha got more top-tier racing experience. Even while battling through a crowded and physical last 400m, he closed in a blazing 61 seconds to finish just a half-second off the win.
In other 1600m highlights, Sushanth Karri (WWP North, So.) matched his PR with a 4:28.78 for 31st place, and John O’Leary (Allentown, Sr.) — who ran 4:30-4:32 in each of his last five 1600m attempts — broke the 4:30 barrier in his final high school 1600m with a 4:29.19 for 33rd.
East Coast Track & Field Championships
The Garden State Track Club hosted the East Coast Track & Field Championships on June 12-13, where a handful of Mercer County athletes showed off the progress they made this year.
Hun’s Anna Casciano had a superb throwing double, earning the win in both the shot put and discus with some of her biggest throws ever. She won the shot put in 43-4.25, less than 3 inches off her NJ #8 PR, and then she took the discus in 125-0, pretty much equaling her NJ #19 PR. To hit such huge marks on back-to-back days made one of her best ever meets all-around.
Peddie senior Luca Romanelli also had a big meet and came home with two new PRs. In his speciality, the 800m, he chopped over 1.5 seconds off his PR to take 6th place in 1:57.32, which elevated him to #2 on the county leaderboard this spring. He also ran 50.57 for 9th in the 400m to climb to #6 on that list.
Another runner with a great double was Princeton Day sprinter Nathan Bennett, who ran 49.70 for 2nd place in the 400m and then added a 200m PR of 22.38 for 4th place. He was already #2 in the county for the 400m, and now he’s MC #6 in the 200m.
Notre Dame’s Amir Mulkey broke the tape in the emerging elite 800m, running his second-fastest time ever, a 1:58.04, for the half-second win.
Yi-Tian Xiong powers over the final hurdle in the final of the boys championship 110mH at the East Coast Track & Field Championships on June 13, 2026. Photos by Jason Timochko for @gardenstatetrackclub
In the boys 110mH, Mercer County’s top two hurdlers squared off twice in a row, with Princeton’s Yi-Tian Xiong edging Notre Dame’s Zamir Jones for 1st place in both the prelims and finals. Xiong is proving to be in phenomenal shape this late in the season — he ran 14.32 in the prelims and 14.34 in the finals, both into a slight headwind, which are his two fastest wind-legal times ever.
In the boys 400mH, Notre Dame senior Aldric Crawford did not rest on his laurels after a 3rd-place medal at MOCs — he attacked another fast time in that same event here and took 2nd place in 53.89, just a second off his PR. His teammate Matt Ryba also ran well in 8th place with a 58.00.
In the field events, Notre Dame’s Kendrick Mullen took 2nd in the high jump with a clearance of 6-1.5, and Princeton’s Caleb Mildenberg won the sophomore division of the javelin with a PR of 142-5, which is #3 in Mercer County.
Ewing freshman Tristan Thompson crushed his first FAT-timed 100m of the year, a 11.33 for 2nd place in the emerging elite division. He debuted at #19 on the county leaderboard, and #2 among freshmen.
Notre Dame’s Maya Dubois took 5th in the 200m with a 25.19, which is just barely off her PR from the Meet of Champions that already has her at #2 in Mercer County. Her teammate D’Njah Tatum earned a 2nd-place medal in the 100mH with a time of 15.47 into a headwind, and she also won the emerging elite division of the 200m after running a PR of 26.48 in the prelims.
In the girls 800m, Peddie junior Charis Chien ran away with the win and a new PR in a time of 2:24.15.