Previewing the CVC Championships: Team Projections
Saturday is the big day that this website has been waiting for – the spring track CVC Championships! There’s nothing better than having so many Mercer County teams go head-to-head with team titles on the line.
A lot about this meet has changed since last year. The most obvious difference is that this meet is now just for the fifteen CVC schools. (A few of the big non-CVC schools will be in action simultaneously at the MAPL Championships, so stay tuned for a recap on that.) It’s also a week earlier than normal, thanks to changes in the NJSIAA postseason schedule. And finally, it’s been condensed from a two-day meet to a one-day meet. That might mean less travel time for friends and family, but it also means less rest for the athletes. It will be interesting to see whether athletes who would’ve quadrupled in a Friday-Saturday meet will still attempt that here.
Rather than preview each individual event, this article will set the scene for what makes this meet uniquely great: the team competition. Below are the boys and girls teams projected to be vying for the top few places. The projections were based largely on season’s bests on the Track Mercer leaderboards, but I also made adjustments based on the entry lists, seeds, and recent performances. That said, there are lots of assumptions and conjectures baked into this — especially when ranking relay teams — and scores could be significantly affected by race-day scratches. So take these with a grain of salt.
Did my projections underestimate your team? I’m happy to be proven wrong!
Projected Top Boys Teams
| No. | School | Proj. Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Notre Dame |  | 81 |
| 2 | WWP South |  | 72 |
| 2 | Princeton |  | 71 |
| 4 | Allentown |  | 69 |
Get your popcorn ready — there’s a decent chance that the boys team title will come down to the 4x400m on Saturday afternoon! Notre Dame has a slight lead based on projections, while the next three schools are almost dead even. In case you were wondering, the next two schools were WWP North (48 points) and Nottingham (46 points).
Notre Dame
Based on results this season – in fact, this whole year – Notre Dame comes in as the favorite on the boys side. They won the winter track championship with 67 points, 27 ahead of Princeton and Hightstown. But they’re not likely to have as much of a cushion this spring! If they want the indoor-outdoor sweep, they’ll need to be firing on all cylinders.
The Irish have a stacked hurdle crew that racks up major points. Notre Dame will hope to go 1-2 in the 100mH with Christopher Young and Zamir Jones, and Bryce Marsh also has a good shot of scoring a few points there. In the 400mH, Aldric Crawford is the favorite, and Matt Ryba also has top-3 potential.
Of course, those multi-talented boys can do more than hurdle. Young will be looking to score in the open 400m, and Marsh and Jones could get serious points in the high jump. Notre Dame will be dangerous in the 4x100m and 4x400m, as shown by their SMR win last week. Watch for Jayden Davis (100m/200m) and Amir Mulkey (800m) to sneak a few valuable points in their individual events.
Notre Dame will likely need more than just their track stars. Versatile thrower Cameron Bailey could rack up over 10 points across all three throwing events, an impressive triple that not many top throwers try.
WWP South
WWP South is the most well-balanced team on the track, with the potential to score big in both sprints and distance. Josiah Cureton and Aydun Hines are scoring threats in the 100m, Julius Kinsler is the top seed in the 400m, and all three of them could get on the board in the 200m. They’ll be 10-point contenders in both the 4x100m and 4x400m.
In distance events, Shravan Pradeep is the heavy hitter and could potentially sweep the 1600m/3200m, while Aditya Deshpande (1600m) and Kevin Lang (3200m) will also be fighting for points in their events. Thrower Aidan Edwards is rounding into form nicely and could score some valuable points in the shot put.
Princeton
Princeton’s mighty field athletes lead the way for the Tigers. Star thrower Sean Wilton will be aiming for 20 points in the shot put and discus. He’s not in the javelin, but Devin Levy and Simon Obregon are there to score 5-10 points combined. Jumper Ishaq Inayat will be gunning for top-3 finishes in both the long jump and triple jump. Sullivan Spagnoli and Ellington Hinds are both major scoring threats in the high jump.
Just because Princeton can outscore most teams without touching the oval doesn’t mean they don’t have talent on the track! Hurdler Yi-Tian Xiong is having a breakout season and could score double-digit points between 100mH and 400mH. Kyle Carr has the speed to get points in the 100m. A bit of a wild card for Princeton is how many points they’ll be able to swing in the relays. While they have fewer frontrunners who can score points individually, they have the depth to score relay points if they stack their lineups.
Allentown
Allentown has the most pure speed in Mercer County, and they’ll be flooding the track with that speed on Saturday. Their 4x100m team of Gavin Alvarez, Matthew Woode, Cedric Mbachu, and Scott Jordan – who together went 42.47 at the Penn Relays – are all entered in both the 100m and 200m. There’s a realistic chance that they take four of the six scorers in the 100m! Their star anchor Alvarez is the #1 seed in both the 100m and 200m, and he’s the #2 seed in the 400m. He’s been very consistent in championship races, so the Redbirds can count on him to rack up the points – assuming he lines up for each event. Doing that sprint triple, plus a potential relay leg, in a one day meet would be an impressive feat, even for Alvarez.
The Redbirds have strong guys to complement their speedy guys. Mason Marcantonio and Evan Miller are Mercer County’s top two javelin throwers this season, and that could be an important chunk of points for Allentown. Also keep an eye on Dylan Voehl, who scored in both the javelin and high jump here last year and is entered in both events again this year.
Projected Top Girls Teams
| No. | School | Proj. Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WWP North |  | 92 |
| 2 | Hopewell Valley |  | 73 |
| 2 | WWP South | | 58 |
| 4 | Allentown | | 52 |
| 5 | Lawrence |  | 51 |
It’s fair to call WWP North a favorite going into this meet, with Hopewell Valley the most likely runner-up. But you never know — it’s not an insurmountable gap between all these teams, and, as discussed below, WWP North may be more affected than most by the switch to a one-day meet.
WWP North
WWP North is the team to beat on the girls side. The winter track CVC champions are still loaded with talent in almost every event, and they’ll hope to have the team title wrapped up even before the 4x400m goes off.
The biggest chunk of points will probably come from their dynamic distance duo, Allison Lee and Zui Chinchalkar. Those incredibly talented girls are entered in the 800m, 1600m, and 3200m, and they could legitimately go 1-2 in all three (though they will certainly have challengers!). They’ll be more disappointed than anyone else that CVCs became a one-day meet, because fourteen laps of hard racing in a six-hour span is definitely not ideal, especially six days before sectionals. So we’ll see what they line up for and how hard they push – if anyone can pull off the distance triple, it’s them. And even in their absence, the Knights have Sara Secora as a point-scoring threat in every distance event.
In the shorter track events, Brie Davis-Owens is a one-woman scoring machine for WWP North. She’s the top seed in the 400mH, and she could also medal in the 100mH, 200m, and 400m – plus maybe a relay. And the Knights have someone in literally every field event who has a shot at scoring: Afua Apau (shot put), Eva Gedrich (discus and javelin), Abby Power (javelin), Jada Sands (horizontal jumps), Mahima Bansal (horizontal jumps), Anamika Sertil (high jump), and Eva Fea (pole vault). What a squad!
Hopewell Valley
Hopewell Valley is another well-rounded team that has scorers in every corner. Autumn Carter is one of the CVC’s top sprinters and could rack up 20 points in the 100m, 200, and 400m alone, plus whatever relays she runs. In the distance ranks, Sydney Young is a big threat for major points in the 800m and 1600m, while Elsie Rey-de-Castro (800m) and Claire Dumont (1600m and 3200m) are in a good position to score a few valuable points.
The Bulldogs are also very strong in field events, led by the versatile Uchenna Obidike, who is in great form after some big PRs last weekend. She’ll be a threat to win both the high jump and discus, plus a likely top-3 showing in the shot put. Avery Rick can also score big points in the pole vault.
WWP South
WWP South’s strength is their core of senior sprinters. Their 400m lineup is especially stacked, where Anastasia Kudin is the favorite, Adama Turay will be right there with her, and Claire Dumortier should be able to grab points with a good race. Additionally, Turay is the top seed in the long jump, Kudin could go top-3 in the 100m, and Saraiah Hoover is looking to score in both hurdle events. Between their individual events and the 4x400m, those four girls can carry the Pirates a very long way.
One thing to note is that WWP South, which had the top girls 4x100m team at the Penn Relays, doesn’t currently have a girls 4x100m team entered in this meet. If they do end up running one, those are big points that will bring them much closer into contention against Hopewell Valley.
Allentown
Allentown may have the strongest corps of field athletes in the CVC. Isabelle Andre and Amanda Hoglund are a big part of that: they are two of the top seeds in the triple jump, Hoglund will be battling for the win in the high jump, and Andre could also pick up points in the long jump. In the throws, Makayla Rondinelli could score double-digits across the shot put and discus, and Gia Kanaris is the fourth seed in the javelin.
On the track, watch for Martha Olorunnisola to score some big points in the 100m, coming off her very fast dash to win the Poreda Invite last week. She’ll be a major player on the Redbirds’ 4x100m that will be fighting for the win.
Lawrence
Lawrence will look to rack up points 10-at-a-time with stars like Samya Jenkins, Alicia Riggins, and Sophie Trzaskus. Jenkins comes in as the top seed in both the 100m and 200m, and she has a good chance of pulling off the very difficult double. Alicia Riggins is undefeated in the 100mH and is coming off a nice PR from last week. Trzaskus has been equally unstoppable in the pole vault this season.
In addition to those three favorites, Izzy Meth could supply some important points in the distance events. She’s one of the fastest 3200m girls in the region, and she also has a shot to pick up a medal in the 1600m.