Previewing the Mercer Coaches Classic 2025
One of Mercer County’s biggest invitationals is on Saturday: the Mercer Coaches Classic 2025, hosted at the WWP North high school.
Things are going to get hot, and not just because the high is in the 80s. After the CVC Relays were rained out last month, this will be the first real opportunity for the CVC schools to all do battle together. Additionally, non-CVC schools like Hun, Stuart Country Day, and Wilberforce will join the fray. Adding to the excitement will be the schools visiting from outside the county, including Bayonne, Kearny, McNair, McNair, and South Hunterdon.
Saturday’s start time was moved from 2pm to 9am, so hopefully this meet will beat the heat and the rain!
Check out this preview of the varsity events and individuals most likely to take home the honors on Saturday. This meet never fails to produce top marks in New Jersey – who’s it going to be this year?
400m Hurdles
On the boys side, will we see the 60-second barrier go down? The top three seeds are all within a half-second of that: Ashe Lee (WWP South, Jr.) at 1:00.31, Calvin Kallie (Ewing, Sr.) at 1:00.39, and Tyson Brown (Ewing, So.) at 1:00.43.
The girls race looks to be a showdown between the top seeds Anastasia Kudin (WWP South, Sr.) and Brie Davis-Owens (WWP North, Sr.). Their PRs of 1:02 and 1:03 put them a few seconds ahead of the competition. Behind them, Hailie Zimmerman (Steinert, Sr.) is running well this season and could cut the gap; she took 2nd at the TCNJ Invitational with a school record 1:06.18, and she recently PR’d in the flat 400m. Saraiah Hoover (WWP South, Sr.) also comes in with a seed time of 1:05.78.
4x800m Relay
The 4x8s look like they could be pretty close affairs. On the girls side, Hopewell Valley is seeded out in front in 10:18, but then four teams have a seed time between 10:30 and 10:35: Allentown, WWP North, Bayonne, and Robbinsville. The seed times in the boys race suggest a similar dynamic – Notre Dame is first with an 8:20, but then WWP North, Ewing, and Hightstown are all seeded between 8:30 and 8:35.
800m Sprint Medley Relay
The 800m SMR doesn’t get run very often, but the estimated seed times show that there should be some evenly matched lineups. For example, the top four boys teams – Notre Dame, Allentown, WWP South, and Hightstown – are all within two seconds! On the girls side, Princeton will be the favorite, but watch for a close battle for 2nd place between Hightstown, Allentown, and Ewing.
1600m Run
The 1600m races will be some of the day’s highlights. Since this meet doesn’t have a 3200m race to split up the talent, many of the county’s best distance runners will go toe-to-toe for four laps here.
The boys race will feature a key matchup between Burke Thompson (Hightstown, Sr.) and Shravan Pradeep (WWP South, Sr.). During winter track, Thompson was the CVC’s king of the 1600m, running 4:27 twice, while Pradeep absolutely dominated the 3200m, running 9:20 at indoor MoCs. And they recently have been encroaching on each other’s domain: Pradeep opened his season with a 4:32 mile PR a month ago, and Thompson just ran a big 3200m PR of 9:33 on Monday night.
But it’s definitely not a two-horse race. In fact, Agrim Jha (WWP North, Fr.) may even be the favorite. The star freshman ran 4:30 for a full mile at indoor nationals in March, putting him just 2 seconds behind Thompson’s 1600m PR. Then, just this past Monday, he crushed a 9:21 3200m, just 1 second behind Pradeep’s 3200m PR. And Jha’s seed time here is 4:27.5 – if that’s a time from a recent dual meet, then it’s #1 in Mercer County this season.
The girls 1600m is going to be a barnburner. It showcases girls who are not just the best in the county but in the entire state. For starters, there are the two girls who qualified for the 1600m at MoCs in March: Zui Chinchalkar (WWP North, Sr.) and Sydney Young (Hopewell Valley, So.). Both girls ran big PRs in that championship race, with Chinchalkar running 5:00.50 for 9th and Young going 5:03.48 for 11th. It’s entirely possible that their rematch on Saturday could take them both under 5:00, which would be incredible.
In fact, this race will be loaded with girls who have MoC experience. Kajol Karra (Princeton, Jr.), Teagan Walker (Ewing, Sr.), and Izzy Meth (Lawrence, So.) were all in the 3200m at MoCs in March. Laura Sallade (Wilberforce, Jr.), Claire Dumont (Hopewell Valley, Sr.) and Grace Hegedus (Princeton, So.) were top-40 finishers at MoCs in cross country. Watch out for Sallade if she’s there when the kicking starts; she’s got the fastest 800m PR out of the bunch. How many of these girls can get under 5:15?
400m
It should take a sub-50 performance to win the boys 400m, and there are multiple people in the top-seeded heat capable of doing that. At the front of that group is Julius Kinsler (WWP South, Sr.). After splitting 48 twice on relays last month, can he do it in an open race? We’ll also see the season debut of Aryan Hiray (WWP North, Sr.) who ran 48.72 last summer. He hasn’t run any major meets this school year, so he’s a wildcard in this one. Dasan Jones (Ewing, Jr.) also comes in with a sub-50 seed time, at 49.96.
The girls 400m will be led by the WWP South senior duo of Adama Turay and Claire Dumortier. Turay ran 58 in the open 400m a few times last year, while Dumortier is right on the cusp of breaking 60 for the first time. Watch out for Lena Murray (Princeton, So.) and Faith Settles (Ewing, Fr.), who have both been clocked at 1:01 in dual meets this spring.
110m/100m Hurdles
After a very successful indoor season, Christopher Young (Notre Dame, Sr.) will be making his outdoor debut in the boys 110mH this weekend. He’s easily got the best PR in the field (14.31w), but he’ll have to be in good shape to hold off upstart Yi-Tian Xiong (Princeton, So.), who last week ran a big PR of 14.92. Also watch out for two other boys from the Irish’s All-American shuttle hurdles team – Zamir Jones (Notre Dame, Jr.) and Bryce Marsh (Notre Dame, Jr.) – plus Calvin Kallie (Ewing, Sr.) doubling back from the 400mH.
Alicia Riggins (Lawrence, Sr.) is the favorite in the girls race after winning the TCNJ Invitational in a CVC-leading 15.57. Seeded about a second back are Saraiah Hoover (WWP South, Sr.) and Hailie Zimmerman (Steinert, Sr.), who will have already gotten a solid warm-up after doing the 400mH to start the day.
800m
The boys 800m will feature a half-dozen boys looking to get under 2:00 for the first time this season. At the front of that group is Subomi Allison (WWP North, Sr.), who ran 1:56 four times last season and is ready to start cranking down the times as championship season approaches. Same goes for Mohamed Toure (Nottingham, Sr.) and Luke Ferrer (WWP North, Sr.), who have both gone sub-2:00 before. One runner to watch is Tyler Hurst (Steinert, Jr.) who will be dropping down to the 800m after having a lot of success in the 1600m. His seed is 1:58.5, suggesting that he’s already gone sub-2:00 at a dual meet.
On the girls side, Alaina Sabo (Notre Dame, Fr.) and Gwen Mersereau (Wilberforce, Sr.) come in with the only sub-2:20 seeds, several seconds ahead of the next-seeded girls. Sabo is in great shape and may be difficult to beat – she ran 2:18 to close out her indoor season in March and then ran a 5:17 1600m to open her outdoor season two weeks ago.
200m
In the boys 200m, Dasan Jones (Ewing, Jr.) has the top seed of 22.31, and he’ll be doubling back from the 400m. He’ll have to take down a fresh and in-form Gavin Alvarez (Allentown, Sr.), who has a PR of 22.56 and just ran a 400m school record of 49.80 on Wednesday. There are almost a dozen boys seeded at 22-high who could challenge for the win with a breakout race.
On the girls side, Samya Jenkins (Lawrence, So.) ran an NJ #5 25.16 last week, and she’ll be the favorite this week. A win won’t come easy, though. Anastasia Kudin (WWP South, Sr.) and Brie Davis-Owens (WWP North, Sr.) have both run 25-mid and will be back for a rematch after their 400mH to start the day. Leah Daniels (Ewing, Jr.) and Autumn Carter (Hopewell Valley, Jr.) have also gone sub-26 before and will be in this race.
Pole Vault
In the boys pole vault, Samuel Rispoli (Robbinsville, Sr.) and Rayyan Shabab (WWP South, Jr.) are the top two seeds and have both gone over 10’ before.
On the girl’s side, top-seeded Sophie Trzaskus (Lawrence, Sr.) will be shooting to equal or beat her 9-6 indoor school record. Her teammate Zuzanna Trzasko (Lawrence, Sr.) and Avery Rick (Hopewell Valley, So.) will likely be vaulting right with her most of the way.
High Jump
On the boys side, Bryce Marsh is the top seed, having cleared 6-2 this past winter. But Dylan Voehl (Allentown, Jr.) is actually the defending champion here, having cleared 6-0 to win it last year. Sullivan Spagnoli (Princeton, So.) is on a roll, having cleared 5-10 at two different meets in the past week. His teammate Ellington Hinds (Princeton, Jr.) went over 5-10 twice during winter track and will be challenging into the late jumps, too.
There should be some good jump-offs on the girls side. Amanda Hoglund (Allentown, Sr.) and Uchenna Obidike (Hopewell Valley, Jr.) both come in with seeds of 5-0, as does Isabelle Garlick (McNair, Sr.). But Obidike actually cleared 5-2 during winter track, as did Nyviah Pacheco (Hamilton West, Sr.). How many will get over 5’ on Saturday?
Long Jump
In the boys long jump, Ishaq Inayat (Princeton, Sr.) will make his outdoor debut. He was the top long jumper over the winter with a PR of 20-9. Keep an eye out for Adam Koszyk (Hightstown, So.), whose seed is just a few inches back at 20-6, suggesting he might have hit that mark at a recent dual meet.
Adama Turay (WWP South, Sr.) leads the entrants in the girls long jump with a seed of 17-7.5. Zairra Galloway (Hamilton West, Sr.) is in good shape and jumped a PR of 16-8 at the TCNJ Invitational. Anaiss Matos (Steinert, Sr.) has also cleared 16’ before and will be challenging for the top medals.
Triple Jump
The boys triple jump has two boys who have gone over 40’. The first is Ishaq Inayat (Princeton, Sr.), who jumped 40’ once and 39’ twice this past indoor season. Josiah Cureton (WWP South, Sr.) didn’t do winter track, but he took 2nd place in this meet last year with a jump of 41’.
Kristen Brenya (Stuart Country Day, Jr.) is the top seed for the girls flight. She went 36’ last year and is undefeated so far this spring. She’ll need something close to her PR to outjump Anaiss Matos (Steinert, Sr.) who was the top Mercer County finisher at the TCNJ Invitational with a 32-5.
Shot Put
Sean Wilton (Princeton, Sr.) is probably a lock for first place – the biggest question will be how close to 60’ he’ll throw. Behind him, Ernest Gaykai (Nottingham, Sr.) and Cameron Bailey (Notre Dame, Sr.) have similar PRs and are knocking on the door of 50’.
Anna Casciano (Hun, Jr.) leads the girls shot put entrants. She’s in great form, having just thrown a PR of 41-1 earlier this week. We’ll also see Afua Apau (WWP North, Sr.) back in action. She didn’t do winter track, but she has thrown 35’ before and got 2nd place at this meet last year.
Discus
Top-seeded Sean Wilton (Princeton, Sr.) may have more competition in the discus than in the shot put. His seed of 150-11 is just a few feet farther than the 146-6 seed of Ryan Rodriguez (Lawrence, Sr.), and both boys have gone over 140’ this season already. Another thrower within reach is Cameron Bailey (Notre Dame, Sr.), whose seed is 138-11.
On the girls side, Gabriela Pifano (Kearny, Sr.) will be the one to beat; she’s already thrown 112-3 this season. But Mercer County has a few girls who could get near that or past that. That includes two top-tier shot putters, Sonjay Baylor-Reeves (Trenton, Sr.) and Anna Casciano (Hun, Jr.). While Casciano is doubling with the shot put, Baylor-Reeves is not, so she might be able to crank out a big discus throw with that being her main focus. Makayla Rodinelli (Allentown, Sr.) and Jayla LIttle (Ewing, So.) have also already gone over 100’ this season.
Javelin
The top four seeds in the boys javelin are all within six feet of each other: Evan Miller (Allentown, Jr.) at 146-5, Devin Levy (Princeton, Sr.) at 144-3, Simon Obregon (Princeton, Jr.) at 141-10, and Dan Pszczolkowski (Hopewell Valley, Sr.) at 140-0. All four boys have thrown well at this meet before, so it’s going to be another exciting competition.
In the girls javelin, Zi’Asia Williams (Nottingham, Jr.) is the top seed, and the only Mercer County girl to go over 100’ this season. But Gabriela Pifano (Kearny, Sr.) has done that in the past, and Mya Smith (Hun, Jr.) is right there with a throw of 99-0 last month.