Recapping the Mercer Coaches Classic 2025
Despite forecasts of rain and thunder earlier in the week, it ended up being a gorgeous day for the Mercer Coaches Classic! In fact, the heat and slight breeze seemed to be a recipe for PRs, and many athletes were eagerly ready to take advantage of that – especially since this was the first opportunity in a while for most of them to get a fully-automated time.
Read some of the top performances below, and check out photos of most winners here: Photo Highlights: Mercer Coaches Classic 2025.
You can find full results here.
Boys Results
Boys 400mH. At last week’s freshman/sophomore meet, Tyson Brown (Ewing, So.) just missed going sub-60, but this week he went way under, running 58.03. That got him 5th place and 1st among Mercer County runners. Matt Ryba (Notre Dame, So.) also chopped almost a second off his PR to take 6th in 58.55. Yi-Tian Xiong (Princeton, So.) and Markeese Dowling (Trenton, Sr.) just missed out on the medals but still joined the sub-60 club, with Xiong running 58.70 and Dowling running 59.35.
Boys 4x800m. In a close race between the top five teams, Hightstown (Mateo Abad-Delgado, Mason Johnson, Matt DeAngelo, and Burke Thompson) took the big win in 8:16.31, a new school record! They got a great anchor leg from Thompson, who dropped a 1:58-high split to run away from Notre Dame, sealing the win and the school record. Behind the Rams, the next four teams all finished within 3 seconds of each other. Notre Dame hung on for 2nd place in 8:28.85, Allentown finished 3rd place in 8:30.74, and then Trenton barely held off WWP South for 4th, 8:31.67 to 8:31.73.
Boys SMR 800m. Notre Dame (Jayden Davis, Zamir Jones, Christopher Young, and AJ Crawford) took the win in 1:34.90. They got a good challenge from Trenton, who finished less than a second behind in 1:35.86.
Boys 1600m. This exciting race started out with Burke Thompson (Hightstown, Sr.) leading Agrim Jha (WWP North, Fr.), Shravan Pradeep (WWP South, Sr.), and Silas Allevik (Hopewell Valley, So.) through a very honest first 800m of 2:12. At that point, Pradeep jumped to the front and opened up a big gap. With less than 150m to go, Allevik was still 2-3 seconds back when he launched into a monster kick and quickly ate up ground on Pradeep down the homestretch. But Pradeep had just enough in the tank to hold off Allevik, 4:24.59 to 4:24.68. That was a 7-second PR for both boys! Allevik closed in a 63-second 400m.
Jha followed in 3rd place in 4:28.72, his first sub-4:30 1600m. Thompson, who had split 1:58 on the 4x800m less than an hour earlier, held on for 4th place in 4:31.88. Among many others to run well was Aditya Deshpande (WWP South, Sr.) who got a medal and a nice PR with his 4:34.07 for 6th place.
Boys 400m. Julius Kinsler (WWP South, Jr.) continued his hot streak in the 400m, setting a new PR of 49.23 to take the win. He was pushed over the last 200m by Aryan Hiray (WWP North, Sr.), who clocked 49.85 for his first sub-50 of the season. Dasan Jones (Ewing, Jr.) also medalled with a PR of 50.50 for 4th place. Others who went sub-51 for the first time were Will Strickland (Robbinsville, Jr.), who won his heat in 50.85, and Josiah Cureton (WWP South, Sr.), who got 8th overall in 50.88.
Boys 110mH. In his first FAT-timed meet of the season, Christopher Young (Notre Dame, Sr.) blasted a 14.18 – that’s NJ #3! It’s also the 3rd-fastest that anyone from Mercer County has run in the last 12 years. Not far behind was his teammate Zamir Jones (Notre Dame, Jr.), who clocked a half-second PR of 14.71 for 2nd place. Yi-Tian Xiong (Princeton, So.) finished 3rd and equalled his time of 14.92 from last week’s Freshman/Sophomore Meet, proving that his massive PR that time was no fluke.
Boys 800m. In a meet that featured plenty of exciting races, the boys 800m was the closest. Subomi Allison (WWP North, Sr.) and Tyler Hurst (Steinert, Jr.) had an epic duel with four different lead changes on the last lap. That last of those was Allison edging ahead with 30m to go, and he ended up outleaning Hurst by just .04, 1:56.44 to 1:56.48. That was a season’s best for Allison and a big PR for Hurst, who had never gone sub-2 at an FAT-timed meet.
Mohamed Toure (Nottingham, Sr.), who hung with Allison and Hurst the longest, was rewarded with a 1:58.17 for 3rd place, his second-fastest time ever. Luke Ferrer was the best of the rest in the top-seeded heat, running 2:01.74 for a 5th-place medal. The 4th-place medal went to a very deserving Liam Cox (Nottingham, Sr.), who soloed a massive 8-second PR of 1:58.92 in the prior heat.
Boys 200m. After running a ton of great 400s at the end of winter track season, Gavin Alvarez (Allentown, Sr.) dropped back down to the 200m and put his increased strength on display by blasting an NJ #7 21.83 for the win. Dasan Jones (Ewing, Jr.) stuck close to Alvarez and ran a very fast NJ #11 22.06 for 2nd place, which is especially impressive given that he was doubling back from the 400m. Josiah Cureton (WWP South, Jr.) was 3rd in the top-seeded heat and 4th overall with a 22.38. In the next heat, Julius Kinsler (WWP South, Jr.) ran a 1-second PR of 22.23 to win and place 3rd overall. Close behind Kinsler was Daryl Crawley (Trenton, Sr.), who crushed his PR by over 2 seconds with a 22.42. The final medal went to Jayden Davis (Notre Dame, Jr.) who finished 6th in 22.58.
Boys Jumps. There were some big jumps on the runway today. Jameel Cheeseborough-Williams (Hamilton West, Jr.), who apparently has never done a horizontal jump at any major meet before, flew to a NJ #13 22-5 to win the long jump. In the triple jump, Sylvester Somerselle (Hightstown, Sr.), popped a massive PR of 43-1 for the win. Ishaq Inayat (Princeton, Sr.) crushed two new PRs, going 21-11 for 2nd in the long jump and 40-9.5 for 3rd in the triple jump. 2nd place in the triple jump went to Wenyan Kermah (Ewing, Sr.) with a jump of 41-1.
Over at the high jump, Bryce Marsh (Notre Dame, Jr.) cleared 6-0 to win by four inches. In the pole vault, Aaron Mason (Lawrence, Sr.) won with a first-attempt clearance of 10-6, narrowly edging Samuel Rispoli (Robbinsville, Sr.), who also finished at 10-6.
Boys Throws. Sean Wilton (Princeton, Sr.) remains undefeated in local shot put competitions this year after throwing a season’s best of 59-2 for the win. That’s NJ #8 this spring. Ernest Gaykai (Nottingham, Sr.) did his best to make it close with a 2-foot PR of 51-2 – a new Nottingham school record! Another Northstar thrower on fire today was Tylin Douglas (Nottingham, Jr.) who PR’d by over 20 feet to win the discus with a throw of 144-8. That put him two feet ahead of Ryan Rodriguez (Lawrence, Sr.), who threw 142-3 for 2nd place.
In the javelin, the Redbirds went 1-2 thanks to Mason Marcantonio (Allentown, Sr.) at 156-9 and Evan Miller (Allentown, Jr.) at 141-9.
Girls Results
Girls 400mH. The first race of the day was a tight one, as Anastasia Kudin (WWP South, Sr.), Brie Davis-Owens (WWP North, Sr.), and Saraiah Hoover (WWP South, Sr.) all went over the last hurdle side-by-side. It was Kudin who was able to sustain her late charge to the front and hold on for the win in 1:05.34, just ahead of Davis-Owens in 1:05.53 and Hoover in 1:05.74. Those were season’s bests for all three girls. Hailie Zimmerman (Steinert, Sr.) also ran well with a 1:07.56 for 4th place.
Girls 4x800m. Hopewell Valley (Chelsea Cahall, Reidun Armendinger, Maddie LaChance, and Claire Dumont) won the girls 4x800m in 10:12.53. Allentown came from behind to get 2nd place in 10:26.13, just a second ahead of WWP North in 10:27.56.
Girls SMR 800m. Allentown (Isabelle Andre, Ava Backus, Martha Olorunnisola, Naila Nelson) won the girls SMR in a school record of 1:52.42, thanks in part to a huge push by their anchor Nelson over the final 100m. Hightstown overtook Lawrence in the last few strides to get 2nd place in 1:54.45.
Girls 1600m. In a much-anticipated matchup between some of New Jersey’s best distance runners, Zui Chinchalkar (WWP North, Sr.) asserted her dominance by going wire-to-wire for the win! A blistering first lap of 72 seconds quickly whittled the pack down to her, Sydney Young (Hopewell Valley, So.), and Kajol Karra (Princeton, Jr.), with Laura Sallade (Wilberforce, Jr.) just a little further back. With 500m to go, Karra moved up on Chinchalkar’s shoulder, but that was the closest it would get once Chinchalkar dropped the hammer on the final lap. She took the win in a NJ #14 5:04.27, which is an outdoor PR and her second-fastest all-time.
Karra finished strong for 2nd place with a four-second PR of 5:05.43, followed by Young in an outdoor PR of 5:07.00. Sallade closed the gap on the final lap and finished 4th in 5:09.47, her first time ever under 5:10. The last two medalists, Grace Hegedus (Princeton, So.) and Izzy Meth (Lawrence, So.), both broke 5:20 for the first time, running 5:17.19 and 5:17.39.
Girls 400m. Adama Turay (WWP South, Sr.) powered away down the homestretch to win in 59.77. Behind her, Brie Davis-Owens (WWP North, Sr.) just held off Claire Dumortier (WWP South, Sr.) through the final 50m, clocking 1:00.25 to Dumortier’s 1:00.30. All three girls ran their fastest time yet in the open 400m this school year.
The other medals were earned by outstanding performances from the lower-seeded heats. First among those was Faith Settles (Ewing, Fr.), whose 1:00.28 was a huge PR and got her 3rd place overall here. Stella Blanchard (Wilberforce, So.) tracked Settles closely and came away with her own big PR of 1:00.89 for 6th place. Ariana Crusoe Gaye (Nottingham, So.) earned 5th place with a two-second PR of 1:00.36 thanks to a spectacular solo effort in own heat.
Girls 100mH. Alicia Riggins (Lawrence, Sr.) continued her excellent season in the 100mH, winning with a NJ #16 15.12. That’s a half-second PR for Riggins. Saraiah Hoover (WWP South, Sr.), who was doubling back from the 400mH, trimming a tenth off her PR with a 16.14 for 2nd place. Zunica Zubah (Trenton, Sr.) had a breakout race of 16.48 for 3rd place.
Girls 800m. Alaina Sabo (Notre Dame, Fr.) broke away from the pack early and stormed to a big win in 2:19.01. That’s an outdoor PR and her second-fastest time ever. Elsie Rey-de-Castro (Hopewell Valley, So.) took 2nd place in a PR of 2:24.02.
Girls 200m. Samya Jenkins (Lawrence, So.) remains undefeated on the season after winning the 200m in 25.49. She had to work for it, though, as Autumn Carter (Hopewell Valley, Jr.) went sub-26 for the first time and got 2nd place in 25.88. Four other girls were just a few hundredths back from Carter. Ariana Crusoe Gaye (Nottingham, So.) was 3rd in a PR of 25.94, Adama Turay (WWP South, Sr.) snuck under 26 with a 25.98 for 4th place, Zairra Galloway (Hamilton West, Sr.) crushed her first FAT-timed 200m in two years with a big PR of 26.01 for 5th place, and Leah Daniels (Ewing, Jr.) snagged the last medal with a 26.02.
Girls Jumps. Adama Turay (WWP South, Sr.) won the long jump with a distance of 17-5. Zairra Galloway (Hamilton West, Sr.) took home two silver medals and two new PRs after going 16-11 in the long jump and 35-1 in the triple jump. Chloe Lewis (Hightstown, Fr.) got 3rd place in long jump with a massive 18-inch PR of 16-7. Third place in the triple jump went to Kirsten Brenya (Stuart Country Day, Jr.) with a season’s best of 34-1.5.
In the high jump, six different girls were stumped by the 5-0 bar, but Amanda Hoglund (Allentown, Sr.) got the win after clearing 4-10 and every other height on first attempts. Others to finish at 4-10 were Nyviah Pacheco (Hamilton West, Sr.) in 2nd place, Anamika Sertil (WWP North, Fr.) in 3rd place, Teagan Fairfax (Steinert, Sr.) in 5th place, and Uchenna Obidike (Hopewell Valley, Jr.) in 6th place. In the pole vault, Sophie Trzaskus cleared 9-6 on her third attempt to break the Lawrence school record!
Girls Throws. Sonjay Baylor-Reeves won the shot put with a huge throw of 42-0.5, which is NJ #9 and a new outdoor PR. Uchenna Obidike (Hopewell Valley) PR’d by over two feet to take 2nd place in 36-7.25. In the discus, the order was reversed, as Obidike launched another massive PR – this time by 25 feet – to win in 120-5. Baylor-Reeves got 2nd place in 118-4, which is still a ten-foot PR for her. Makayla Rondinelli (Allentown, Jr.) got 3rd place in the discus with a 109-5 and 4th in the shot put with a 34-5, both of which were PRs. Afua Apau (WWP North, Sr.) threw 34-9 for 3rd in the shot put.
In the javelin, Zi’Asia Williams (Nottingham, Jr.) edged Mya Smith (Hun, Jr.) for the win by just a foot, 101-2 to 100-2. That was Smith’s first triple-digit throw.
Mixed 4x400m
Everyone stacked their mixed 4x400m teams, which made for some great fun to conclude the meet. In the end, the race went to a team loaded with 400m talent in both genders, WWP South. Their lineup of Aydun Hines, Adama Turay, Julius Kinsler, and Anastasia Kudin ran 3:44.27 to win by 3 seconds over WWP North. There was a blanket finish for 3rd place in the top-seeded heat, with Bayonne (3:48.19) holding off Allentown (3:48.57), Ewing (3:49.53), and Notre Dame (3:50.76). In the lower-seeded heat, Hopewell Valley inserted themselves into the mix by running away with the win in 3:48.45, which got them 4th place overall.