Regular Season Rankings: Boys Individuals
The XC regular season flew by in a whirlwind of fast times and impressive results. It’s clear that Mercer County’s runners are ready to roll this championship season! But before the postseason officially kicks off, let’s look back and give some recognition to Mercer County’s top performers so far.
Below are Track Mercer’s rankings of boys individuals based on regular season performances. Who’s going to shake up these rankings once real championships and all-county awards are on the line?
Paul Wittenberg (WWP North) charges to the line in the Eastern States Championship at the Manhattan Invitational. | John Nepolitan for RunnerSpace
#1 Paul Wittenberg (WWP North, Jr.) is having an absolutely incredible breakout season. He opened up by running 10:04 for two miles at Run the Night, but his first real head-turning result came at Shore Coaches, where a gusty race saw him take 3rd place in the Varsity C race with a time of 16:26. That time tied him for 19th overall in the merge and 13th among New Jersey boys. His next race at the Manhattan Invitational was even more stunning — he finished 19th in the prestigious Eastern States Championship with a time of 12:48 on the 2.5-mile course. Last spring, Wittenberg finished outside the top 60 for New Jersey returners in both the 1600m and 3200m; now he’s bordering on top 10 in the state for the 5K, and he’s earned every bit of that ranking.
#2 Agrim Jha (WWP North, So.) is right up with his teammate Wittenberg near the top of the statewide rankings. They both ran a 10:04 two-mile on opening weekend, and then Jha finished a few seconds ahead of Wittenberg at Shore Coaches after unleashing a strong finish to take 2nd place in the Varsity C race. Jha’s impressive Holmdel time of 16:23 was 11th among New Jersey runners in the merged results. His next race at Manhattan wasn’t quite as good as that one, but there’s no doubt that he’s proven himself on New Jersey’s championship courses. Given his immense talent and great coaching, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him threaten the 16-minute barrier at Holmdel next month.
Finnegan Curley (Hopewell Valley) opens up a big lead at the TCNJ Invitational. | Track Mercer
#3 Finnegan Curley (Hopewell Valley, Jr.) is another young talent who transformed into a state-caliber distance runner over the offseason. He finished spring track season with PRs of 4:36 and 9:48, which were good but not exactly indicative of someone who would run 16:08 for their XC season opener a few months later. Yet that’s what Curley did when he won the TCNJ XC Invitational on a moderately hilly course. And he’s only improved since then, as shown at Shore Coaches when he took 5th in the Varsity C race with a superb time of 16:31, just a few seconds behind Wittenberg and Jha.
#4 Saboor Qureshi (Princeton, Sr.) has been the biggest surprise of the year so far. It’s not just that the senior had never run XC before — he’d never even raced the 3200m in any major track meet, and his track PRs of 2:04 and 4:38 were not exactly turning heads. But what did turn heads was when he dropped a 16:06 for 2nd place at the Jerry Hart Invitational. He kept up the momentum the next week when, at the notoriously difficult Bowdoin Park, he placed 29th at the Bowdoin Classic in 17:03. Since then, he’s also delivered top-notch performances at other hilly courses like Holmdel Park (5th at Shore Coaches Varsity B in 16:47) and Thompson Park (1st at the XC Fall Classic in 16:21). At this rate, he could become one of the first boys to ever win the county championship in their debut season.
#5 John O’Leary (Allentown, Sr.) wasted no time showing off his new level of fitness this year, going 10:15 for 3200m at the Cherokee Challenge and then running consecutive weeks of 16:09 at the Osprey XC Invite and 16:11 at Six Flag Wild Safari. Those impressive 5K times — which are not that far off the pace for his 3200m track PR of 9:59 — have him ranked 15th in all of Group 2. He’s finished top 10 at every race this season, including 9th in the Shore Coaches Varsity C race with a 17:11 (18th in the Group 2 merge).
Bastian Bocklage (Lawrenceville, Sr.) comes to the line in the Varsity G race at the Shore Coaches Invitational 2025. | Tom Smith for MileSplit
#6 Bastian Bocklage (Lawrenceville, Sr.) crushed the 17:00 barrier for the first time at the Jerry Hart Invitational, running 16:32 for 5th place. While others on this list have run around 16:30 this fall, what sets Bocklage apart is his stellar performance at Shore Coaches, where he took 3rd in the Varsity G race in 17:18. That was 6th among Mercer County boys.
#7 Finn Wedmid (Princeton, Jr.) opened his season with a fast 5K PR of 16:28 for 4th place at the Jerry Hart Invitational. While he wasn’t quite at his best for the Bowdoin Classic or Shore Coaches, he bounced back with a very strong performance at the XC Fall Classic, where he took 2nd place with a 16:48 on the Thompson Park course.
#8 Lachlan Arnold (Princeton, So.) finished right behind his teammate Wedmid at both the Jerry Hart Invitational and the XC Fall Classic, running a PR of 16:32 on the Peddie golf course and going 16:50 at Thompson Park. And his 17:45 at the Bowdoin Classic may have been his best race so far, given that Bowdoin Park is considered even slower than Holmdel.
Ryan Heissler (Allentown) leads the pack in the Thompson 2 Miler. | Jeff Granit for NJ Advance Media
#9 Ryan Heissler (Allentown, So.) eased into his first season of running by going 10:55 for 3200m at Cherokee and then 10:48 at the Thompson 2 Miler. But then he really kicked things up a notch by running 16:36 for 14th at the Six Flags Wild Safari Varsity B race and, even more impressively, 17:27 for 13th at the Shore Coaches Varsity C race.
#10 Mason Johnson (Hightstown, Sr.) has raced more than anyone else in Mercer County this year, and he just keeps getting better. While his 5K PR from Six Flags Wild Safari is “only” 16:59, he ran 17:27 at Shore Coaches to place 15th in the Varsity B race and 7th out of all Mercer County boys. And his performance at the Manhattan Invitational, where he ran 13:49 for 2.5 miles to finish 21st in the Varsity C race, may have been even more impressive.
#11 Arunav Sarkar (Lawrenceville, Jr.) blasted a PR of 16:26 to take 3rd place at the Jerry Hart Invitational, and that 5K time is still 6th-fastest in Mercer County this fall. He also went 17:32 at Shore Coaches to place 8th in the Varsity G race. Most recently, he unleashed his mid-distance speed to kick to his first win of the season at the Hill-Lawrenceville-Peddie meet.
#12 Aron Zola (WWP South, So.) kicked off his sophomore year with a win at the Thompson 2 Miler, where he ran 10:32 on the tough course. He backed that up with a fast 5K PR of 16:32 at the Six Flags Wild Safari invitational. Although his Shore Coaches performance wasn’t quite on par with those results— and WWP South hasn’t raced anywhere else this fall — it would be a mistake to discount his very strong earlier performances.
#13 Mateo Abad-Delgado (Hightstown, Jr.) won his race at the Thompson 2 Miler in a very impressive 10:20, the second-fasted time on the day overall. Although he then had a setback and missed some time, his recent result at the Manhattan Invitational showed good signs of a promising comeback.
#14 Ashvin Avineni (WWP North, Fr.) began his high school running career by getting 2nd at Run the Night and then 1st at the Thompson 2 Miler. This past weekend, he had a breakout race on Manhattan’s 2.5-mile course and ran 13:49 — the same time as Johnson above — which made him the 4th-fastest freshman at the entire, massive meet.
#15 Julius Jordan (Lawrenceville, So.) got his breakthrough at Shore Coaches, where he went 17:29 for 6th in the Varsity G race. That time was 9th-best among all Mercer County boys. He also recently dipped under 17:00 for the first time with a 16:45 in a dual meet at Peddie.
Honorable Mention (alphabetical): Braedyn Capone (Princeton, Sr.) ran 17:31 at Shore Coaches. … Timothy Ellingson (Notre Dame, Jr.) took 4th at the XC Fall Classic in 17:13. … Monte Huffman (Pennington, Sr.) ran 17:35 at Shore Coaches and a comparable 14:07 for 2.5 miles at Manhattan. … Tyler Hurst (Steinert, Sr.) has gone 17:13 at Thompson Park and 17:34 at Holmdel. … Sean Maina (WWP South, So.) has finished just a few seconds behind his classmate Zola in every race. … Elie Meyer (Peddie, Sr.) has run 16:33 on his home course twice.