Winter Track Preview: Distance Runners
Last but not least, here are the top winter track returners in the distance events!
If you followed along during the XC season, most of these names will be familiar. But others are making their first appearances of the running year, especially in the 800m ranks. And, of course, a few XC runners who will be particularly excited about getting their feet back on the flat, hard surface of a track.
This list focuses on athletes who ran winter track last year, so it’s missing some newcomers who, based on their XC debuts this past fall, are almost certain to rise up the county leaderboards if they choose to do track this winter. To read more about Mercer County’s top distance runners, check out last month’s lists of all-county boys and all-county girls from XC season.
Girls 800m, 1600m, and 3200m
Blair Bartlett (Lawrenceville, Jr.) first broke out on the national scene last winter, placing 6th at the prestigious Millrose mile in 4:48.36 and later running a 10:31.54 2-mile to take 22nd at New Balance Nationals Indoor. Of course, she crushed those PRs in the spring, blasting a 9:55.17 3200m, a state-record 9:13.60 3000m to win Penn Relays, and a 4:39.63 mile for 6th at the HOKA Festival of Miles. She’ll get a late start to the track season this year, since her historic XC season will extend until January 10th, when she’ll represent the USA at the World U20 XC Championships.
Kate Grecsek (WWP South, So.) had a tremendous freshman indoor season, the highlight of which was medaling at Central Group 4 sectionals with a 5:21.04 1600m for 6th place. She later went even faster at New Balance Nationals Indoor, where she ran 5:22.41 for the full mile to place 47th in the freshman race.
Grace Hegedus (Princeton, Jr.) is a well-rounded distance star who excels in both the 1600m and 3200m. Last winter, she made her first group meet on the track in the 3200m, and in the spring she finished with outdoor PRs of 5:15.87 (#12 in the county) and 11:10.35 (#5 in the county). She’s coming off a strong XC season where she set new PRs on every course, so watch for those track times to drop, too.
Kajol Karra (Princeton, Sr.) is one of the state’s best XC runners, and that long-distance talent translates exceptionally well to the 3200m on the track. Last winter, she placed 7th at the Meet of Champions with a big PR of 10:47.55. In the spring, she earned the 4th-place medal at the Group 4 Championships and finished 15th at MOCs. Her talents aren’t limited to just the 3200m, though. She also popped a few big 1600m races last spring, including a silver medal at CVCs and a PR of 5:05.27.
Rory Laubach (Lawrenceville, Jr.) has steadily progressed into one of the top 800m runners around. She ran PRs of 2:23.73 in the winter and 2:19.54 in the spring, and both those times were among the Top 8 in Mercer County. She’ll be building on a whole new baseline level of fitness this year after running XC for the first time and achieving very impressive results that included an 5th-place finish at Prep A States and a 5K PR of 19:37.
Allison Lee (WWP North, Sr.) comes into this track season as the fastest distance girl in Group 3 and one of the best in the whole Garden State. She loves the longer distances, and she excels at them. Last year, she went to the Meet of Champions in the 3200m both seasons, getting 6th indoors and 2nd outdoors. She even stepped up in distance to the 5000m at both New Balance Nationals meets, running 17:13 for 11th indoors and 16:38 for 7th outdoors. She’s got the wheels to complement that incredible long-distance fitness, and she could be MOCs medalist threat in the 1600m if she wanted to, with an outdoor PR of 4:51.82.
Izzy Meth (Lawrence, Jr.) made the switch from swimming to winter track last year and found immediate success. In the 3200m, she ran a big PR of 11:15 at the Group 3 Championships to qualify for the Meet of Champions, where she PR’d again to take 24th in 11:10. She kept that momentum rolling into the spring, where she ran 10:59.32 and joined the elite company of Bartlett and Lee as the only girls in Mercer County to go sub-11:00 that season. Watch for her to raise the bar even more after a phenomenal XC season where she took 37th at the Meet of Champions and ran a 5K PR of 18:37.
Lena Murray (Princeton, Sr.) is an excellent 800m runner and qualified for groups in that event both indoors and outdoors last year. She’s got an outdoor PR of 2:18.69 that she ran for 8th place at the spring Group 4 Championships. She consistently runs well at the CVC Championships, earning silver in the winter and bronze in the spring.
Siena Rivera (Hightstown, So.) had a huge sectionals race last winter, taking home the 5th-place medal in the Central Group 3 1600m with a PR of 5:20.43. That time was good for #8 in the county. This year, she’s coming off an XC season that got a late start due to injury, so don’t be surprised if she’s both fresher and more motivated to make some big noise this winter.
Phoenix Roth (Princeton, Jr.) is a stellar miler who advanced all the way to the Meet of Champions in the 1600m last winter. She’s run 5:15 indoors and 5:14 a few times outdoors, along with an impressive and gritty 7:18.95 in the 2000m steeplechase. She boasts long distance chops as well, with a 3200m PR of 11:12.96. She’s coming off a very strong XC season where she excelled both on fast courses like Peddie as well as hilly courses like Bowdoin, so watch for those fitness gains to translate into more big performances.
Alaina Sabo (Notre Dame, So.) is one the county’s top XC runners, but she transforms into a mid-distance ace for track season. Last winter, she placed 10th in the freshman 800m at New Balance National Indoor with a 2:18.80. In the spring, she dominated the CVC Championship in the 800m, advanced all the way to the Meet of Champions, and finished with a PR of 2:15.45. Those PRs put her at #3 in the county both seasons.
Sara Secora (WWP North, Jr.) was one to the top all-around distance runners last track season. In the winter, she won the 1600m at the NJ JV-Novice Invitational in 5:22.66 and also ran a strong 800m on the Knights’ winning DMR at the Group 3 Relay Championships. In the spring, she showed off her impressive range by finishing #11 on the Mercer County leaderboard in all three distance events with a 2:22.35, 5:15.52, and 11:43.61.
Sydney Young (Hopewell Valley, Jr.) has amazing long-distance credentials — she finished 22nd at the Meet of Champions last month — but when track arrives, she drops down to focus on the 1600m, and she’s found equally amazing success there. Last winter, she placed 11th at the Meet of Champions in 5:03.48 and finished the season with a 5:04.08 full mile at Nike Indoor Nationals. She kept that momentum rolling through the spring and lowered her PR to 4:58.75 with an awesome finale at Nike Outdoor Nationals.
Boys 800m, 1600m, and 3200m
Mateo Abad-Delgado (Hightstown, Jr.) focused on the 3200m last winter, and it paid off with him qualifying for the Group 3 Championship and running a PR of 10:04.98 there. Outdoors, he lowered that PR to 9:53.07 (Mercer County #8) while also dropping an excellent 1600m time of 4:33.69 to finish the year. This past fall, he dealt with an injury but still flashed some major talent — including a win at the Thompson 2 Miler — so there’s definitely potential for a very special indoor season.
Silas Allevik (Hopewell Valley, Jr.) was one of the county’s top 1600m runners as a sophomore, running 4:34.49 indoors and 4:24.68 outdoors. He delivered big results throughout the spring, including 2nd at the Mercer Coaches Classic, 3rd at the CVC Championships, 6th at the Central Group 3 sectionals, and 17th at the Group 3 Championships. He also has a quick 800m PR of 2:01.74 from the spring.
Finnegan Curley (Hopewell Valley, Jr.) is a true long=-distance star. He was the lone underclassman to go sub-10:00 in the 3200m last winter, when he ran 9:58.32 for 8th place at the Group 2 Championships. He dropped that PR by 10 seconds outdoors and is Mercer County’s #2 returner in the 3200m. He just finished up an XC season that was stellar from start to finish, which included placing 11th at the Group 3 Championships and 41st at the Meet of Champions.
Tyler Hurst (Steinert, Sr.) boasts an incredible range. Last year, he accomplished the rare feat of going sub-16:00 in the 5K and sub-1:57 in the open 800m. He ran several excellent 800m races in the spring, including a 9th-place finish at the Group 3 Championships and a PR of 1:56.48 that makes him the #2 returner in Mercer County. Indoors, he’s the defending silver medalist in the CVC 1600m.
Agrim Jha (WWP North, So.) wasted no time last year becoming one of the most dominant runners in Mercer County. As a freshman, he finished near the top of the leaderboards in the indoor 1600m (#3 in 4:30.60 for a full mile), outdoor 1600m (#3 in 4:23.97 for a full mile), and outdoor 3200m (#1 in 9:21.64). Now, as a sophomore, he’s establishing himself as one of the best distance runners in the whole state, especially after blasting a 15:35 5K and later taking home the 14th-place medal at the Meet of Champions.
Ayodele Joa-Griffith (Lawrenceville, Sr.) had a monster junior year and enters 2026 as Mercer County’s #1 returner in the 400m and 800m. Last winter, he was the Prep A runner-up in the 800m and set an open PR of 1:56.05. Outdoors, he dropped that PR down to an incredible 1:54.08 to place 75th at New Balance Nationals Outdoor.
Mohamed Mohamed (Lawrenceville, Sr.) was one of the county’s top 3200m runners last year, setting PRs of 10:01.42 indoors and 10:02.36 outdoors while taking 2nd place at MAPLs both seasons. He doesn’t do cross country — he’s a star forward for the Big Red’s soccer team — but he always arrives in great shape for winter season, so watch for him to finally crack the 10:00 barrier soon.
Amir Mulkey (Notre Dame, Jr.) is one of the top 400/800 specialists in Mercer County, which makes him especially valuable in the team competition — he was a pivotal member of the Irish’s CVC-leading 4x400m and high-scoring 4x800m relay teams. Of course, he more than holds his own in the open events. In the 800m last year, he posted PRs of 2:04.72 indoors and 2:00.51 outdoors, both of which are Top 4 among returners.
John O’Leary (Allentown, Sr.) made a huge jump last year from winter track (PRs of 4:44 and 10:38) to spring track (PRs of 4:35 and 9:59). He kept that momentum going into the fall, where he ran a 16:01 5K and placed 13th at the Group 2 Championships. Watch for that new fitness and increased mileage base to carry him to more big track PRs.
Saboor Qureshi (Princeton, Sr.) had a very solid but not necessarily spectacular junior year, where he focused on the 800m and finished with PRs of 2:07.62 indoors and 2:04.92 outdoors (plus 4:38.98 in the 1600m). But you can expect those PRs to drop dramatically after the monster XC season he just had — he ran a 5K PR of 15:55, placed 13th in the Group 4 Championship, and finished 58th at the Meet of Champions.
Luca Romanelli (Peddie, Sr.) focuses on the 800m almost exclusively, and that strategy has worked incredibly well for him. Last winter, he ran 2:05.26 to take 6th at Prep A States. Then he really leveled up in the spring, breaking PRs in almost every race and culminating in a barrier-breaking time of 1:59.97 at the East Coast Championships.
Arunav Sarkar (Lawrenceville, Jr.) has found a ton of success as a pure middle-distance runner, racking up the fast times and medals in the 800m and 1600m. He’s got indoor PRs of 2:01.09 and 4:32.58 along with outdoor PRs of 2:00.09 and 4:29.73 (for a full mile). He recently elevated his fitness to a new level with a great XC season, so watch for those times to keep falling.
Paul Wittenberg (WWP North, Jr.) was on a tear last spring, breaking PRs in every race en route to times of 4:30.04 in the 1600m (#8 in the county) and 9:48.16 in the 3200m (#6 in the county). That 3200m time got him 13th place at the Group 3 Championships. He kept right on rolling through the summer and into the XC season, which he capped off by placing 12th at groups and, most amazingly, 23rd at the Meet of Champions. This will be his first year on the indoor track, but it’s safe to say he’s poised for more big results.