Winter Track Preview: Sprinters and Hurdlers
Track is back, and it’s finally the sprinters’ time to shine!
We’re kicking off the winter track preview with the athletes who bring the heat every meet: the sprinters and hurdlers. Below are a dozen girls and a dozen boys who lit up the track last winter with big wins, fast PRs, and clutch championship performances — and they’re all back for more.
Who else is going to show up or break through this winter? We’ll soon see!
Girls 55m, 200m, 400m, and 55mH
Autumn Carter (Hopewell Valley, Sr.) is an always threat to win in any event. The 400m might be her best race: last winter, she became one of just four Mercer County girls to go sub-60 in the 400m when she ran 58.93 at sectionals, and she is the reigning CVC champion in the 400m outdoors. (She already started this season with a bang by dropping a big PR of 57.09 at the Ocean Breeze 2C2W Track Fiesta last month.) She’s powerful in the short sprints too, with PRs of 7.51 and 26.08 from last indoor season, which are both top-4 among Mercer County returners.
Ariana Crusoe Gaye (Nottingham, Jr.) had a solid winter season last year but really broke through in the spring, when she established herself as one of the county’s most dangerous triple-threat sprinters. She earned silver medals in both the 100m and 400m at the outdoor CVC Championships, and she followed that up with a very impressive triple at sectionals of 12.59 (3rd in 100m), 26.14 (7th in 200m), and 59.50 (6th in 400m).
Isabella Daley (Notre Dame, Sr.) is a dual-sport star. She’s formidable on the soccer field — she was named the CVC Defender of the Year this past fall — but she brings the heat during winter track, too. She advanced to the 55m finals at each of the past two Non-Public B Group Championships, and she finished 3rd in the 55m at last winter’s CVC Championships. She boasts a 55m PR of 7.40 and a 200m PR of 26.72.
Leah Daniels (Ewing, Sr.) found her groove last winter in the 55m, running a big PR of 7.57 at sectionals to take 8th place there. Outdoors, she found immense success in the long sprints, running 1:00.72 in the 400m and qualifying for the Group 3 Championships in the 200m, where she ran a PR of 25.66. It’s already clear that she’s kept that momentum going by running a huge 400m PR of 58.80 to open her season at Ocean Breeze last month.
Jael Gaines (Lawrenceville, Sr.) stated her case as one of the state’s top 400m runner after a phenomenal junior year. Indoors, she broke 59 a half-dozen times and even went sub-58 on a relay. She kicked it up another notch in the spring, running an open 400m PR of 57.05 and going sub-57 on the Big Red’s All-American 4x400m team. Beyond the 400m, Gaines has a huge range and can drop impressive times at every distance from the 100m to the 800m.
Tessa Hughes (Peddie, Sr.) is an incredible all-around athlete. Last winter, she accomplished the rare feat of finishing Top-3 on the Mercer County leaderboard in five events: the 55mH (#2 in 8.37), the 200m (#3 in 25.87), the 300m (#3 in 41.07), high jump (#1 in 5-5), and long jump (#3 in 17-1). But the hurdles are where she excels the most, and she her 55mH PR placed her at #15 in the whole state last winter.
Samya Jenkins (Lawrence, Jr.) comes into this season as the CVC’s sprint queen — she’s the reigning CVC champion in the winter track 55m/200m and the spring track 100m/200m. Her quick PRs from last winter were 7.31 in the 55m and 26.13 in the 200m. Jenkins also has experience on the biggest stages, after qualifying for the spring Meet of Champions in both the 100m and 200m.
Angel Johnson (Ewing, So.) finished 2nd in 55mH with a PR of 9.04 at the CVC Championships as a freshman. Since then she’s only gotten better, and she qualified for groups outdoors in the 100mH. She also has great speed in the flat sprints. She made it to the 100m finals in the outdoor CVC Championships. She’s already had a massively promising start to the season: at the 2C2W Track Fiesta last month, she uncorked big PRs of 7.43 in the 55m and 8.72 in the 55mH.
Bryana Mason (Ewing, So.) is another rising star in the hurdles, with freshman PRs of 8.95 in the 55mH and 16.27 in the 100mH. She barely missed qualifying for groups in the high hurdles twice, getting 7th at sectionals both indoors and outdoors, so expect her to come back this year extra motivated to punch that ticket.
Logan Mills (WWP South, Sr.) had an excellent CVC Championship last winter, when she placed 6th overall and went 7.54 in the prelims. She’s poised for a big senior year as she anchors a rebuilding Pirates sprint squad that lost a lot of starpower to graduation last year.
Foluke Oladeji (Peddie, So.) is another star soccer player who unleashed some incredible sprint speed on the track last winter. For instance, she ran 7.51 (#4 among Mercer County returners) to win the freshman 55m at the Bishop Loughlin Games.
Aijah Somerselle (Hightstown, Sr.) was both incredibly fast and consistent last winter: out of nine 55m races, she ran 7.41 or faster in every single one! Her winter track PRs of 7.36 in the 55m and 26.12 in the 200m are #2 and #3 among Mercer County returners, respectively. She took silver in both the 55m and 200m at CVCs last winter, and she finished 9th at the Group 3 Championships.
Yasmin Willie (Lawrenceville, So.) could make the preseason watchlist for both sprinters and distance runners, given that her winter track PRs of 1:01.57 in the open 400m and 2:21.58 in the 800m are both #3 among Mercer County returners. But she gets the nod here for her 400m prowess — besides her fast open PR, she’s split 58-low a couple of times on relays, both indoors and out.
Boys 55m, 200m, 400, and 55mH
Tahmere Brown (Pennington, So.) wasn’t just the best freshman in Mercer County last winter, he was one of the best overall sprinters. He’s best at the short sprints, where his 55m PR of 6.57 was #3 in the county. At Prep B States, he took gold in the 55m and silver in the 200m. Outdoors, he went undefeated in the 100m and won at both MAPLs and Prep B States.
Kyle Carr (Princeton, Jr.) finished last winter season ranked #6 among Mercer County returners in both the 55m and the 200m. He’s got indoor PRs of 6.82 and 23.37, and he finished 7th in the 55m at CVCs.
Aldric Crawford (Notre Dame, Sr.) is a strong athlete that can do anything on the track. With indoor track PRs of 22.81 in the 200m and 50.37 in the 400m, he’s the #2 returner in both events, and he’s tied for the #3 returner in the 55m with a 6.68 PR. He was also a key member of the Irish’s All-American shuttle hurdles relay. He qualified for the Meet of Champions twice last year, in the 400m indoors and the 400mH outdoors.
Aydun Hines (WWP South, Sr.) was one the CVC’s best 200m runners last year, taking 3rd at the CVC Championships both indoors and outdoors. His indoor PR of 23.46 was run at the Bubble — a venue not known for fast sprint times — so expect him to crush that this year.
Ayodele Joa-Griffith (Lawrenceville, Sr.) was going to be saved for our distance preview — he was by far Mercer County’s best 800m boy last year — but it’s hard to leave him out of the sprinter preview after he just dropped a 50.34 for 2nd place at the Lawrenceville Opener on Wednesday. That would’ve been the 3rd-fastest time in the county all last winter.
Dasan Jones (Ewing, Sr.) was on fire all last year. In the winter, he ran PRs of 6.68 in the 55m (#3 among returners) and 22.73 in the 200m (#1 among returners). He also earned bronze at CVCs with an indoor 400m PR of 52.02, and he qualified for groups in both 55m and 400m. Outdoors, he earned silver medals at CVCs in both the 100m and 200m and was a double-qualifier for groups again, this time in the 200m and 400m.
Zamir Jones (Notre Dame, Sr.) ran a 55mH PR of 7.86 at the Non-Public A Championships last winter to qualify for the Meet of Champions. He had a stellar spring in the 110mH, where he broke 15.0 several times while finishing 2nd at the Mercer Coaches Classic, 3rd at CVCs, 8th at the NPA Group Championship.
Julius Kinsler (WWP South, Sr.) finished atop the Mercer County 400m leaderboard last winter after scorching a 49.42 at Adidas Track Nationals. He racked up a ton of medals too, including 2nd at CVCs, 1st at Central Group 4 Sectionals (on an epic lean), 5th at the Group 4 Championships, and 12th at the Meet of Champions. He’s also the reigning Central Group 4 sectionals champion from outdoors, where he ran his county-leading PR of 48.62.
Bryce Marsh (Notre Dame, Sr.) comes into this season with a 55mH resume almost identical to his classmate Jones’s. He also ran his PR of 7.86 at the Non-Public A Championship, and he then finished 24th at the Meet of Champions. Outdoors, he took 6th at the CVC Championship.
Avery Radom (Hun, Sr.) blazed some fast times last winter, and he finished the year ranked Top 10 in Mercer County in both the 55m (PR of 6.70) and the 200m (PR of 23.44). He’s one of the best prep sprinters in New Jersey, taking 2nd at indoor Prep A States in the 55m and 4th at outdoor Prep A States in the 100m.
Will Strickland (Robbinsville, Sr.) only raced at three meets last winter, but one of those was a great showing at the CVC Championships, where he took 4th in the 400m and 6th in the 200m. He really lit up the track in the spring, including a 49.97 400m to earn a 5th place medal at the Group 2 Championship.
Terrance Williams (Hightstown, Sr.) is the reigning CVC champion in the 55m, where he blasted a big PR of 6.61 to win. He went even faster at Central Group 3 sectionals (6.60 PR) to take home the silver medal at Central Group 3 sectionals, and he placed 7th in the finals of the Group 3 Championships. His indoor 200m PR of 23.24 is #3 among Mercer County returners. Outdoors, he finished 4th in the 100m at CVCs.
Corey Woodson (Lawrenceville, Sr.) is the county’s top returner in the 55mH, with a PR of 7.81. He broke 8.0 pretty consistently last winter, and he took 3rd place at Prep A States. Outdoors, he was the MAPLs runner-up in the 110mH. (Spoiler alert: He already reset his 55mH PR with a 7.70 to win his season opener on Wednesday.)