Blanchard, Lee, Jha, Kinsler, Crawford, and Gilligan all post some of the fastest times in Mercer County history.
Mercer County girls will be busy at the Meet of Champions after loading up on medals at the group championships.
Nine individual boys and four relay teams punched their tickets to the Meet of Champions with superb performances.
NJ.com’s Corey Annan selects Laura Sallade (Wilberforce) and Alaina Sabo (Notre Dame) as two of eighteen girls to watch this season in Non-Public A & B. Sallade’s tremendous 2024 season was “one of the main reasons why the program remained a contender in Non-Public B,” and Sabo “flashed star potential throughout her rookie season.”
The Trentonian selects Allison Lee (WWP North, Jr.) and Gavin Alvarez (Allentown, Sr.) as runners of the year. The two stars share their reactions to their performances and experiences at the Meet of Champions. Honorable mentions go to Christopher Young (Notre Dame, Sr.), Sean Wilton (Princeton, Sr.), and Sonjay Baylor-Reeves (Trenton, Sr.).
NJ.com’s CVC boy athlete of the year is Gavin Alvarez (Allentown, Sr.), and they highlights his fast PRs, medals at groups and Meet of Champions, and his big improvement from last year. The boys coach of the year is Nottingham’s Kenley Souffrant, and the boys team of the year is Notre Dame.
Coach McLaughlin shares what made him stick around at Notre Dame for 38 years, while assistant coach Jain Ja Williams praises his organizational skills and the culture he’s created, both at Notre Dame and across Mercer County. Coach Samara expresses appreciation for everyone who has shared with him the lessons they learned in his program, and he also talks about getting to coach with his father, the retired Princeton University coach.
Bartlett, Lee, Blanchard, Jha, Xiong, Casciano, Romanelli, and many others stayed sharp with big results in the break between MOCs and nationals.