Girls cross country Top 20, Oct. 21: Championship meets redefine landscape
NJ Advance Media's girls rankings include the following teams from Mercer County and NJ Central groups:
#3 Middletown South (up from #6)
#4 Princeton (down from #3)
#6 Colts Neck (up from #17)
#8 Manalapan (down from #5)
#10 Freehold Township (down from #9)
#13 Rumson-Fair Haven (no change)
#20 Hopewell Valley (down from #19)
Boys cross country Top 20, Oct. 21: Championship performances reshuffle the rankings
NJ Advance Media's boys rankings include the following teams from NJ Central groups:
#3 Colts Neck (up from #9)
#14 South Brunswick (up from #20)
#15 Manalapan (down from #12)
Defending champions headline Week 7 N.J. cross country standout performances
One of NJ.com’s standout performers from last week was West Windsor-Plainsboro South’s Shravan Pradeep, whose 15:17.4 at the CVC Divisional Championship shattered the old meet record of 15:57 from 2021.
Key takeaways and under-the-radar cross country stories from Week 7
One of NJ.com’s under-the-radar performances from last week was WW-P North’s win over WW-P South at the CVC Divisional Championship, thanks to its 41-second spread that put all five boys in the top 10.
Meet N.J.’s most underrated boys and girls cross country runners in 2024
NJ.com selected the 7-8 most underrated runners from every group. Here were their picks from Mercer County, who each got a short write-up:
Emilia Wroblewski (Allentown, Sr.)
Rosemary Warren (Princeton, Fr.)
Alaina Sabo (Notre Dame, Fr.)
Stella Blanchard (Wilberforce, So.)
Silas Allevik (Hopewell Valley, So.)
Tarun Kovoor (Notre Dame, Sr.)
Boys & girls cross-country Fab 50s, Oct. 17: Championship season forces major shift
Here’s who made NJ Advance Media’s list of top 50 NJ runners. Note that these rankings were published before the CVC Championship.
#7 Allison Lee (WW-P North, Jr.)
#29 Grace Hegedus (Princeton, So.)
#35 Zui Chinchalkar (WW-P North, Sr.)
#36 Kajol Karra (Princeton, Jr.)
#38 Claire Dumont (Hopewell Valley, Sr.)
#45 Laura Sallade (Wilberforce, Jr.)
#28 Shravan Pradeep (WW-P South, Sr.)
Girls cross country Top 20, Oct. 14: Eventful weekend leads to some movement
NJ Advance Media's girls rankings include the following teams from Mercer County and NJ Central groups:
#3 Princeton (no change)
#5 Manalapan (no change)
#6 Middletown South (no change)
#9 Freehold Township (no change)
#13 Rumson-Fair Haven (up from #14)
#17 Colts Neck (down from #16)
#19 Hopewell Valley (no change)
Boys cross-country Top 20, Oct. 14: Out-of-state performances cause slight movement
NJ Advance Media's boys rankings include the following teams from NJ Central groups:
#9 Colts Neck (down from #5)
#12 Manalapan (no change)
#20 South Brunswick (no change)
XC Fall Classic: Notre Dame’s Kovoor bounces back; Princeton claims boys title
Corey Annan interviews Tarun Kovoor (Notre Dame) and Princeton coach James Smirk after their wins at the XC Fall Classic. Kovoor talks about the victory being a confidence boost after coming back from a glute injury. Coach Smirk praises his boys for playing on each other’s strengths and having the mindset that team success is everyone’s success.
Girls cross country Top 20, Oct. 7: South Jersey teams rise after Shore Coaches
NJ Advance Media's girls rankings include the following teams from Mercer County and NJ Central groups:
#3 Princeton (up from #4)
#5 Manalapan (no change)
#6 Middletown South (no change)
#9 Freehold Township (no change)
#14 Rumson-Fair Haven (up from #18)
#16 Colts Neck (no change)
#19 Hopewell Valley (down from #14)
Boys cross-country Top 20, Oct. 7: Shore Coaches Invite results in major movement
NJ Advance Media's boys rankings include the following teams from NJ Central groups:
#5 Colts Neck (no change)
#12 Manalapan (down from #9)
#20 South Brunswick (down from #11)
Elite times headline girls performances from the Shore Coaches XC Invitational
Allison Lee (West Windsor-Plainsboro North) talks with the media after her win in the girls Varsity B race at the Shore Coaches Invitational. She says that cross training has been key to staying healthy this year, and that knowing the Holmdel course so well, including which portions are her strongest, has been a big advantage. She also credits senior teammate Zhu Chinchalkar as a role model and a huge reason for her success.
Fans vote Allentown’s Wroblewski as top senior athlete in N.J. girls cross country
Allentown’s Emilia Wroblewski was voted by fans as the top girls senior XC runner. She received 42% of the vote. Ewing’s Teagan Walker finished second in the voting.
Who is N.J.’s top senior boys cross country runner? Make your vote here!
Vote for a Mercer County boy as the top senior XC runner in the state! Nominees include Luke Ferret (West Windsor-Plainsboro North) and Shravan Pradeep (West Windsor-Plainsboro South).
Who is N.J.’s top senior girls cross country runner? Make your vote here!
Vote for a Mercer County girl as the top senior XC runner in the state! Nominees include Zhu Chinchalkar (West Windsor-Plainsboro North), Claire Dumont (Hopewell Valley), Adeline Edwards (Wilberforce), Teagan Walker (Ewing), and Emilia Wroblewski (Allentown).
Girls cross country Top 20, Sept 30: Signature wins lead to some notable changes
NJ.com published its team rankings early this week. Here are Mercer County's ranked girls teams:
#4 Princeton (up from #5)
#13 Wilberforce (no change)
#14 Hopewell Valley (no change)
#16 West Windsor-Plainsboro North (no change)
Key takeaways and under-the-radar stories from Week 4′s cross country meets
After West Windsor-Plainsboro South's Shravan Pradeep topped all NJ runners at the Six Flags Wild Safari Invitational, NJ.com's Bakari Rice describes him as "becoming a difference maker." Rice predicts that Pradeep's success "will also translate to the team," and he highlights WW-P South's top-5 average of 16:37, which was best among all NJ teams.
Girls cross-country Top 20, Sept. 27: No new teams, but plenty of movement
Four Mercer County girls teams are in NJ Advance Media's top 20 this week:
#5 Princeton (up from 6)
#13 Wilberforce (no change)
#14 Hopewell Valley (no change)
#16 West Windsor-Plainsboro North (no change)
Girls cross country Fab 50, Sept. 26: Who is surging ahead of a pivotal Week 4?
Here are the Mercer County girls in NJ Advance Media's top 50 this week:
#8 Zui Chinchalkar (WW-P North)
#13 Allison Lee (WW-P North)
#34 Grace Hegedus (Princeton)
#35 Claire Dumont (Hopewell Valley)
#39 Laura Sallade (Wilberforce)
#42 Adeline Edwards (Wilberforce)
Fast times, division titles headline Week 3's standout cross country performances
Claire Dumont won her first gold medal as No. 12 Hopewell Valley girls dominated at the TCNJ Invitational. Kajol Karra and No. 6 Princeton girls made an impressive season debut at the Jerry Hart Invitational, averaging 19:19 and scoring 20 points over No. 13 Wilberforce.