Middle Schoolers Compete for Titles at Third Annual State Championship

NJ Middle School Coverage
Robert Kellert


The leaders of the boys championship neck and neck. / Photo by Mae Kellert for MileSplit

On Saturday the third annual New Jersey Middle School Championships took place at Six Flags. The meet runs a 3,000 meter course and we were on site to record the finishes and take pictures.

Top Boy Gavin Richards Clinton MS 10:08
Top Girl Catherine Wimmer Unattached 11:05
Boys Team Southern Regional MS 62 pts 10:58 Average | 0:24 Split Between Top 5
Girls Team Carl W Goetz MS 66 pts 12:23 Average | 0:43 Split Between Top 5

On the boys side 8th grader Gavin Richards of Clinton Twp MS won the individual championship after battling with Myles Plummer, unattached, most of the way. Richards crossed the finish line in first with a time of 10:08, also placing him fourth on the meet's all-time list. Myles Plummer followed close in second with 10:11 now sixth all-time.

This was a 30 second improvement for Gavin Richards over last year's 7th place 10:38 performance at this very meet. This wasn't his first win of the season either, we have him down as winning the Six Flags Wild Safari meet back in September running 8:10 in the 2400m.

Team wise the Southern Regional MS boys won their second straight title averaging 10:58 and splitting a mere 24 seconds between their top five! Their 62 point performance was led by 8th grader Keoni Lieter who placed 13th running 10:45, a 26 second improvement from last year. The rest of the winning top five: Collin Boero 16th at 10:47, Nick Lemly 22nd 11:05, Phil Coppolino 24th 11:07, and Dean Bates 27th 11:09.

Related Links


Photo by Mae Kellert for MileSplit

The girls meet was won by 8th grader Catherine Wimmer, running unattached, who clocked in at 11:05. That was the fifth fastest all-time for the meet, a list led by the talented Hope Tiboni who won in 2013 with 10:42. Not too far behind her in second and third were Camryn Wennersten running unattached with 11:10 and Caroline Mehlhorn of Montgomery Upper MS third with 11:20. That was a minute improvement for Mehlhorn who placed 18th at this meet last year running 12:20.

Team wise the Carl W. Goetz MS won their second team title with an average of 12:23 and 66 points, just holding off Montgomery Upper MS in second with 73 points. These two talented teams seem to be going back and forth as Montgomery won the championship last year while Goetz won in 2013 as well.

Goetz was led by 8th grader Stephanie Uveges in 14th with a time of 12:04, a HUGE meet best for her as she finished 72nd last year running 13:47. The rest of their winning top five go as follows: Holly Buonocore 15th 12:06, Alyson Barnes 21st 12:22, Rachel Engle 37th 12:40, and Sophia Hamann 39th 12:47.

The were also Rising Stars races featuring 6th grade and under. The boys winner was Jack Tavaglione at 11:28 and the girls was Catherine Desousa crossing the finish at 12:04.

Congratulations to all the winners and athletes who hit personal bests. Below I have written up the meet history and filtered out the records. Check the related links above to view the all-time lists, photos, and finish line videos.

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If your middle school team runs in a meet have the meet director send their meet dates and a digital copy of their full results to NJ MileSplit at rkellert@milesplit.com. They need to come from the meet or the meet's timer to be official. We keep career stats for cross country, track and field athletes and we've already started keeping state leaderboards for middle school. If meets need a results program have them contact me as well.


Southern (in the yellow) won their second straight championship. / Photo by Mae Kellert for MileSplit

Meet Records

2015 - Meet Page | Photos | Videos

  • Individual Boy | Richard Gavin Clinton MS 10:08
  • Individual Girl | Catherine Wimmer Unattached 11:05
  • Boys Team | Southern Regional MS 62 pts 10:58 Average | 0:24 Split
  • Girls Team | Carl W Goetz MS 66 pts 12:23 Average | 0:43 Split

2014 - Meet Page

  • Individual Boy | Acasio Pinheiro The Wilberforce School 9:39
  • Individual Girl | Jerika Lufrano Renaissance at Rand MS 11:12
  • Boys Team | Southern Regional MS 59 pts 10:59 Average | 0:27 Split
  • Girls Team | Montgomery Upper MS 46 pts 12:12 Average | 1:04 Split

2013 - Meet Page

  • Individual Boy | Paul Keyes Southern Reg MS 9:51
  • Individual Girl | Hope Tiboni Mountain View MS 10:42
  • Boys Team | Mountain View MS 72 pts 10:54 Average | 1:54 Split
  • Girls Team | Carl W Goetz MS 39 pts 11:58 Average | 1:30 Split

The Goetz girls won their second championship on Saturday after also winning the first annual meet in 2013. / Photo by Mae Kellert for MileSplit