Szilier And Sheehy Run Top Times At Cherokee Challenge
The 2026 Cherokee Challenge may have taken place on an out-of-the-norm Friday afternoon, but the meet brought the usual early season fire while showcasing some up-and-coming freshmen talent and allowing distance stars from around the state, and out of state, to kick off their season in a big way.
Top boys time came from Trevor Szilier of Washington Twp, winning the junior race at 9:51.46. Szilier was one of only two athletes to dip under 10 minutes, including the senior division winner Gavin Oliver of Donovan Catholic, who ran 9:58.85. His third victory at the Cherokee Challenge.
Cinnaminson earned the overall merge lead with 163 points. Averaging 10:37.59. Individually, they were led by Edward Abu-Adas, who was fifth in the senior race and the 13th quickest overall, clocked at 10:22.10.
A notable freshman performance also helped power this team's strong run; Jimmy McKeon was second in the frosh race and the top NJ freshman with 10:40.29. McKeon ended up Cinnaminson's third man in the merge scoring.
The freshmen race winner was PA's Noah Smith of Council Rock South, who ran a 10:16.65 which was the eighth fastest of the meet as a whole. Braden Bernardini of St. Augustine Prep won the sophomore race with a 10:29.05.
Charlie Berk of Germantown Friends School had the third fastest time of 10:06.73, placing second in the senior race. Aron Zola of West Windsor Plainsboro South was fourth fastest overall and second in the junior race at 10:06.81.
The Paul VI girls scored 61 points to dominate the meet merge, averaging 12:23.05 and splitting 58.24 through their top five runners.
They were led by freshman Peyton Barger who was second in the frosh race at 11:55.34, and second fastest in the meet overall. Paul VI's top four scorers all ran within the top 15 fastest on the day at Cherokee. Barger, Morgan Kuzma, Isabella Suarez, Grace Gutowski, and Peyton Blake all made up this stellar top five for Paul VI on Friday.
Suarez was also the sophomore race winner with a 12:22.70, the 13th fastest time of the meet.
Individually, another freshman also showcased their pace: Addison Sheehy of Toms River East clocked the quickest time of the meet at 11:40.67. Freshmen Sheehy and Barger were the only two to run under 12 minutes, including all grade levels!
Siena Rivera of Hightstown clocked the third fastest time of the meet when she won the junior race at 12:00.43. Sophee Estrems of NV Demarest won the senior division at 12:01.40, the fourth fastest of the meet.
In the middle school division, the boys race was won by Eli Wald of Southern Regional MS at 7:47.26 while the girls race was won by Nora Tully of Haddonfield MS.
WWPNorth And Ocean City Lead Teams At Run The Night
The second annual Run the Night meet once again helped open up the New Jersey cross country season in Manalapan with the unique experience of running in the dark.
On the boys side West Windsor Plainsboro North dominated the meet, 40 points in the merge with a 10:06.32 average and just 36.12 seconds between their scoring five.
The North boys recorded the top THREE times overall, led by Agrim Jha, the junior race winner 9:49.77, Rohan Varma, at 9:53.51, and Paul Wittenberg, the senior race winner at 9:59.13.
Pt. Pleasant Boro's Jonathan Schott won the Freshman boys race at 10:50. Justin Romano of Manalapan took home the sophomore win at 10:24.7.
Boys Top 10 Times - 3200m Run
| 1 |  | Agrim Jha | JR | West Windsor-Plainsboro North HS | Junior | 9:49.77 |
| 2 | | Rohan Varma | JR | West Windsor-Plainsboro North HS | Junior | 9:53.51 |
| 3 | | Paul Wittenberg | SR | West Windsor-Plainsboro North HS | Senior | 9:59.13 |
| 4 |  | Justin Volosin | SR | Manalapan HS | Senior | 10:05.09 |
| 5 |  | Cole Kober | SR | North Hunterdon HS | Senior | 10:06.20 |
| 6 |  | Jayran Rodriguez | SR | Manville HS | Senior | 10:06.53 |
| 7 |  | Julian Hiraldo | JR | Hopewell Valley HS | Junior | 10:06.86 |
| 8 |  | Michael Butler | SR | St. John Vianney HS | Senior | 10:13.06 |
| 9 |  | Brady McHugh | SR | Shore Regional HS | Senior | 10:17.41 |
| 10 | | Matthew Butch | SR | Manalapan HS | Senior | 10:17.67 |
Alexandra Klein at the 2025 Run the Night
Ocean City girls led the merge with 72 points and a 12:01.87 average over the 3200m course. Riley Tolson led the way with the junior race victory and second-fastest time of the meet at 11:12.86.
Carly Godfrey also broke into the top ten overall with a fifth-place finish in the senior race at 11:47.22.
Manalapan ranked second as a team in the merge, just 28 points behind Ocean City. They averaged 12:21, and their strength came with the tight pack, just a 30.43-second spread from one through five.
Manalapan was led by Amelia Polowniak's second-place finish in the junior race, a time of 12:11.28, which ranked 14th overall for the meet.
Individually, the fastest time of the meet was clocked by Alexandra Klein of Shore Regional; she won the senior race at 10:51.13 and was the only one under 11 minutes.
The junior race winner was Scarlett Prendergast of North Hunterdon with a 12:06.19.
Molly Cataline of Northern Burlington brought home the freshman win, running 11:53.91, which was also the ovrerall eighth fastest time of the night.
Union Catholic Sweep Oak Ridge Invitational
The NJ No. 1 ranked Union Catholic girls took to the Oak Ridge Invitational 2-mile course and posted up the top five times of the meet, sweeping the team scoring with a perfect 15 points and an 11:56 average, accompanied by just a 23-second spread.
They were led by senior Cayleigh Kaiser at 11:40.30 and featured three sophomores in the scoring five. Following Kaiser were Kayla Devine, Harper Telesca, Eden Solorzano, and Abigail Robisky who's finishes are charted below.
Their six and seven were top ten in the meet as well, junior Saffa Ellis ranked eight overall at 12:29.30 and sophomore Jia Jain was ninth fastest at 12:38.21.
Reagan Moore was the first finisher outside of Union Catholic, running sixth overall at 12:04.40. Sophomore Summer Rae Sharma of Kent Place School was seventh at 12:06.40.
Union Catholic Girls Top Five - 2 Mile Run
| 1 |  | Cayleigh Kaiser | SR | Union Catholic Reg. HS | Varsity | 11:40.30 |
| 2 | | Kayla Devine | SR | Union Catholic Reg. HS | Varsity | 11:54.50 |
| 3 | | Harper Telesca | SO | Union Catholic Reg. HS | Varsity | 11:59.80 |
| 4 | | Eden Solorzano | SO | Union Catholic Reg. HS | Varsity | 12:02.40 |
| 5 | | Abigail Robisky | SO | Union Catholic Reg. HS | Varsity | 12:04.10 |
The Union Catholic boys also earned the team victory, scoring 19 points to Westfield's 58. UC averaged 10:33 and split just 14 seconds one through five. They were led by senior Danny Kuran at 10:23.90.
Westfield's Lincoln Staiger finished second with a 10:31 to break up UC's pack. From there, UC closed out their scoring five with Jayden Aine in third at 10:31.7, Nathan Simonich fourth 10:35.21, Quintin Clemons fifth 10:38.10, and Nick Frank sixth 10:38.71.
The boys freshmen mile was won individually by Louis Yannacone of Metuchen at 5:32.10. Eleanor Hough of Governor Livingston won the girls freshmen mile at 6:47.30.
Watchung Hills Regional Leads Lancer Invitational
The Watchung Hills Regional boys and girls swept the individual and team wins at the annual Lancer Invitational hosted by Livingston HS.
Junior Nolan Holliss led the boys race with a 16:04, and his teammates at Watchung Hills Regional just rolled along from there, scoring 16 points, averaging 17:07 with a split of 1:56.
He was followed by Caleb Apuzzo second at 16:41, Elijah Mohallim third at 17:22, Dylan Braverman fourth 17:31, and Arin Shah eighth at 18:00 to close up their scoring five.
Livingston finished second as a team in the boys race with 52 points.
Boys Top 5 Finishers - 5K
| Place | Athlete | Team | Mark | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Nolan Holliss JR | Watchung Hills Reg. HS | 16:04.00 | 1 |
| 2 | | Caleb Apuzzo SR | Watchung Hills Reg. HS | 16:41.00 | 2 |
| 3 | | Elijah Mohallim SO | Watchung Hills Reg. HS | 17:22.00 | 3 |
| 4 | | Dylan Braverman JR | Watchung Hills Reg. HS | 17:31.00 | 4 |
| 5 |  | Beckett Tully JR | West Orange HS | 17:41.00 |
The girls race saw another Watchung Hills Regional winner; junior Deirdre Vanderstreet ran 20:58 to lead the field by 50 seconds.
Watchung Hills girls earned the team win with 28 points to Suffern's 61.
Also making up Watchung Hills scoring five were Emma Bariso fourth at 22:00, Madeline Dodd sixth at 22:12, Claire Wu eighth at 23:05, and Isabella Rivera ninth at 23:12.
Girls Top 5 Finishers - 5K
| Place | Athlete | Team | Mark | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | | Deirdre Vanderstreet JR | Watchung Hills Reg. HS | 20:58.00 | 1 |
| 2 |  | Grace Delaney SO | Suffern | 21:48.00 | 2 |
| 3 |  | Oona Nance JR | Bloomfield HS | 21:52.00 | 3 |
| 4 | | Emma Bariso JR | Watchung Hills Reg. HS | 22:00.00 | 4 |
| 5 |  | Ali Agha JR | Livingston HS | 22:10.00 | 5 |
Jack McLennan And Kaylee Finnegan Lead Southern Sunset Classic
A summer shakeout meet took place on Thursday at Southern Regional HS, all races ran the 3K distance, split into "even" and "odd" races.
Kaylee Finnegan of Ramsey HS led the girls meet by a wide margin, clocked at 10:24. Next fastest was junior Payton Moraghan of Toms River North at 11:04.20. Top girls freshman was Ella Austino of Eastern Regional, who won the freshman division with a 12:20.70.
Jack McClennan of Southern Regional won the boys meet with a time of 9:00.70 in the "Odd" race. His teammate Cooper Swenson was second fastest with a victory in the "Even" division at 9:29.40.
Defending Ocean County Champion Jack O'Leary of Toms River South was third fastest at 9:35.90. Top freshman was Rex Stein of Toms River South, who won the frosh division at 10:53.2 and was ranked 20th overall in the meet.
Colonial Conference Batch - Haddonfield
The Colonial Conference shook off some offseason cobwebs with a 3200m race at Pennypacker Park on September 1st. Ian Rodriguez of Haddonfield led the boys times with an 11:50.75, Haddonfield swept the top five positions, averaging 11:56 with just 17 seconds between them. Top freshman on the boys side was Luke Madrack of Gloucester City in sixth with a 12:28.46.
Sophomore Bella DeFinis of Haddonfield Memorial led the girls race at 14:12.92, her teammates helped secure spots one through four. Top freshman of the race was Catherine Hawkins of Haddonfield in 10th at 16:00.70.
Mountie Preseason Invitational
Top boys 3200m time was Montclair's senior Miles Smith at 10:31.72. Montclair swept the top seven positions and averaged 10:54 amongst their top five. Ifeoluwa Joseph of Montclair led the girls race with 13:39.55. Her teammates secured one through fourth position as well as sixth.
New Jersey's Out-of-State Action
PTXC 17 by Kutztown University
Lucas Contuzzi of Montgomery led the New Jersey field with a third place finish in the Varsity Blue boys race clocked at 17:50.39, the 12th quickest of the meet combined. Thiago Luna of Montgomery finished fifth, Jackson Idle of Mendham sixth, and Nicholas Leo of Mendham seventh.
Montgomery won the Blue Division team race with a score of 40 points to Mendham's 54. Montgomery, who averaged 18:17 as a team and splitting just 47.22 between their top five, was also third in the overall meet merge scoring 98, only behind Central Bucks East (PA) at 37 and Chambersburg (PA) at 72 points. Mendham brought in fifth in the merge at 124 points.
On the girls side NJ was led by Montgomery senior Aya Krause, who placed 14th in the Blue Division race at 22:39.90, the 23rd fastest in the combined merge. As a team in the Blue Division the Montgomery girls scored fourth at 105 points, averaging 24:44.75.
Warwick Valley Wave Mania XC Invitational
Some Jersey squads headed to New York to open their seasons. NV Old Tappan girls won the Varsity II race with 52 points, averaging 21:11 through their top five with a 1:40 spread. They were led by freshman Ashley Glynn with a 20:37.1 in seventh. Regan McNamara, Emme Fermin, Lillian Oster, and Christina D'Andrea made up their top five scorers.
The top New Jersey girls 5K time came from Celia Rossettini of Sparta, she ran a 19:59.94 to finish second overall in the Varsity II race. Grace Carey of Randolph was also up there, finishing seventh in the Varsity I race with the second fastest NJ time of 20:31.79. Randolph finished third as a team.
On the boys side the top NJ athlete was Reece Wilson of Pope John XXIII, he ran 10th in the Varsity I with a time of 17:37.7.
In the freshmen races Sparta had the twp top NJ performances with Madelyn Fasulo running sixth at 9:55.1 and Mark Fagersten in fourth at 7:55.1.
Camden County Tech (Sicklerville) 5th At Abington XC Invitational
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Szilier And Sheehy Run Top Times At Cherokee Challenge
The 2026 Cherokee Challenge may have taken place on an out-of-the-norm Friday afternoon, but the meet brought the usual early season fire while showcasing some up-and-coming freshmen talent and allowing distance stars from around the state, and out of state, to kick off their season in a big way.
Top boys time came from Trevor Szilier of Washington Twp, winning the junior race at 9:51.46. Szilier was one of only two athletes to dip under 10 minutes, including the senior division winner Gavin Oliver of Donovan Catholic, who ran 9:58.85. His third victory at the Cherokee Challenge.