SETTING THE PACE: Princeton High girls’ cross country runners, Kajol Karra, left, and Grace Hegedus pace each other at the Mercer County Championships last Thursday at Thompson Park in Jamesburg. The pair helped PHS place first in the team standings at the meet. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Justin Feil

The Princeton High School girls cross country team has a lot of new members, which meant a lot of first-time champions at the Mercer County Championships.

Three first-year runners combined with a pair of returning seniors for the perfect mix to earn the Tigers the county crown last Thursday at Thompson Park in Jamesburg. It is their second title in three years. PHS’s 66 points distanced them from runner-up Hopewell Valley (86) and third-place Wilberforce (119), who got a fifth-place finish from sophomore Laura Sallade.

On the boys’ side, PHS placed third led by the comeback of Max Dunlap, who took fourth in his final county meet. Wilberforce took sixth led by individual race winner senior star Caleb Brox and Hun School was 15th with sophomore Jacob Newman pacing the Raiders in eighth place.

“It’s a big confidence boost,” said PHS coach Jim Smirk. “We’ve been talking a lot about running as a team and today was a big step forward for that. We’ve been running as good individuals but haven’t put it together yet. Today was a good step forward. We’re going to have to come do it again in a week and a half because it’s not like the section is going to get easier. Central Jersey Group 4 is never an easy race.”

The top five teams plus the top 15 individuals not on a qualifying team at the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Central Jersey Group 4 race – also at Thompson Park – on October 28 will advance to the Group 4 state meet at Holmdel. Most of the Tigers now have raced twice at Thompson Park this season, so they are gaining experience on that course, even if the big moments are new to them.

“I feel a lot more confident because everyone did well,” said freshman Grace Hegedus. “I feel like I know the race. It’s just three miles, so it’s not too bad.”

Hegedus was the top finisher for the Tigers at the county meet, taking sixth in 19:38.20 over the 5,000-meter course, a personal record and 39 seconds faster than she covered the Thompson Park course at the XC Fall Classic only 12 days earlier.

“I felt pretty good,” said Hegedus. “The hills are intense but it was pretty good. The team did very well.”

Hegedus has been the top runner this season in her first year of high school. She came into counties expecting strong competition and got it individually and team-wise, and she handled it well as she has throughout the year.

“It’s been very intense,” said Hegedus. “The coach says I don’t know a lot about racing but he says I’m a good runner. I try really hard to keep my knowledge up and learn more about running.”

Behind Hegedus was the glue of the Tigers, senior Kyleigh Tangen. The lone four-year varsity member in the top five for the team, Tangen placed eighth in 19:50.30.

“All year we’ve been all about trying to build this team one piece at a time to get here,” said Smirk. “We’ve talked a lot today about trusting the work we had done and letting that be our guide. Kyleigh Tangen has been an amazing leader for us, so she has gotten her teammates prepared emotionally and for what it takes to run at a high level.”

Two spots behind Tangen was Kajol Karra. Karra is a sophomore, but focused on school last year and did not run, so in terms of experience might as well be a freshman.

“I have run before,” said Karra. “I knew that I kinda liked it, so I thought it would be fun to do and I felt like I could get kind of good at it, so that’d be fun. That’s why I did it.”

Karra has developed into a reliable contributor. She dropped 35 seconds off her XC Fall Classic time to run 20:00.30 for 10th place and give the Little Tigers three finishers ahead of Hopewell’s No. 2 girl.

“I was pretty nervous but we raced here two weeks ago which was our last race,” said Karra. “I was just looking to PR and keep up with our top runners who I normally train with. In the first mile/mile and a half, I kept up, and then I either slowed down or they sped up. I think I slowed down a little bit. I was trying to keep up with the girls around me.”

Eowyn Deess gave PHS a fourth finisher in the top 20 of the race. The freshman made huge strides in just 12 days, going from over 23 minutes at the XC Fall Classic to 20:59.10 for 20th place.

“I don’t think I expected that,” said Deess. “I don’t think I went into it looking for a certain place. I was just trying to get through it because I just got these spikes and I was trying to get used to them. So I didn’t really have a goal in terms of place and time. I’ve also run this course before, so I think it helped that I knew it a little bit so I could pace myself based on where I knew the hills were.”

Deess has been climbing through the season. She considered it an honor just to compete with the varsity seven in the county meet, though those lofty expectations also brought some nerves.

“This is the most nervous I’ve been in any race,” said Deess. “It’s counties. Everyone calls it ‘counties’ which is kind of scary and also running varsity. With this team, I don’t think I’ve been in the varsity seven. I was really nervous about that. I also wanted to do better in a race like this, which is a lot of pressure I put on myself. It wasn’t external (pressure). I definitely felt nervous and scared.”

It was a satisfying result that met every expectation that she could imagine. Sectionals will give her another opportunity in what’s been a season of steady development.

“I was trying,” said Deess. “It’s kind of a work your way up system. You get better as you train hard. You have to make sure you show up and be consistent and you do get better. Everyone says that’s the case. And then you can level up. You start at a certain place and you improve over the season and see where that gets you.”

PHS relied on another senior, Frances Jonson, to wrap up the team title. A returning varsity runner, Jonson placed 28th in 21:31.80, a personal record and huge jump from last year’s 81st place finish at counties. Juniors Tessa Thai (45th in 22:07.10) and Rachel Xin (46th in 22:12.40) rounded out the top seven and secured the title.

“I think we saw a lot of pieces in practice,” said Smirk. “We’re an interesting team, but through 14 girls we have talent. Our biggest challenge right now is who is going to step up on any given day. We put ourselves in some positions through the year to be challenged. We ran races that we weren’t quite ready for and put lineups in to get them some experience.”

As for the Tiger boys, Max Dunlap had missed time with tendinitis in his foot. That set back his fitness, but the PHS senior has been hoping to finish his fall well. The county meet was a good start. He went out conservatively before finding his groove and finishing strong in 17:04.00, only four seconds off his personal best set last year and 47 seconds better than he ran at the XC Fall Classic.

“As an individual, I got lots of confidence looking toward sectionals and groups,” said Dunlap. “As a team, I still feel like we have some work to do, but I’m still proud of my boys.”

Senior Joshua Barzilai placed sixth with a personal record 17:05.00. Cole Rose was 23rd in 17:59.60, Braedyn Capone was 27th in 18:07.80, and Evan Raphael was 30th in 18:14.00 to round out their scoring.

“I’m really happy with Max,” said Smirk. “We know when Max puts his nose in he’s going to get the most out of himself. He’s always been that kid. We’re happy he’s healthy. At the end, he said he’s OK. We’re real happy about that. Our No. 2 guy, Josh, he’s a rookie. I think people forget that. He’s out there slinging it all season so we’re really happy with him. We have some question marks that we need to solve. The good news is fitness wise I think we’re in a good spot. It’s more about execution and trusting each other a little more than we did today. We took some good steps forward today but there’s still room for growth.”

Dunlap is the most experienced of the PHS boys. After the squad graduated four of its top five a year ago, he has moved into a top spot for the Tigers.

“I’ve only cracked the top five one or two races before,” said Dunlap. “To come from that to first on the team is a lot, but I feel we have a really good team behind us. We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores here ready to put the
work in and get to it.”

Dunlap is trying to set the tone for the team. He acknowledges that this season has been a lot different for him in his new role.

“It’s like sitting in the back seat your whole life and then out of nowhere someone puts you in the driver’s seat and you’re going 100 miles an hour,” said Dunlap.

The PHS boys will look to run even faster when they return to Thompson Park for sectionals. Dunlap and the Little Tigers will be hoping to use the county meet’s lessons to finish even better.

“We learned the course better,” said Dunlap. “We know how to run it. We know how to run against teams that run differently. Looking forward to sectionals and groups, we know we have to improve and we know how to do that to get up to a point.”

While the public schools gear up for sectionals, Hun will be fine-tuning for the Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) championship meet that will be held on October 25 at Peddie. They finish with the prep state championships on Saturday at Blair. Each race has been a chance to gain momentum for a young Raiders team.

“We lost a lot of runners from last year,” said Raider star Newman. “We’re not as good but we still have some good runners. We just need a couple more years.”

The sophomore has taken over the top spot for Hun with the graduation of Eric Scully, who has been running well for Richmond. Newman jumped 21 spots from a year ago to eighth place at the county meet last Thursday in a new personal-best 17:15.00. He credits training 80 miles per week and is looking to finish the season even faster.

“My workouts have been saying I should be a bit quicker,” said Newman. “But I ran tactically well so I’m happy about that.”

Another prep school runner wasn’t as lucky. Girls pre-race favorite, Princeton Day School senior Emily McCann, who won the girls’ Colonial Division Conference championship the week earlier and placed third at counties a year ago, was sick on race day. The PDS standout will try to recover in time for the state races.

“She came here, was coughing and having a hard time breathing so she made a decision that this race is important for us but she wanted to be healthy for the bigger races at the end of the year,” said PHS coach Michael Mazzei. “So we sat this one out to get ready for preps and get ready for groups. Hopefully she’ll be ready to go.”

Harleen Sandu placed 14th for the Panther girls. The senior ran 20:14.50 to lead PDS. Fellow senior Jesse Hollander was 22nd in 21:14.20. Sophomore Grayson McLaughlin placed 43rd in 18:32.90 to lead the PDS boys to 14th place just ahead of Hun.

“Especially on the girls side, we have a lot of freshmen who really stepped up today,” said Mazzei. “Obviously they’re not running the times that Emily or our second girl would be running, but they’re showing a lot of progress and they’re showing a lot of hope for us going forward. I think they can be star runners in the program. It’s exciting because we’re losing our top three girls this year, and that’s always a scary thing to think about that you have to rebuild, but I’m very confident in the younger girls that we have on the team. I think we’ll still keep cruising without Emily next year which is nice.”

The Hun School girls placed 14th. Jade Boucree led the Raiders as the freshman clocked 23:59.60. Stuart Country Day was paced by Mizan Chennault. The junior ran 22:19.70 for the Tartans, who did not place as a team.