Coed Varsity Cross Country vs Mercer Track Coaches JV Cross Country Invitational on 10/26/2024

On a breezy autumn day at Robbinsville High School, the Peddie School cross country team saw two dozen of its runners compete at the MCTA Freshman/JV XC Championships. Competing against an outstanding field of racers from throughout Mercer County, the Falcons put together a string of strong performances to kick off the team’s slate of championship races.

Competing in the freshman race, Justin Zhang ’28 (25th, 21:00) recorded the best time of the day amongst the finishers in blue and gold, equaling his personal best from last Friday’s dual race against Lawrenceville. The fast times continued as the race progressed, as Brennan Caldwell ’28 (39th, 22:10) knocked three seconds off of his quickest finish of the season, while Aaron Linke ’28 (41st, 22:17) dropped 37 seconds from his previous record. Other ninth graders competing for Peddie included: Ben McMahon ’28 (48th, 23:51), Rohan Bhamidipati ’28 (51st, 24:01), Sam Lallier ’28 (55th, 24:50 — a drop of almost 90 seconds), Michael Wu ’28 (60th, 30:08) and Richard Hong ’28 (61st, 30:51).

Louisa Blix ’28 crossed the finish line as the fifth girl in the freshman race, stopping the clock with a time of 24:30. Three classmates joined Blix in completing the 3.1-mile course: Lorena Carmargo Carcano ’28 (9th, 30:53), Hajarah Haruna ’28 (11th, 37:31) and Alice Nah ’28 (12th, 39:00).

Two Peddie runners contested the girls JV race, as Kira Pramanik ’26 (33rd, 25:01) lowered her personal record by 16 seconds and Sophie Wang ’27 (54th, 29:13) made a successful season debut for the Falcons.

In the boys JV race, effective teamwork was on full display, as most of the finishers in blue and gold crossed the line with a fellow Falcon relatively near them. Leo Pan-Wang ’26 (79th, 22:03) and Finn Gorsline ’27 (80th, 22:04) set the standard in that regard while Justin Tang ’27 (87th, 22:26) and Zachary Ji ’27 (88th, 22:38) also kept close to each other as they navigated the entire five-kilometer route. Also competing for Peddie were: Jerry Yao ’26 (95th, 23:02), Neil Bhuteja ’26 (101st, 24:39), Chi Nhan Vu ’26 (102nd, 24:49), Evan Ren ’27 (104th, 26:00), Arjun Chityala ’25 (106th, 27:08) and Luke Liu ’27 (107th, 27:13).

Though today’s competitors will have at least a week of rest before their next race, the varsity boys and girls will continue the program’s quest for individual success and team titles as they head north for the NJISAA Prep A & B Championships at Blair Academy on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 2 p.m.