Cross Country

The Peddie cross country team The Hill School and The Lawrenceville School in a tri-meet at home at Peddie Golf Course.

On a day when Lawrenceville’s Blair Bartlett lowered the course record that she shattered just two weeks ago (winning the girls race in a time of 16:16, 32 seconds faster than her mark set at this year’s Jerry Hart Invitational), 21 of 34 Peddie runners posted personal records over the span of the 5-kilometer layout at the Peddie Golf Course.

Among that group were the top three Falcons in the girls race, as Caitlin Williams ’26 (second, 19:19), tri-captain Shanel Tan ’26 (third, 19:34), and tri-captain Charis Chien ’27 (fifth, 20:09) all posted lifetime bests en route to top-five finishes. Blanka Mularczyk ’27 also posted the fastest time of her Peddie career, crossing the line in 15th place with a time of 22:32. Tri-captain Sophie Winn ’26 (20th, 23:30) rounded out the scoring five for the Falcons, which secured them a 20-37 victory over Hill (Lawrenceville bested Peddie, 26-33, and also beat their archrivals from Hill, 15-48). Kira Pramanik ’26 (24th, 24:16), Alya Kim ’29 (25th, 24:21) and Sophie Wang ’27 (31st, 25:45) also submitted strong performances for Peddie.

In the boys race, Elie Meyer ’26 ran in close pursuit of Lawrenceville’s Arunav Sarkar all afternoon and ultimately finished just shy of his first individual win of the season, taking second place with a time of 16:33 (nearly identical to his mark from two weeks ago). Tri-captains Dasyer Bullock ’26 (12th, 18:07) and Theo Salapatas ’27 (14th, 18:08) worked well together down the stretch, just as they have in workouts all fall. Fellow tri-captain Ethan Sbarro ’26 (21st, 18:53) and Josh Li ’26 (24th, 19:01) completed the scoring five for the Falcons, which lost both of the dual meet tallies to Lawrenceville (19-43) and Hill (22-36).

Also competing for Peddie were Andrew Kim ’29 (27th, 19:09), Jacob Kidd ’26 (31st, 19:19), Leo Pan-Wang ’26 (32nd, 19:30), Aaryan Patel ’29 (38th, 19:56), Rohan Bhamidipati ’28 (47th, 20:35), Arnav Shankar ’28 (49th, 20:49), Landon Lill ’29 (50th, 20:50), Victor Qian ’29 (51st, 20:51), Jaden Liu ’29 (52nd, 20:57), Wei Jie Ng ’27 (53rd, 20:58), Milan Shah ’27 (56th, 22:00), Brennan Caldwell ’28 (57th, 22:02), Sam Lallier ’28 (59th, 22:27), Justin Tang ’28 (60th, 22:38), Alan Wang ’29 (62nd, 22:52), Jerry Yao ’26 (65th, 24:26), Austin Hua ’27 (67th, 25:02), Lucas Goodman ’29 (70th, 25:58), Luke Liu ’27 (72nd, 26:36) and Hari Pandya ’28 (74th, 26:36).

The Falcons now head into a 12-day stretch that will lead them to the doorstep of the championship season, as they next race at The Pennington Cross Country Invitational on Thursday, Oct. 23 at 3 p.m. at Rosedale Park.

Twenty Falcons flew to Holmdel Park for the 50th running of the Shore Coaches Invitational, one of the biggest and most competitive meets in the state. Racing against some of the strongest teams from New Jersey in what many consider a helpful midseason test, Peddie ran well and established a strong foundation for continued growth as the second half of season unfolds.

Tri-captains Shanel Tan ’26 (16th, 20:42) and Charis Chien ’27 (29th, 21:28) had two of the best days for the Falcons, as their top-30 finishes earned them medals in the girls varsity F race. The remaining three runners demonstrated the potential of the Peddie pack, as Blanka Mularczyk ’27 (92nd, 24:29), tri-captain Sophie Winn ’26 (97th, 24:39) and Louisa Blix ’28 (101st, 24:48) worked well together throughout the five-kilometer course.

Tri-captain Theo Salapatas ’27 turned in an impressive performance of his own in the boys varsity F race, besting his time from last year’s race by over a minute with a 18:47 finish that earned him 68th place. Andrew Kim ’29 led the rest of the Peddie pack in his first varsity race as a Falcon (116th, 20:47) while Josh Li ’26 (120th, 21:07), Justin Zhang ’28 (122nd, 21:20), Rohan Bhamidipati ’28 (125th, 21:39) and Leo Pan-Wang ’26 (126th, 21:39) followed the model set by their female counterparts and exhibited clear teamwork every step of the way.

In the boys JV E race, Jacob Kidd ’26 (124th, 22:05) was the first Falcon to cross the finish line, followed by Arnav Shankar ’28 (162nd, 22:54), Evan Ren ’27 (180th, 23:22), Brennan Caldwell ’28 (187th, 23:26), Justin Tang ’27 (217th, 24:14) and Sam Lallier ’28 (231st, 24:49).

The Falcons’ final race of the morning was the boys freshman C race, which saw a trio of ninth graders navigate a two-mile course together and finish within 16 seconds of each other. Landon Lill ’29 took 50th place in a time of 14:01 while Aaryan Patel ’29 and Jaden Liu ’29 finished 58th and 60th, respectively, in identical times of 14:17.

Full results: https://nj.milesplit.com/meets/679739-shore-coaches-invitational-2025/results

The Falcons next host The Hill School and The Lawrenceville School in a tri-meet on Saturday, Oct. 11 at 2 p.m. at Peddie Golf Course.

The Peddie cross country team hosted the 12th Annual Jerry Hart Cross Country Memorial Invitational at Peddie Golf Course, It was a day that saw fantastic conditions facilitate some of the fastest times ever recorded on the 5-kilometer layout at the Peddie Golf Course, in the Falcons’ home opener.

In the boys varsity race, Mercersburg’s Liam Beighley got the day started by setting a new course record, winning in a time of 15:25. His mark bested the previous best of 15:30 set in 2008 by Pennington’s Phil Wood.

Lawrenceville’s Blair Bartlett showed why she’s considered one of the best runners in the entire country less than a half hour later, as she shattered the girls course record of 18:24 (set in 2011 by Peddie’s Kelly Bailey) and captured a comfortable victory in a time of 16:48. Bartlett was one of four female harriers who eclipsed Bailey’s standard this afternoon, as Princeton’s Kajol Karra (2nd, 18:10.2), Mercersburg’s Gabriella Cechini (3rd, 18:10.9) and Princeton’s Grace Hegedus (4th, 18:18) all ran the two-loop course faster than any girl had done so previously.

For Peddie, Elie Meyer ’26 captured seventh place in his debut for the Falcons, finishing in a time of 16:33. Jerry Wang ’26 also shined in his first official race in a Peddie uniform, crossing the line in 12th and stopping the clock at 17:08. Tri-captains Theo Salapatas ’27 (23rd, 17:55), Dasyer Bullock ’26 (41st, 18:55) and Ethan Sbarro ’26 (43rd, 19:08) rounded out the scoring for the hosts, whose team total of 121 points was good enough for fourth place behind Hightstown (3rd, 94), Princeton (2nd, 37) and Lawrenceville (1st, 32). Anthony Kanis ’27 (48th, 19:22) and Josh Li ’26 (51st, 19:39) completed the varsity seven for Peddie.

Caitlin Williams ’26 (11th, 19:32), tri-captain Shanel Tan ’26 (14th, 19:58), and tri-captain Charis Chien ’27 (18th, 20:18) all placed in the top 20 of a very competitive varsity girls field, as their finishes paced Peddie to 120 points and fifth place in the team scoring. The Falcons trailed only one point behind Wilberforce (fourth, 119) with Mercersburg (third, 88), Lawrenceville (second, 75), and Princeton (first, 38) taking spots on the podium. Louisa Blix ’28 (44th, 23:39), tri-captain Sophie Winn ’26 (49th, 23:57), Annie Wang ’27 (51st, 24:28), and Kira Pramanik ’26 (63rd, 25:18) also contributed to that collective success for Peddie.

The following runners competed for Peddie in the futures race: Leo Pan-Wang ’26 (25th, 19:44), Andrew Kim ’29 (31st, 20:08), Justin Zhang ’28 (35th, 20:26), Rohan Bhamidipati ’28 (40th, 20:36), Aaryan Patel ’29 (42nd, 20:41), Jacob Kidd ’26 (45th, 20:51), Arnav Shankar ’28 (49th, 20:55), Landon Lill ’29 (51st, 21:00), Jaden Liu ’29 (60th, 21:29), Evan Ren ’27 (70th, 22:08), Danan Chan ’29 (83rd, 22:40), Brennan Caldwell ’28 (93rd, 23:03), Justin Tang ’27 (94th, 23:03), Blanka Mularczyk ’27 (99th, 23:41), Sam Lallier ’28 (115th, 24:25), Varun Venkiteswaran ’29 (137th, 25:32), Austin Hua ’27 (145th, 25:58), Jerry Yao ’26 (148th, 26:03), Eva Sbarro ’29 (150th, 26:05), Alya Kim ’29 (152nd, 26:08), Olivia Timmermann ’27 (154th, 26:13), Luke Liu ’27 (162nd, 26:51), Lucas Goodman ’29 (168th, 27:17), Albert Yang ’26 (170th, 27:19), Lorena Camargo Carcano ’28 (173rd, 27:34), Michael Wu ‘ 28 (174th, 27:44), Chi Nhan Vu ’26 (180th, 28:01), Richard Hong ’28 (184th, 28:16), Hari Pandya ’28 (190th, 28:41), Aidan Sung ’27 (191st, 28:55) and Emily Griegel (195th, 29:12).

The Falcons next compete in the Shore Coaches Invitational at Holmdel Park on Saturday, Oct. 4. The entire team will next toe the line on Saturday, Oct. 11 for a tri-meet with Lawrenceville and Hill in front of enthusiastic supporters in town for Fall Family Weekend.

The Peddie cross country team competed at the Thompson 2-Miler at Thompson Park to open the season.

25 runners toed the starting line, with many of them submitting impressive performances that set the tone for the season ahead.

The invitational’s class-based format saw the senior boys take off first and Dasyer Bullock ’26 (18th, 11:52) and Ethan Sbarro ’26 (21st, 12:06) gave their teammates a strong example to follow, as both took home medalist (top 25) honors. Josh Li ’26 (29th, 12:32), Leo Pan-Wang ’26 (43rd, 13:05), and Jacob Kidd ’26 (47th, 13:16) all ran strategic races of their own and recorded impressive times.

Returning captain Sophie Winn ’26 (25th, 15:05) joined her classmates in earning a medal for her efforts across the two-mile course while Kira Pramanik ’26 (31st, 16:34) pushed herself every step of the way in her debut at Thompson Park.

Charis Chien ’27 (8th, 13:08) and Theo Salapatas ’27 (25th, 11:19) recorded the team’s fastest times of the day in the girls and boys junior races, respectively. Chien’s time represented a nearly two-minute PR from her last finish on the course while Salapatas used a gutsy surge in the final 400 to grab a medal in easily the most competitive race of the day.

Blanka Mularczyk ’27 (28th, 14:58) just barely missed a top-25 finish in her first race for the Falcons and Annie Wang ’27 (29th, 15:01) was not far behind her. Sophie Wang ’27 (48th, 16:28) rounded out the team’s entries with a 16-second PR when compared with her finish in the team’s two-mile scrimmage two weeks ago.

Anthony Kanis ’27 (48th, 12:21) also made his Peddie cross country debut and turned in a strong finish in the boys junior race while Evan Ren ’27 (71st, 14:14) and Justin Tang ’27 (74th, 14:30) also put forth valiant efforts in their first official times of the season.

In the sophomore boys race, Justin Zhang ’28 (48th, 12:58), Arnav Shankar ’28 (58th, 13:12), Rohan Bhamidipati (65th, 13:24) and Brennan Caldwell ’28 (85th, 14:36) all demonstrated how their efforts in training have started to pay off while Louisa Blix ’28 (28th, 15:04) impressed everyone with her ability to push herself and yet still enjoy the competition of the sophomore girls race.

Andrew Kim ’29 (25th, 12:27) announced his presence in the freshman boys race, as he captured a medal and underscored his potential for the season as a whole. The other four ninth graders provided their teammates with a fantastic example of pack running, as Landon Lill ’29 (47th, 13:15), Aaryan Patel ’29 (54th, 13:23), Victor Qian ’29 (63rd, 13:33), and Jaden Liu (72nd, 13:51) worked together to close out the Falcons’ entries with a flourish.

The Falcons next host the Jerry Hart Cross Country Memorial Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 20 at 2 p.m. at Peddie Golf Course. Racing starts at 2 p.m. with the varsity boys race, followed by the varsity girls race at 2:30 p.m. and a mixed futures race at 3 p.m.

Peddie boys cross country and Peddie girls cross country both earned wins at home at Peddie Golf Course for Peddie-Blair Day in the last event of the season and clinch the Kelley-Potter Cup for the Falcons.

Event summary: On a clear, crisp Blair Day afternoon, the Peddie cross country team took part in one of the country’s oldest and most spirited prep school rivalries against its counterparts from Blair Academy. Covering two miles at Peddie Golf Course and then navigating nearby neighborhoods en route to a fast finish on campus in front of hundreds of supporters, the Falcons completed their seasons with a pair of victories: the girls defeated Blair, 20-38, and the boys beat the Bucs, 21-40.

James Hamnett ’25 captured his second victory of the season in a personal record of 16:44. Co-captain Baker Pott ’25 (second, 16:57) ran right with Hamnett for the entire race and gave Peddie a strong start ahead of Blair’s top two runners, who finished third and fourth. After that, the Falcons quickly closed out the scoring and secured a win for the blue and gold, taking the next five places in a span of just nine seconds. Jack Stewart ’25 (fifth, 17:44), Theo Salapatas ’27 (sixth, 17:46), Ethan Sbarro ’26 (seventh, 17:51), Landen Jefferson ’25 (eighth, 17:52), and Rishi Swaminathan ’25 (ninth, 17:53) used impressive pack running to give Peddie its best compression of the season with a gap of only 1:09 between its first and seventh runners.

Dasyer Bullock ’26 (16th, 19:17) showed incredible grit as he overcame a fall en route to his first Peddie-Blair Day finish while Josh Li ’26 (19th, 19:34) and co-captain Matt Luo ’25 (20th, 19:35) crossed the line in quick succession to close out the top 10 for Peddie. Also racing well for the Falcons were: James Radigan ’25 (23rd, 19:54), Arnav Shankar ’28 (24th, 20:14), Justin Zhang ’28 (25th, 20:16), Leo Pan-Wang ’26 (26th, 20:25), Jacob Kidd ’26 (28th, 20:48), Ben McMahon ’28 (29th, 20:58), Finn Gorsline ’27 (30th, 21:02), Aaron Linke ’28 (32nd, 21:10), Peter Wang ’26 (33rd, 21:35), Zachary Ji ’27 (34th, 21:41), Brennan Caldwell ’28 (35th, 21:43), Jerry Yao ’26 (36th, 21:50), Myles Onion ’27 (37th, 22:01), Milan Shah ’27 (38th, 22:05), Justin Tang ’27 (39th, 22:08), Neil Bhuteja ’26 (40th, 22:16), Evan Ren ’27 (42nd, 22:50), Rohan Bhamidipati ’28 (43rd, 23:02), Chi Nhan Vu ’26 (44th, 23:12), Sam Lallier ’28 (45th, 23:40), Tony Kim ’28 (46th, 23:55), Aiden Sung ’27 (47th, 24:12), Jonathan Lerner-Nunez ’26 (49th, 24:15), Albert Yang ’26 (50th, 25:43), Arjun Chityala ’25 (51st, 25:45), Michael Wu ’28 (52nd, 26:04), Richard Hong ’28 (53rd, 26:14) and Hari Pandya ’28 (54th, 30:18).

Co-captain Matilda Kardhashi ’25 won the race on the girls’ side with a time of 18:35 and led a 1-2-3 finish for the Falcons, as Eliza Lamar ’25 (19:22) was the runner up and Courtney Cane ’25 (19:30) helped Peddie sweep the podium. Carolina Lopez-Watt ’25 (sixth, 21:13) prevented Blair from taking the next three places while Charis Chien ’27 (eighth, 21:50) and co-captain Sophie Winn ’26 (ninth, 21:56) finished in quick succession to break the 22-minute barrier. Ananya Hari ’25 (11th, 22:02) displaced the Bucs’ fifth runner and closed out the scoring to secure a clean sweep for the girls and boys in blue and gold, not to mention a 6-5 win for Peddie in the overall competition (the hosts also earned points via wins by the girls varsity and JV tennis teams, the girls JV field hockey squad, and the girls JV soccer side). Also racing well for Peddie were: Louisa Blix ’28 (13th, 23:05), Kira Pramanik ’26 (16th, 23:54), Annie Wang ’27 (18th, 24:16), Olivia Timmerman ’27 (19th, 25:20), Lorena Camargo Carcano ’28 (25th, 28:09) and Harajah Haruna ’28 (26th, 33:49).

In total, more than 70 percent of Peddie’s runners (36 out of 51) ran personal bests in this final 5K of the season, demonstrating the persistence and continued improvement of the team over the course of the racing schedule.

Peddie cross country competed in the 2024 MAPL Championships at Mercersburg Academy. As a team, the Peddie girls finished third out of six teams (68 points). The Peddie boys placed fourth out of six teams (80 points). Matilda Kardhashi ’25 ran in close pursuit of the race leader for all five kilometers before finishing second in a time of 19:54. Eliza Lamar ’25 took the final spot in the top ten when she crossed the line in 21:57 and Charis Chien ’27 made a triumphant return to racing at the perfect time en route to a 12th place finish in 22:27. Carolina Lopez-Watt ’25 (19th, 23:05), co-captain Sophie Winn ’26 (25th, 23:54) and Ananya Hari ’25 (29th. 24:11) also raced well for the Falcons and helped the girls team earn a third place finish (68 points) behind champions Mercersburg (41 points) and runner-up Lawrenceville (46 points).

The varsity boys came next and co-captain Baker Pott ’25 led a trio of Peddie runners in the lead pack on the way to a sixth place finish for him in a time of 17:25. James Hamnett ’25 (12th, 17:48) and Dylan Patel ’25 (17th, 18:15) displayed impressive teamwork with Pott for the majority of the race while Jack Stewart ’25 (19th, 18:22) closed hard in the final mile to give Peddie four runners in the top twenty. Theo Salapatas ’27 (26th, 19:08) and Landen Jefferson ’25 (27th, 19:19) rounded out the scoring lineup for the Falcons.

Kardhashi and Pott each garnered All-MAPL recognition for their top seven performances in the girls and boys varsity races, respectively.

The Futures race concluded the day and saw Ethan Sbarro ’26 (third,, 18:54) and Rishi Swaminathan ’25 (fourth,, 19:05) work together for nearly the entire race on their way to a pair of top five finishes. Co-captain Matthew Luo ’25 (11th, 20:01) and Josh Li ’26 (14th, 20:12) moved up the leaderboard as the race progressed while Leo Pan-Wang ’26 (27th, 21:20) demonstrated remarkable consistency and nearly held the same spot over the entire distance. James Radigan ’25 (29th, 21:31), Brennan Caldwell ’28 (52nd, 23:31) and Arnav Shankar ’28 (66th, 25:51) closed out the course for Peddie, demonstrating remarkable grit in each of their runs.

The Falcons next conclude the season and host Blair Academy on Peddie-Blair Day on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 2:45 p.m. at Peddie Golf Course.

Peddie cross country competed in the 2024 NJISAA Prep A & B Championships at Blair Academy. As a team, the Peddie boys placed fourth out of seven teams in the Varsity A category. Jack Stewart ’25 placed 11th (18:14) out of 47. Baker Pott ’25 finished 17th (18:43). James Hamnett ’25 placed 20th in 18:52. Ethan Sbarro ’26 (19:13) and Theo Salapatas ’27 (19:20) placed 25th and 26th, respectively. Rishi Swaminathan ’25 was 33rd (19:54). Matt Luo ’25 was 38th (20:52).

For the girls, Matilda Kardhashi ’25 placed eighth in 21:08 out of 49 in the Varsity A category. Carolina Lopez-Watt ’25 finished 30th (23:49). Sophie Winn ’26 was 37th (24:35) and Ananya Hari ’25 finished 40th (25:08).

Full results can be viewed at: https://nj.milesplit.com/meets/629131-njisaa-prep-state-championships-2024/results/1103917?type=formatted The Falcons next compete in the 2024 MAPL Championships on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 1:30 p.m. at Mercersburg Academy.

New date, was originally scheduled on 10/19

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.

New date, was originally scheduled on 10/17

Peddie cross country hosted a dual meet with Lawrenceville School at Peddie Golf Course. It was the second dual meet of the season for the Falcons. While Peddie lost both the boys and girls team competitions, 28 of the 41 Falcon runners who crossed the finish line ran personal records (PRs), which bodes well as the team prepares for the championship races ahead.

Co-captain Matilda Kardhashi ’25 led the girls around the course over the entirety of the 5-kilometer distance, recording the individual victory in 18:54. Eliza Lamar ’25 broke the 20-minute barrier for the first time in a Peddie uniform to take second place with a time of 19:49, but the next five runners to cross the line wore red, clinching what would become a 25-34 victory for Lawrenceville. Carolina Lopez-Watt ’25 (8th, 22:07) and Ananya Hari ’25 (12th, 23:05) continued their strong senior seasons while Louisa Blix ’28 (16th, 23:57) finished in the top seven for the first time in blue and gold. Co-captain Sophie Winn ’26 (17th, 24:16), Kira Pramanik ’26 (19th, 25:22) and Lorena Camargo Carcano ’28 (21st, 29:53) also put forth valiant efforts in closing out the entries for Peddie’s girls team.

On the boys’ side, Lawrenceville took the first four places (en route to a 16-47 victory) before James Hamnett ’25 crossed the line for Peddie in fifth place, stopping the clock at 17:23. Jack Stewart ’25 (9th, 17:40) led a flock of Falcons through the final threshold, as he was followed by co-captain Baker Pott ’25 (10th, 17:49), Landen Jefferson ’25 (11th, 18:04) and Theo Salapatas ’27 (13th, 18:10). Dasyer Bullock ’26 (17th, 18:28) dropped over two minutes off of his previous PR to finish in the varsity seven for the first time and he was joined by classmate Ethan Sbarro ’26 (18th, 18:31).

James Radigan ’25 (20th, 19:26), Josh Li ’26 (21st, 19:28) and co-captain Matt Luo ’25 (22nd, 19:34) worked well together throughout the 3.1 miles to all record PRs and close out the Peddie top 10. Also running well for Peddie were: Rishi Swaminathan ’25 (27th, 20:20), Arnav Shankar ’28 (30th, 20:35), Leo Pan-Wang ’26 (32nd, 20:37), Justin Zhang ’28 (35th, 21:00), Finn Gorsline ’27 (39th, 21:58), Brennan Caldwell ’28 (40th, 22:13), Justin Tang ’27 (43rd, 22:33), Zachary Ji ’27 (44th, 22:35), Jacob Kidd ’26 (45th, 22:45), Aaron Linke ’28 (46th, 22:54), Jerry Yao ’26 (47th, 22:59), Milan Shah ’27 (49th, 23:34), Neil Bhuteja ’26 (51st, 23:52), Rohan Bhamidipati ’28 (52nd, 23:53), Ben McMahon ’28 (53rd, 23:53), Evan Ren ’27 (54th, 24:05), Chi Nhan Vu ’26 (55th, 25:01), Albert Yang ’26 (56th, 25:45), Sam Lallier ’28 (57th, 26:16), Michael Wu ’28 (58th, 26:31), Richard Hong ’28 (59th, 26:44), Arjun Chityala ’25 (60th, 27:04), Luke Liu ’27 (61st, 28:09), Devarsh Korada ’27 (62nd, 28:16), Aiden Sung ’27 (63rd, 28:50) and Hari Pandya ’28 (64th, 30:57).The JV team will next compete in the Mercer Track Coaches JV Cross Country Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 26 at 10 a.m. at Robbinsville High School. The varsity team will compete in the NJISAA Prep A & B Championships on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 2 p.m. at Blair Academy.

On Sunday, Oct. 13th, a smaller group of Falcons from Peddie cross country traveled to Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx for the Manhattan College Cross Country Invitational.

On a cool morning, the first race for Peddie was the Freshman boys E race, where Arnav Shankar ‘28 paced well for 43rd place in 9:53 across the 1.5 mile course. The Boys JV B race followed. Dasyer Bullock ‘26 led the way for the Falcons with a 22nd place finish in 15:51 across the 2.5 mile course. He was followed by the duo of Josh Li ‘26 (60th, 16:54) and captain Matt Luo ‘25 (64th, 16:58). Rounding out this quartet was James Radigan ‘25 who placed 100th in 18:23.

The varsity races took place in the afternoon, under clear and sunny skies with a nice breeze. The boys raced first in the Varsity B race. Captain Baker Pott ‘25 led the way for the Falcons finishing 15th in 14:16 over the 2.5 mile course. James Hamnett ‘25 was close behind for 26th in 14:42. Jack Stewart ‘25 was the third man for the Peddie squad, finishing in 45th place in 15:17. The last four came in close succession with an impression gap of only eight seconds: Rishi Swaminathan ‘25 (59th, 15:38), Theo Salapatas ‘27 (63rd, 15:40), Landen Jefferson ‘25 (67th, 15:42) and Ethan Sbarro ‘27 (73rd, 15:46). As a team, the boys varsity squad placed eighth and was one of only two teams to place all seven runners in the top 75, thus all seven runners earned medals.

For the last Peddie race of the day, captain Matilda Kardhashi led the Peddie contingent in the Varsity Girls D race with her 17th place finish in 16:32 across 2.5 miles. Carolina Lopez-Watt ‘25 continued her streak of solid races for 99th in 19:40. Ananya Hari ‘25 was next for 113th in 20:28 followed closely by captain Sophie Winn ‘26 for 127th in 20:57.

The whole Peddie squad will return to action in a dual meet against Lawrenceville on Friday, Oct. 18 at 5 p.m. at Peddie Golf Course.

On a beautiful October Saturday, Peddie cross country traveled to Holmdel, Park for one of the state’s largest annual meets: the Shore Coaches Invitational. Competing in four different races, the Falcons continued to make progress towards their season-long goals with some solid performances on a challenging course.

Josh Li ’26 (77th, 20:57) and Arnav Shankar ’28 (92nd, 21:12) got the morning started with some smart packing and pacing in their JV race. The girls varsity runners took to the course next, as Eliza Lamar ’25 (22:11) led the way with a 35th place finish. Carolina Lopez-Watt ’25 (88th, 24:38) continued her improvement while Ananya Hari ’25 (104th, 25:33) remained a model of consistency while Annie Wang ’27 (134th, 27:27) made a valiant return to racing on her hometown course.

In the boys varsity race, James Hamnett ’25 (36th, 17:57) went toe-to-toe against an outstanding group of runners at the front of the race while Jack Stewart ’25 (76th, 19:05), Landen Jefferson ’25 (88th, 19:36), Theo Salapatas ’27 (97th, 19:57), Dasyer Bullock ’26 (111th, 20:31) and co-captain Matthew Luo ’25 (130th, 21:27) navigated a deep field to record strong finishes as well.

The Falcons’ day concluded with two freshmen completing a two-mile race, as Justin Zhang ’28 (75th, 14:33) and Brennan Caldwell ’28 (122nd, 15:46) passed a number of competitors down the stretch to record solid times in their first competition at Holmdel Park.

A number of Peddie runners will travel to legendary Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, N.Y. next Sunday, Oct. 13 to compete in the Manhattan College Cross Country Invitational. The entire team will be back in action on Friday, Oct. 18 at 5 p.m. at Peddie Golf Course, when the Falcons host Lawrenceville in their second Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) dual race of the season.

Thirty-four Falcons traveled to Pottstown, PA for Peddie cross country’s first Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) dual race of the 2024 season against The Hill School. Traversing an appropriately hilly 5K course at Brookside Country Club in drizzling conditions, the girls translated a sweep of the top-three places into a 24-31 victory over the Blues while the boys narrowly lost to the hosts, 26-29.

Captain Matilda Kardhashi ’25 was the top female finisher in a time of 19:46, while her teammates Eliza Lamar ’25 (second, 20:57) and Courtney Cane ’25 (third, 22:15) contributed impressive performances as well. Four straight Hill runners made it a tight race, but Carolina Lopez-Watt ’25 (eighth, 24:06) and captain Sophie Winn ’26 (10th, 24:34) secured the win for the Peddie girls. Ananya Hari ’25 (13th, 25:17) continued her string of impressive performances, as she nearly set a personal record on a relatively slow course. Newcomers Louisa Blix ’28 (15th, 26:12) and Kira Pramanik ’26 (17th, 27:39) built off of their solid debut races in last Saturday’s Jerry Hart Invitational to round out the lineup for Peddie.

On the boys’ side, James Hamnett ’25 captured the first individual win of his career, completing the 3.1 miles in a time of 17:36. Captain Baker Pott ’25 (17:54) ran with Hamnett the whole way and took second, but Hill snagged the next four places and got their fifth runner across the line before Peddie’s fourth to defend their home turf and pick up the victory. Jack Stewart ’25 (seventh, 18:47) was the third Falcon finisher and then Peddie saw its own four-pack of runners cross the line in succession, as Rishi Swaminathan ’25 (ninth 19:10), Landen Jefferson ’25 (10th, 19:23), Theo Salapatas ’27 (11th, 19:29) and Ethan Sbarro ’26 (12th, 19:43) completed the varsity seven for the blue and gold.

James Radigan ’25 (14th, 19:59) finished strong to sneak under the 20-minute barrier, while Dasyer Bullock ’26 (16th, 20:32) used an impressive kick to pass a number of Hill runners in the final mile as he completed his first cross country 5K. Arnav Shankar ’28 (20th, 21:02), Josh Li ’26 (22nd, 21:13) and captain Matt Luo ’25 (24th, 21:24) all finished in short succession while Justin Zhang ’28 (26th, 22:55), Leo Pan-Wang ’26 (28th, 22:59), Finn Gorsline ’27 (29th, 23:04) and Jacob Kidd ’26 (30th, 23:12) did a similarly impressive job of packing up to attack the challenging, yet beautiful course. Peddie runners took seven of the next 10 places with Aaron Linke ’28 (33rd, 24:25), Brennan Caldwell ’28 (34th, 24:46), Ben McMahon ’28 (35th, 25:05), Neil Bhuteja ’26 (36th, 25:06), Rohan Bhamidipati ’28 (37th, 25:21), Milan Shah ’27 (39th, 25:39) and Evan Ren ’27 (40th, 25:57) closing out the team’s time on the course.

A number of Peddie runners will be back in action on Saturday, Oct. 5 at the Shore Coaches Invitational at Holmdel Park at 9 a.m., but the next race for the whole squad will be the Falcons’ second MAPL dual of the season at home against Lawrenceville on Friday, October 18 at 5 p.m.