Coed Varsity Cross Country vs Shore Coaches Invitational on 10/5/2024

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.