For the second straight year, Trenton’s Cadwalader Park will host Colonial Valley Conference high school cross country meets, with two “batch meet” races scheduled for Sept. 3 and Sept. 9.
The historic Trenton park will also debut a new “championship course” racing layout this season — a 5-kilometer trail designed to accommodate larger and more competitive meets.
It’s part of an ongoing effort to restore interscholastic cross country running to Cadwalader for the first time in more than two decades.
The Wednesday, Sept. 3 meet will feature Trenton Central High School, Hamilton High School West, Nottingham High School and West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North.
On Tuesday, Sept. 9, Trenton will again compete alongside Ewing High School, Princeton High School and Steinert High School. Both events run from 3 to 6 p.m., with races starting at 4 p.m.
The new “championship course” is the second of two cross country layouts developed since 2022 through a partnership between the City of Trenton Department of Recreation, Natural Resources, and Culture, the Trenton Central High School Athletic Department, and the Cadwalader Park Alliance. The first course, a “dual meet” layout, debuted in 2024.
Both courses incorporate Cadwalader’s signature “roller coaster” hills. The new championship layout adds a longer loop and a sweeping 200-meter finish past the John A. Roebling statue.
Officials say the dual-course system will allow for greater flexibility in hosting a range of event types, including divisional and championship meets.
The park’s legacy in high school cross country stretches back more than a century. In 1921, it hosted the New Jersey State Cross Country Championship, one of many historic races held there throughout the 20th century.
Though competition stopped in 1999, last year’s batch meet marked the sport’s official return to Cadwalader.
Preparation for this year’s season involved the City of Trenton, the CVC, and the Trenton Central High School Athletic Department, with support from the Capital District Track and Field Officials, Cadwalader Park Alliance, and Girls on the Run New Jersey East.
The Sept. 3 meet will be hosted by Trenton’s cross country team, which helped lead course development.
The Sept. 9 meet will be hosted by Ewing. Both events begin at Gully Field near Cadwalader Drive and Stuyvesant Avenue and finish inside the park’s Outer Loop.
A rain date is set for Tuesday, Sept. 30.
