The Hopewell Valley Central High cross country programs are so solid that it’s almost easy to take them for granted.
Even in a season that might not be considered up to par by Bulldogs standards, each team did some impressive things with young lineups.
The girls won the Colonial Valley Division meet and took third in the CVC meet. They were fourth in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III meet and advanced to the state meet, where they finished seventh after taking third and reaching the Meet of Champions as a wild card team last year (the top two finishers automatically qualify).
The girls had an individual MOC entry in junior Sydney Young, who finished third in CJ III and fourth in Group III to make the championship meet for the second straight year (the top 10 individuals in each group qualify for MOC).
Young finished 22nd at the Meet of Champions with a Holmdel Park PR of 18:55, which puts her third on the school record board.
“She ran really well at the Meet of Champs,” coach Karen Walker said.
The boys took second in the CVC Valley meet and fifth in the CVC meet. They were third in CJ III for the third straight year and took sixth in states.
Aaron Oldfield’s squad also had an MOC qualifier as junior Finnegan Curley advanced as a wild card after finishing 11th in Group III. Curley ran a Holmdel PR of 18:55 to finish 41st in a field of 161 at the Meet of Champs.
“He went out a little slower and moved up nicely after the roller coasters (undulating hills),” Oldfield said. “His time was almost the same as states. Overall it is a great learning experience.”
Walker’s team had just one senior in the top seven runners and the boys will lose just two from their nucleus.
The girls graduated talented number one runner Claire Dumont last year but had the outstanding Young for the entire season after she only ran in state meets due to injury as a sophomore.
“We’ve been maintaining with her,” Walker said prior to the Meet of Champs. “She has a cross training day every week. She wasn’t running super-high mileage all season. She was consistent but we’re still trying to build on what she had last year, which wasn’t much due to her injury. I didn’t want to start pushing her training too fast. I want to make sure we’re still just building year to year.”
One thing is certain; Young is not afraid of hard work.
“She does all the things she needs to do, to do her best,” Walker said. “She’s a competitor. It still took her a little time. I had to remind myself she didn’t have a cross country season last year. The last time she raced at some of these parks was her freshman year.
“She’s grown so much as a runner since then. Sometimes she has to make that realization that ‘Yeah, you are one of the top runners in the state, you belong here.’ And it was like ‘OK, yeah, I do,’ and she would go after it.
“We tried out a lot of different race strategies this year, played around with what she was comfortable with, what she was uncomfortable with, seeing what worked. It was a really good season for her getting a lot of those opportunities she didn’t have last year.”
Rounding the top seven were senior Maddie LaChance, juniors Elsie Rey-de-Castro, Sophia Pellegrino, Anna Wilson and Lainie Smith; and freshman Cecelia Carsky-Wilson. The first five were in the top 30 at sectionals, with Carsky-Wilson right behind at 35th.
“Last year we had a strong one-two with Claire and Sydney in the states and we were missing that number two spot this year,” Walker said. “I knew we’d have to make up for that by getting our pack running pretty much side by side in those later races.
“They did do a really good job of that. My numbers two-three-and-four were Sophia, Elise and Anna and they did a great job packing up and moving up throughout the season together. That really helped us out at our CVC meet and sectionals.
LaChance was a solid No. 5 runner and will be the only girl graduating from the top seven.
“Maddie missed some early season races due to SATs and illness, but she was back when we needed her in the later part of the season, scoring at CVCs and states,” Walker said. “She’s worked through some adversity this season so I’m really proud of how she’s persevered. Maddie is one of the toughest runners out there and plans to continue running at the college level so I’m really excited for her next chapter.”
LaChance leaves behind a solid junior class, which gained valuable experience for what could be a strong 2026 campaign with so many returning.
“Elsie made so much progress in her training, how she’s racing, making sure she’s getting enough sleep and all those types of things,” Walker said. “She had a really great season and an awesome race at states (a Holmdel PR of 20:48).
“Sophia Pellegrino and Anna Wilson continue to move up and improve throughout the course of the season. Last year was Anna’s first cross country season. Lainie Smith is just super dependable. She’s always there in that number six spot.”
Then there was the newcomer, who showed promise.
“With Cecelia, at the end of the day, you’re a freshman, it’s your first states, this is a great experience, and anything you’re gonna do would be awesome,” the coach said. “It was fun for her to get that experience running states going into next year.”
Oldfield’s team will also have the potential to do well next fall, led by Curley. The junior was fourth in the CVC meet, fifth in CJ III and 11th in the Group III state meet.
“He’s probably our most consistent runner,” the coach said. “He does those things that everybody wants your leaders to do. He’s a great all-around person, a great student-athlete. Kind of fits the typical mold of a good athlete. Checks all the little boxes and does everything right.”
Despite finishing 38th in Group III last year with a Holmdel time of 17:11, Curley had high hopes for advancing this season.
“You never know with that course; Holmdel is such a challenging course with the hills,” Oldfield said. “That being said we did expect him to get through to the Meet of Champs.”
His run at states was similar to his MOC race.
“It’s kind of like his MO,” Oldfield said. “He was a little conservative at the start with that opening hill right from the get-go. And then he constantly moves forward and puts himself in a good position. He’s worked extremely hard all summer, runs all three seasons with winter and spring track, and he put himself in that position.”
Curley’s accomplishment was even more impressive considering what he had to go through.
“He overcame a broken toe in the summer, which was a freak accident, nothing related to running,” Oldfield said. “He had to sit out a couple of weeks, that frustrated him. But he’s a kid that just does everything he’s supposed to do. He’s very focused.”
As for the team overall, the coach says it is in a third-place rut at sectionals, finishing third for the third straight year behind Colts Neck and West Windsor-Plainsboro North. But the Bulldogs still got through, as they expected. They also took fifth in the CVC meet.
“Like every team you’re gonna have nagging injuries, illnesses you have to overcome,” Oldfield said. “But I think with how it all ended up we were happy. Silas (Allevik), who only ran two races this year, should have been right around where Finnegan is (time-wise) if he was racing all year. He’s our number two guy. Our number three guy (Juan Hiraldo) is only a sophomore he did a nice job for us. We were happy.”
Curley, Allevik and Hiraldo finished 5-6-7 in the sectionals. There was a gap between the top three and the next finishers, as sophomore Patrick Broker and senior Mason O’Connor finished 28-29, followed by senior Colin Vickery and freshman Declan Curley.
In states, Curley’s 11th place made him the only Bulldog in the top 40.
“Allevik and Hiraldo got off to a slow start and got bottled up in the roller coasters a half mile into the race,” Oldfield said. “Once you’re bottled up there you have to let it run its course until the trail opens up. That was a problem for us.”
And then there was the environment itself, which can be daunting to younger runners.
“After that it was guys learning how to race at that level with talented runners all around you,” the coach continued. “Allevik is a junior, Hiraldo and Broker are sophomores. O’Connor and Vickery are seniors and Declan Curley is a freshman.’
“Hiraldo couldn’t race last year at states, he had asthma. Broker is in his first year running cross country.”
With such a youthful lineup, the future is looking bright provided everyone keeps progressing.
“We’re gonna miss the two seniors,” Oldfield said. “Obviously they brought great leadership with the four years of experience that they both had. But we’re looking forward to next year if they do the right things and stay healthy.
“We’re excited to see where this can go. They’re all buying into it and we’re hoping to have even greater success next year.”