The Road to States
The girls managed to qualify for the State meet, but the road to get there was certainly not the one we had planned on. The 2026 cross country season seemed to be filled with constant detours. All I kept hearing in my mind was, recalculating, recalculating.
Burlington County Open
Let's start with the championship phase of the season. The BC Open was supposed to be our first time running a full lineup, though we were still missing Genisa and Sonal. Alexa Butler and Samantha Finley stepped up to complete our top seven, marking the first time our top five runners were on the course together. Unfortunately, at around the mile-and-a-half mark, Casey Leisse passed out due to recent illness. Needless to say, I didn’t see the finish of that race or much of the JV race after it.
Despite losing Casey mid-race, the rest of the girls held it together beautifully. Erin Healy and Ava Guarini finished second and third overall, clocking 19:41 and 19:56 despite the course being muddy in several spots. Gabby Urban was our third runner, placing 12th in 21:23. Ella Holloway followed in 18th place with a time of 21:50. All four of these girls ran faster than they did last year at Crystal Lake. Alexa was our fifth scoring runner, placing 39th in 24:22, and Sam finished 43rd in 25:04. Even with the adversity, the team managed to place third overall—marking the 10th consecutive year they have finished in the top three.
Olympic Conference Championship
The Conference meet was up next, and this time we were forced to run without Erin and Casey. In all my years of going to Dream Park, this was the absolute worst I have ever seen the course. A week of heavy rains combined with a college race the previous Saturday left the layout muddy, torn up, and incredibly slow.
Still, the girls fought through the muck. Ava Guarini ran a lifetime Dream Park best, clocking 19:47 to place third overall. Gabby Urban and Ella Holloway placed 29th and 32nd respectively, while Alexa Butler took 56th and Samantha Finley finished 64th. The team still placed fifth overall and fourth in our division.
Baker Invitational
We set our sights on the Baker Invitational just before Sectionals. The weather conditions were near perfect, and everyone who raced took advantage of it by running lifetime bests. Samantha Finley dropped a massive 22:38 to place 13th. Elise Barcenas ran 23:10 to take 22nd. Kyla Petragnani ran 23:57 for 34th, and Lilah LePore finished right behind her in 35th at 24:31. In the B race, Taylor Reddington ran 25:46 to place 22nd, and Karien Mansour ran 28:37 for 38th.
South Jersey Gr 4 Sectional Championship
Heading into Sectionals, it finally looked like we might get healthy. We were hopeful to get Genisa John and Sonal Patel back, but their injuries ultimately kept them sidelined. It is incredibly tough as a coach to watch athletes navigate a brutal year of setbacks, but this was especially heartbreaking because Genisa and Sonal are seniors who didn't get the final season they deserved. With Casey and Erin aiming for their first race back, Alexa Butler and Samantha Finley were called upon once again to complete our top seven. This race took on a completely new meaning as I asked the girls to run for Genisa and Sonal.
We knew coming into the meet that most people had already counted us out. Facing a field with Cherry Hill East, Kingsway, Egg Harbor Township, Toms River North, and Southern, simply advancing to States looked like a massive challenge.
What the girls did next was pretty remarkable. Five of them ran Dream Park personal records, four of which were absolute lifetime PRs. The remaining two runners turned in a season-best performance and a time just fractions off a lifetime best.
Erin was our first runner across the line, placing sixth overall in 18:42. Her performance ranks No. 7 all-time on the course and No. 4 on the historic junior list for Dream Park. Ava Guarini dropped a huge lifetime best of 18:58 to place 10th, placing her No. 10 all-time on the course and No. 2 on the sophomore list. Gabby Urban was our third girl, running a lifetime best of 19:52 to place 19th and secure the No. 11 spot on the senior list.
Casey Leisse managed a 20:42 to place 34th despite taking a hard fall before the 2-mile mark, a resilient effort that lands her at No. 10 on the sophomore list. Ella Holloway ran 20:58—just two seconds off her Dream Park PR—to place 42nd (No. 11 on the sophomore list). Alexa Butler dropped a big course PR of 22:27, which doubled as her new lifetime PR, to finish 72nd. Samantha Finley rounded out our top seven with a Dream Park PR of 22:55, a strong performance coming right on the heels of what she ran at Pennypacker Park earlier in the week.
When the points were tallied, the girls finished fourth overall, officially advancing to the State meet for the 23rd time in school history. I am incredibly proud of how this group held everything together through every detour thrown their way. We look forward to competing at the State Group 4 Championship this coming weekend.
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