The 2025 Shore Coaches Invitational will go down as one of most memorable girls competitions we’ve ever seen at Holmdel Park.
Three runners broke 18 minutes, major team upsets unfolded, and history was made at every turn.
Here’s everything that went down in the girls races.
Blair Bartlett makes history at Holmdel Park
Blair Bartlett didn’t get a chance to see the course before the 2025 Shore Coaches Invitational, but that didn’t affect her performance one bit. The Lawrenceville junior adjusted race strategy on the fly and recorded the fourth-fastest time in Holmdel Park history, winning the Girls Varsity F race in 17:23 (rounded to 17:24 after official results). Click here for the full story.
On the team side, No. 16 Pingry successfully defended its team title, with Sari Berman (10th, 20:09) as the low stick. The rest of Pingry’s pack bunched together not far behind each other, with senior Julia Ronnen (20:49), freshman Sophia Wong (20:51) and sophomore Penelope Maher (20:53) finishing 18th-20th. Junior Caroline Naulty was Pingry’s No. 5, crossing the finish line at 21:04. Maddie Hand shined in her first Holmdel Park high school race with a 24th place finish (21:09).
Sheppard, Union Catholic dominate Girls Varsity E
Missing a pair of varsity runners didn’t stop Union Catholic from making history on Saturday. The Vikings packed five runners in the Top 12 to edge nationally-ranked Shenendehowa (NY) in the Girls Varsity E Division. Junior Paige Sheppard won her third straight Shore Coaches Invitational title in 17:37.44 (rounded to 17:38 on official results). Click here for the full story.
Starkey goes sub-18 in Girls Varsity D
Only 30 girls in state history have ever gone 18 minutes or under at Holmdel, and even fewer have been able to do it twice.
Leah Starkey is officially in that exclusive club.
The Ocean Township sophomore, who broke the Ocean County course record earlier this season, continued her torrid sophomore season when she clocked 17:59.16 (rounded to 18:00 for official results) to secure her first-ever Shore Coaches Invitational title in the Girls Varsity D race.
Nearly a year ago today, Leah Starkey had never raced at Holmdel Park. In her eyes, it’s a surreal feeling for her to now be amongst the fastest to ever run at the course.
“I didn’t think I’d be running these times especially because last year, I mean my Holmdel PR was 18:40, but I was more consistently around 19 (minutes),” Starkey said. “So it feels like really crazy to be going like a minute faster now.”
On the team side, Voorhees, ranked No. 17 in NJ.com’s Top 20, made a serious case to be a top five team in the state after packing five runners in the top 15 to win the Girls Varsity D team title. Voorhees pulled off the upset over No. 5 Paul VI, outscoring them 47-72.
Voorhees, who burned a team average of 19:52, were led by the dynamic duo of Lexie Mizzone (18:51) and Daphne Roskowski (19:40), who were third and sixth, respectively. Sophomore Zoe Saksa came through in 11th place with a time of 20:12, while freshman Emily Leyton (13th, 20:19) and senior Lucy D’Alessandro (14th, 20:22) rounded out a strong team effort that showcased how well Voorhees can run as a pack.
Domurat cranks out a huge Holmdel PR in Girls Varsity A
Hunterdon Central girls head coach Dylan Marton has felt all along that Molly Domurat had the potential to be a top 10 runner in the state of New Jersey.
On Saturday, she proved that she certainly belongs in that category.
Domurat shredded her previous Holmdel PR in the Girls Varsity A race by roughly 40 seconds, clocking an official time of 18:38 to secure second overall in Girls Varsity A
“I’m pretty happy,” Domurat said. “It’s a great improvement, I’m just really grateful for whatever time I could shave down. So the fact that it was so much was definitely a surprise, but a great one.”
The victory adds to what’s already been an incredible comeback journey for Domurat, who suffered a devastating season-ending injury last year and missed the Group 4 meet, despite qualifying for the competition.
Her comeback as a senior, however, has been remarkable. She’s recorded victories at both the Thompson 2 miler (11:14.50) and the Thompson Park Class Meet (18:17.10), kicking off the season stronger than anyone could’ve imagined.
“Last year was definitely a disappointment not only for me but I felt like disappointing my team because (I was out),” Domurat said. “But now being able to accomplish things and to get back to where I was originally supposed to be is just such an amazing experience and it’s just been crazy, honestly. It’s awesome having such a great support group and I couldn’t have asked for a better team.”
Ridgewood upsets N.J. No. 2 in Girls Varsity B
Ridgewood has finished second in Group 4 for the last seven years behind teams like Freehold Township, Princeton, Cherokee and others.
That streak might end in 2025.
In the Girls Varsity B race, Ridgewood, ranked No. 10 in NJ.com’s Top 20, edged No. 2 Princeton, a team that beat them in both the Group 4 state meet and Meet of Champions last fall. The Maroons, led by All-State runners sophomore Natalie Knowles (2nd, 18:54) and junior Katherine Keating (3rd, 19:09).
“We’ve been working hard since July, and we really wanted to come here today and just see how we can perform as a team,” Keating said. “I think going into race, we were a little bit nervous as this was our first real race of the season. But I think we’re all really proud of ourselves.”
Ridgewood (53), outlasted four state-ranked teams Princeton (70), No. 15 Ridge (150), No. 20 West Windsor-Plainsboro North (209), No. 19 Moorestown (222).
“I think we showed that North Jersey can run fast too,” Keating said. “But I think we’re just happy about what we did at the end of the day. We proved that we can run fast and that we have good team spirit and energy, and we’re excited, to improve and do better.”
Coming into the season, there were questions about Ridgewood’s lineup after losing Ayla Cooke, Eilat Kissil, and Lola Jacqueline to graduation. With only one full-squad race before Saturday, the Maroons showed just how much their summer work paid off.
Along with Knowles, Keating & sophomore Penelope De Valence, varsity newcomers such as sophomore Hunter Witham, sophomore Abi Marino, and junior Ella Recchiuti all showed remarkable poise, delivering under the pressure of high expectations.
De Valence shed 10 seconds off her course PR from last year (20:09), and closely behind were the newcomers. Witham was 17th in 20:40, Recchiuti was 21st in 20:46, while Marino was 36th in 21:26.
“Teams mature at different rates, and we’re young, and we’ve got a bunch of young girls that have never had those expectations to shoulder, and they did great today,” Ridgewood girls head coach Steve Opremcak said. “I wake up every morning just feeling incredibly grateful that I have the opportunity to coach them. They’re a close knit group. We work really hard, but we have a blast.”
Lee captures Varsity B title at Shore Coaches
Last year, the Shore Coaches Invitational proved to be a breakthrough for West Windsor-Plainsboro North senior Allison Lee.
Back then, Lee was just a junior when she captured her first Shore Coaches title —an achievement that gave her the momentum needed to deliver an epic postseason run in 2024. She went on to break the Thompson Park course record, finish third at Meet of Champions, and qualify for Foot Locker Nationals.
So for Lee, winning her second Shore Coaches title in Girls Varsity B race on Saturday (18:36), holds some serious weight for her.
“This meet in particular has always been something that really boosted my confidence going into the championship season,” Lee said. “So definitely means a lot to be back here and winning this race.”
Lee won by roughly 18 seconds, outlasting a stacked field that included Ridgewood’s Katherine Keating (18:54), Natalie Knowles (19:09) & Princeton’s Grace Hegedus (19:25).
“(Today) was a good rust buster,” Lee said. “I think my strategy was just to get out, be curious, and just go for it, not think too much about it too much. That’s definitely something I like about cross country more than track because you’re kind of away from more of that tactical kind of racing.”
“I got some separation going up that first hill and then I didn’t really look back. I definitely felt some footsteps behind me, but I definitely did try to pull away really early so I could just get out of the traffic.
This post will be updated with more standouts and details. Please check back later
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