Three of the top female distance runners in the country expected to clash in Garden State Track Club event at Holmdel Park, with another battle involving Connecticut standouts Gavin Sherry and Aidan Puffer highlighting boys race 

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor/Mary Albl of DyeStat

Following her New Jersey state record and No. 2 all-time performance of 17 minutes, 21 seconds Nov. 25 at the Holmdel Invitational, Lawrenceville School junior Charlotte Bednar will return Saturday to Holmdel Park to not only face more elite competition at the East Coast Championships, but also more challenging weather conditions.

Rain and strong winds are expected in the forecast, but the event organized by the Garden State Track Club is still expected to be held at the historic 5-kilometer course, featuring athletes and teams from Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

The girls gold division race, scheduled for 11 a.m. EST, is scheduled to be headlined by Bednar, along with Notre Dame signee Kate Wiser of Pomperaug High in Connecticut and North Carolina commit Sydney Masciarelli of Marianapolis Prep in Connecticut.

Freshman Christina Allen of River Dell Regional in New Jersey, who ran the second-fastest 5-kilometer by a ninth-grader at the storied venue with her 17:50 effort at the Holmdel Invitational, is also entered in the gold division race.

“I definitely appreciate having competition since it motivates me and pushes me to be my best,” Bednar said. “I am excited to have the opportunity to compete against such an outstanding group of female athletes.”

Although Bednar isn’t expected to challenge the all-time Holmdel Park record of 16:21 set in 2018 by Katelyn Tuohy, a North Rockland High of New York graduate and North Carolina State freshman, she has focused more on strength training in preparation for her second race on the challenging layout in 11 days.

“I am going to try to complete some hill workouts before the race and hoping with the competition, it will help my time,” Bednar said. “Considering it was a fall like no other, I was very excited but also nervous about racing at Holmdel. I had not participated in a race on a cross country course for a year so I had no idea what to expect. Holmdel is such an amazing course so I was looking forward to seeing what I could accomplish on such a historic, tough course.”

Wiser earned the biggest victory of her career this past Saturday at the Northeast High School Championships, clocking 16:46.8 at Twin Ponds on the Farm in Montgomery, N.Y., to prevail against North Carolina State signee Brooke Rauber of Tully Senior in New York (17:00.3) and Masciarelli (17:20.1).

Bednar is a two-time Nike Cross Nationals All-American and Wiser is a two-time Foot Locker All-American, along with Masciarelli, who won the Foot Locker national title in 2018.

“I think it’s similar competition, so I just want to go out there and finish hard and strong and run a really good race,” Wiser said. “It’s been a great opportunity. I’m very grateful for it because my states got cancelled and New Englands got cancelled, so just to have the opportunity to run against these amazing girls has been incredible and it’s something to look forward to, and we’ve been putting the training toward, really since (last) winter.”

Chloe Scrimgeour of Conard High in Connecticut, who finished fourth at the Northeast championship meet, is also entered, along with Emma McGill of Voorhees High and Lilly Shapiro of Colts Neck High in New Jersey, who both placed in the top five at the Holmdel Invitational. Jenna Mulhern of West Chester Henderson in Pennsylvania and Camryn Wennersten of Ridgewood High in New Jersey, representing Garden State Track Club, are also scheduled to participate.

The boys gold race, expected to run at 1 p.m. EST, features Connecticut standouts Aidan Puffer of Manchester, Gavin Sherry of Conard and Nicholas Bendtsen of Wolcott.

Sherry won the Northeast championship in 15:13.7, with Bendtsen placing third in 15:27. Puffer is returning to competition for the first time since his Nov. 7 victory at the Region C meet.

Vidhur Polam of South Brunswick High in New Jersey, who prevailed in 15:32 at the Holmdel Invitational to equal the No. 20 all-time performer at Holmdel Park, is also expected to compete.

“I’m just going to go in and see how it goes and run my hardest,” said Gavin Sherry, who will also be joined in the race by his younger brother Callum.

“I’m just so thankful for the opportunity, with COVID really just screwing this whole year and changing everyone’s plans, it just made everything tough, and not having the big competitions at the end of the year like New Englands, State Open, and Foot Locker was really just a big hit to me, so to be able to have these two races as sort of a replacement for that is something I’m really thankful for.”

New Jersey athletes Matthew Bogan of Point Pleasant Boro, Jackson Barna of Ridge and Chris DeSousa of Christian Brothers Academy, all of which ran under 16 minutes at the Holmdel Invitational, are all listed among the gold division entries. DeSousa will also look to lead Brothers Track Club to the boys team title.