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Northeast Region Girls Early Season Rankings 2025Published by
After Placing 10th Two Years In A Row At NXN, Union Catholic Aiming For Podium Finish By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor Girls NXR Northeast Preview There is practically nothing that the Union Catholic girls track and field team hasn't accomplished. Its mid-distance crew has broken national high school records in both the 4x800 (2024) and the Distance Medley Relay (2025). This fall, with all seven runners back from a 10th place finish at Nike Cross Nationals, UC is aiming to make history in cross country. No girls team from the Northeast region has ever finished higher than fourth at NXN and it's been 18 years since Hanover NH did it. This Union Catholic team could be the one to raise the bar. Junior Paige Sheppard is one of the premier high school athletes in the country, with track bests of 2:01.50 in the 800 meters and 4:33.67 in the full mile. She is also a two-time defending NXR Northeast champion. UC has finished 10th a NXN two years in a row. Champlain Valley VT was the other Northeast representative and finished 19th. The Redhawks also bring back enough of its lineup to challenge for a fifth berth to nationals this fall. Three more teams are loaded with talented returning athletes, which could bolster the status of the region. Princeton NJ, Westford Academy MA and Billerica Memorial MA all bring back solid groups. In addition to Sheppard, senior Greta Hammer of Needham MA was the individual runner-up at NXR Northeast last year. Junior Cayleigh Kaiser of UC was third, sophomore Julia Kelly from Downingtown West PA was fourth, junior Madeleine Lane from Hopkinton NH was fifth and Baylee Espinosa of Lewisburg Area PA was seventh. 1. Union Catholic NJ. The Vikings recently won their second straight John Dye Dual Meet Tournament championship, marking the program as the most complete in America. The 10th place team at NXN returns all seven runners from that team. Junior Paige Sheppard was 30th in Portland last year and in the spring she anchored UC's national record in the DMR. Juniors Cayleigh Kaiser, Kayla Devine and Sophia Thompson, seniors Emmy O'Hearn and Ella Solorzano, freshmen Eden Solorzano, Harper Telesca and Abigail Robisky, and sophomore Jasmine Parran give the team myriad options to come up with podium-worthy lineup. 2. Champlain Valley Union VT. The Redhawks made their fourth trip to NXN last year and have the personnel to go for No. 5 this fall. CVU has run twice already this fall and shown it deserves a No. 2 ranking. Seniors Charlotte Crum, Lydia Donahue and Audrey Neilson went 1-2-4 at the Burlington HS Cross-Country Run Invitational on Saturday. Two more seniors, Zoey McNabb and Isabella Gravina-Budis, make CVU solid through five. 3. Princeton NJ.The Tigers welcome back their top five finishers from last year's NXR Northeast, where the team finished fourth, and six of the seven who ran that day. Given that, Princeton could be even better, but the other teams on this list also bring back most of their rosters. Senior Kajol Karra and juniors Grace Hegedus, Eowyn Deess and Phoenix Roth, and sophomores Rosemary Warren and Sevanne Knoch are all available to help push Princeton forward. 4. Westford Academy MA. Abigail Hennessy is the fastest miler in Massachusetts state history and a huge talent coming back for her senior year. Senior Emily Wedlake was the runner-up in the MIAA Meet of Champions 2-mile in the spring. Sophomores Diya Shrestha, Emily Deeks and Phoenix Philbrick and junior Elena Merlino give this team depth and a chance to repeat as MIAA D1 champions. 5. Billerica Memorial MA. Last year's team was filled with freshmen and sophomores and they are all back this fall for the Indians. Coming out of the spring track season, the team had nine girls running between 10:56 and 12:35 for 2 miles. Sophomores Kylie and Caitlyn Donahue, Anna Rossini and Sabrina Gorski and juniors Gianna McGowan, Hartlie Siegal and Madelynn LaRosa form a nucleus that could do some major damage over the next two years. WATCHLIST More news |
