North Jersey girls track & field athletes to watch during the 2024 season

The 2024 spring track season gets started Monday across the Garden State.

Here are the top girls athletes to watch this season in North Jersey.

Christina Allen

River Dell senior distance runner

The University of Cincinnati is getting a tremendous athlete in Allen, who has had one of the great track and cross-country careers in North Jersey history. In the spring, she won State Meet of Champions titles in both the 800 and 3,200 races, and a fourth-place medal in the 1,600 a year ago. Her teams have won two state group indoor titles and last year's outdoor state sectional crown, and have never lost a league meet in track. She's in the top 15 all-time in Bergen County at 800, 1,600 and 3,200.

Olyvia Burrell

Emerson senior jumper/sprinter/thrower

A talented and versatile athlete who won the Bergen County pentathlon championship in the winter of 2023, she took the Group 1 state long jump title last spring, placed second in the Group 1 state high jump in the same meet and just missed medals in the State Meet of Champions a year ago. She also reached the finals at the Group 1 state meet in the shot put in the winter of 2023. She is one of two Bergen County athletes to clear 5-foot-6 in the high jump and 18 feet in the long jump in her career. Her college plans aren't yet set.

Kylie Castillo

Ridgefield junior sprinter

She came to high school as a soccer star but she'll graduate as one of North Jersey's best ever quarter-milers and will continue her career at Columbia University. She's a four-time Group 1 state champion, winning three at 400 meters and last spring at 200 meters. Castillo finished second in both the State Meet of Champions 200 and 400 last spring and ranks 14th all-time in Bergen County and fifth in the 400, just .75 seconds away from the 31-year-old county record set by former NCAA 800-meter champion Dana Riley of Teaneck.

Gina Certo

Holy Angels junior sprinter

Last winter and spring, Certo forced her way into the state conversation in the sprints, especially in the 400 meters, where she added an outdoor Non-Public A title to her indoor title and a fourth-place medal at the State Meet of Champions, moving into eighth place all-time on the Bergen County list. She had another excellent winter before late-season aches and pains kept her out of the State Meet of Champions. Look for her to contend for medals in the 200 as well.

Ayanna Chape

Hackensack senior sprinter

She followed an excellent 2022-2023 winter season in all three sprints with an even better spring. Chape placed third in the State Meet of Champions 400 and moved into seventh place all-time in the Bergen County rankings, winning the 100, 200 and 400 at sectional meets. Last winter, she battled some injuries and still set a school record in the 600. If she's fully healthy, she'll be part of the assault on Dana Riley's record before heading to Brown University.

Abby Dennis

Old Tappan senior sprinter/hurdler

The fourth of seven returning All-North Jersey team members added an All-American performance to her 2023 State Meet of Champions title of last spring. Dennis, who will run at Harvard University, became just the second Bergen County girl under eight seconds in the 55 hurdles this winter and hopes to become the second Bergen 110-meter hurdler under 14 seconds this spring. She's also excited to add the 400 hurdles to her repertoire this spring.

Layla Giordano

Old Tappan senior thrower

Before last spring, no one had ever thrown 150 feet in the discus in Bergen County history at any meet. Giordano did it six times, the last a monstrous heave of 170-4 to win the New Balance Nationals at Franklin Field. No Bergen County athlete ever won the State Meet of Champions title in both the shot and the discus until Giordano did it last spring. And now she tries to do even more before she goes off to Princeton University next fall. She's the third-ranked discus thrower in state history and the third leading returnee in the United States.

Kara Langbaum

Wayne Hills senior middle distance runner

American University welcomes this second-generation star, the top middle distance runner in Passaic County this year and the Group 3, North 1 indoor sectional champion at 1,600 meters. The Patriots have their best team in several years and Langbaum will play a large role in their pursuit of the Big North Independence and Passaic County titles. She ranks eighth in Passaic history at 800 meters and is tied for 19th in the 1,600.

Grace McQueeney

River Dell senior jumper

One of the best combination high, long and triple jumpers in New Jersey, she scored 19 points in the three jumps as the Golden Hawks won a Group 2 section title last spring, and she scored in all three jumps at the Big North Patriot and Bergen Group B meets. But she's best at the long jump, where she won sectional and Bergen Meet of Champions titles after placing second in both as a sophomore. Her best long jump effort of 18-6 3/4 is in the top 20 in Bergen history.

Olivia Passero

Hawthorne sophomore hurdler/long sprinter

Her major-meet debut last spring was a spectacular one as she won the NJIC titles in the Colonial division 400, 800 and 400 hurdles. It was the beginning of a fantastic freshman year for the Bears star, who won the 400 and 400 hurdles at the Passaic County meet, and rallied from barely qualifying in the North 1, Ggroup 1 400 hurdles to win the state group title. She's already in the top 20 all-time in Passaic County in the 400 hurdles.

Abby Romero

IHA senior jumper

She's the reigning Bergen County champion in the long jump and was second in both the Bergen County and Non-Public A state long jumps. She set a personal best of 37-1 1/2 in the triple jump, which is a school record. Her best long jump came in the state meet, when she leaped 18-7 3/4, 12th in Bergen County history and another school record. She'll jump at Bucknell.

Others to watch

Kailey Attali, Demarest (junior jumper/hurdler)

Mackenzie Beazley, Passaic Valley (junior jumper)

Anna Bryan-Jones, Northern Highlands (senior hurdler)

Bridget Cannon, Ramapo (freshman middle distance runner)

Isabella Formoso, Bergen Tech (junior pole vaulter)

Amelia Keogh, Ramapo (senior distance runner)

Jamie Kim, Old Tappan (junior pole vaulter)

Lexi Samperi, Hasbrouck Heights (senior jumper/hurdler)

Julia Tozduman, Lyndhurst (senior sprinter/jumper)

Brooke Wichmann, Westwood (junior jumper/hurdler)

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: North Jersey girls track & field athletes to watch during the 2024 season