Princeton storms to title after winning 10 of 18 events
HAMILTON » William Hare expected the Princeton High boys track and field team to perform at its highest level in the Mercer County Meet.
If the Little Tigers did that then there was no reason why they wouldn’t walk away as the best team in the county.
Princeton won 10 of the 18 events and scored a whopping 136.50 points to destroy the field at Steinert High and capture its first county crown since 1982 on an overcast Saturday afternoon.
“Our team’s the best,” Hare shouted as he hopped over to take part in the winners’ photo. “So, no, not really surprised.”
Hare was victorious in the 3200 in a time of 9:11.13.
The Little Tigers also completed a county treble by winning the cross country, indoor and outdoor trophies.
“It’s a testament to our program that we were able to keep our guys healthy and running well all three seasons,” Hare said. “It was all about our team today. We did something that only one team before us has gotten to do. It was a complete effort. We had an individual champ in jumps and sprints.”
Varun Narayan (long jump/triple jump) and Paul Brennan (discuss/shot put) recorded two firsts apiece, while there were individual triumphs for Matthew Perello in the 100 (11.07), Nils Wildberg in the 200 (22.02) and Simon Schenk in pole vault (14-06.00).
Narayan went 22-06.00 in the long jump and 4309.50 in the triple jump for his wins and Brennan threw 162-02 in discuss and Princeton’s Paul Brennan reacts to his team’s victory in the MCT Meet at Steinert on Saturday.
52-05 in shot.
Princeton added the 4x800 relay (8:12.75) and 4x100 realy (43.28) for good measure. It beat secondplace finisher Trenton by 79.5 points.
“It’s what these guys have been training for all year long,” coach Rashone Johnson said. “That’s been the talk all season about keeping pace and staying focused. The guys believed in themselves and they came out and did it today. In every event we competed in, everybody put everything they had on the track and that’s why we finished the way we did.”
Johnson even pointed to victories in the 100 and 200, two events Princeton hasn’t been historically strong in.
“That’s huge,” Johnson said. “It’s all over the place. It took a solid group effort from everyone and that’s the best thing about today, that it’s not one person, it’s everybody that did it.”
Host Steinert took home a pair of first-place medals thanks to Terris Burton in the 400 hurdles (56.04) and Keon Cooper in the javelin (171-02).
Hopewell Valley’s Sean Dolan continued his run toward Athlete of the Year with a 1:51.37 win in
the 800. Sean, Tim Dolan, Amos Barnes and Teddy Meredith — the quartet that famously set the Penn Relays DMR record in golden style — were also victorious in the 4x400 with a 3:23.93.