TAKING HIS SHOT: Princeton High boys’ track star thrower Paul Brennan competes at the shot put in a meet earlier this spring. Last Saturday at the Mercer County Championships, sophomore star Brennan won the discus and took second in the shot put to help PHS take second in the team standings. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Ben Samara knew that the Princeton High boys’ track team was in for a dogfight as it went after the title at the Mercer County Championships last Saturday.

“Going into the meet we anticipated that it was going to be a four or five horse race, there is a lot of parity in the league,” said Samara, the associate head coach of the PHS boys’ and girls’ teams.

“We thought it was us, WW/P-North, Nottingham, Ewing, and Hamilton. We had it as a five point meet spread over five teams so everybody was really, really close but then when we looked at the entries the night before the meet, you could really see where North was loading up in a lot of different events. That is when I said this is really going to come down to North and us.”

Samara’s prediction proved correct as PHS and the Northern Knight waged one of the tightest and most dramatic battles in meet history with WW/P-North prevailing 92-91 in the competition held at Steinert High.

On one hand, the Little Tigers were bitterly disappointed to come up one point shy of the title.

“It is really tough because we could see how badly the guys wanted it,” said Samara.

“It is really hard for athletes who have only been there for a few years to fully understand the history behind what we were talking about and really wanting a county title for the first time in 35 years. You could see it in their eyes that they wanted it every bit as bad as the coaching staff did and they were every bit as devastated.”

On the other hand, Samara was extremely proud of how his athletes competed.

“Every single person who was there knew what they needed to do and went
beyond that,” asserted Samara.

“I have always said that the distance guys are our backbone but in track and field, they are not going to be able to do it by themselves. We have taken a big leap forward between our jumpers, our throwers, and Simon [Schenk] in the pole vault. They have really backed those guys up; that has allowed us to get as close as we did.”

As usual, the distance running tandem of senior Alex Roth and junior Will Hare set the pace for the Little Tigers. Senior Roth took first in the 3,200 with a time of 9:30.44 and second in the 1,600 in  4:20.96. Junior Hare, for his part, was second in the 3,200 in 9:31.93 and placed third in the 1,600 with a time of 4:21.82.

“They are so reliable, the fact that they are there consistently and fairly healthy week to week is a testament to the base work they do,” said Samara.

“They are just workhorses, they know what they need to do and they go and do it every single week. We did exactly what we needed to do in the mile and two-mile. There is never a question that they are going to put those points on the board. We don’t even think about it. With as volatile as those distance races can be, that is a real luxury.”

Samara pointed to junior Nick Delaney as an unsung hero for the Little Tigers.

“Nick Delaney was absolutely incredible, we were missing some people and Nick really stepped up into the void,” said Samara of Delaney, who took fourth in the 800 in 1:59.12 and help PHS place fourth in the 4×800 and sixth in the 4×400.

“He anchored our 4×800 and got us some points there  and he came back in the 800 and still broke two minutes. He anchored the 4×400 and didn’t have anything left, except heart. He just really grinded us to a point in the 4×400. If anyone left it all out there, it was Nick Delaney.”

Junior throwing star Paul Brennan piled up big points for PHS, winning the discus with a heave of 172’1 and taking second in the shot put at 49’5.

“Paul was disappointed to barely lose the shot put there; that was the first event that he did,” said
Samara.

“He is not used to losing and when he took that loss in the shot, you can see which way Paul Brennan is going to go. He came out and had back-to-back personal bests in the discus. He won the discuss by 30 feet, that is a really good sign for him that he is not going to crack under the adversity. He is going go and do more than what he has to do, so good for him.”

The team’s pair of star jumpers, sophomore Nils Wildberg and junior Varun Narayan, did more than Samara expected. Wildberg won the long jump with a leap of 22’0 and took fourth in the triple jump with a best of 41’1. Narayan placed fourth in the long jump at 21’0.5 and finished third in the triple jump with a leap of 42’7.

“They have developed themselves, we never thought they would get to this level so fast,” said Samara, who also got a fourth place finish from freshman Schenk in the pole vault.

“Nils had two weeks where he was jumping way over 22 feet but he was just fouling by a toe over and over. His jumps still kept going up and we just had this feeling before counties that he could do something big here. Nils and Varun came in and where other guys were jumping 18 feet to 20 feet back and fourth, they were just consistent every single jump. Varun had a personal record with his 21’0.5. Nils also had a PR, 22 feet is a huge personal best for him. Nils put every ounce of himself into every jump that he takes. He is the definition of leaving it all out there. For him to get a county championship as a sophomore is just absolutely incredible.”

Samara is expecting his athletes to give their all again this weekend as they compete in the Central Jersey Group 4 sectional meet at Hillsborough from May 26-27.

“The pressure is on because I think Franklin is such a heavy favorite in that meet, I don’t think we are going to worry about a team title there,” said Samara.

“The county meet was our championship. We have a host of guys who really want to get through to groups in that sectional meet. It is definitely the toughest sectional in the state, especially for the distance races, so it is going to be a really exciting weekend.”