BIG SHOT: Princeton High boys’ track star Paul Brennan competes in the shot put during a meet last season. This past Saturday, junior star Brennan came up big as PHS competed in the Mercer Relays last Saturday at WW/P-North. He helped PHS win the discus relay at the meet posting a best mark of 164’ 7 with teammate Ben Kioko producing a heave of 111’ 7. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

With the county meet and state competition on the horizon, the Princeton High boys’ track team served notice that it will be a title contender as it dominated the Mercer Relays last Saturday.

Showing its quality and depth, PHS won the unofficial team title 86-69 over Hamilton West in the meet held at WW/P-North.

As usual, the squad’s middle and long distance runners came up big. The Little Tigers took first in the 4×400 relay as the quartet of Jack Whetstone, Nick Delaney, Varun Narayan, Nils Wildberg posted a time of 3:25.51, the sixth best time in the state this season. The distance medley relay of Will Hare, Tucker Zullo, Acasio Pinheiro, and Jackson McCarthy also prevailed, clocking a winning time of 10:38.35. PHS took second in the 4×800 as Delaney, McCarthy, Hare, and Pinheiro clocked a 7:56.22, the second best time in the state this spring, trailing Hopewell Valley’s time of 7:48.94, the fifth best time in the U.S. so far this season.

PHS produced a breakthrough in the sprints as the 4×100 relay group of Wildberg, Narayan, Matt Perello, and Whetstone took second in 43.51, breaking a 36-year old school record in the process.

The team’s pair of star jumpers came through as PHS took first place in the long jump relay with Narayan leaping 22’7 and Wildberg posting a mark of 21’5.25.

In the pole vault relay, the Little Tigers prevailed as Simon Schenk went 12’6 with Kevin Linko coming in at 11’0.

PHS also displayed its depth in the throwing events, taking first place in the javelin relay with Ben Kioko heaving 150’2 and Will Poston coming up with a best mark of 138’09. The Little Tigers also won the discus relay as Paul Brennan had a best throw of 164’07 and Kioko came in 111’07.

The PHS girls also produced some highlights at the meet. The quartet of Jackie Patterson, Colleen Linko, Raina Williamson, and Siena Moran won the 4×400 relay in 4:05.38. In addition, the girls finished second in both the 4×1,600 and distance medley relay races.