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PHS Boys' Track Peaked at Counties To Culminate Breakthrough Season

By Bill Alden

For the Princeton High boys' winter track team, its effort in the 4 x 400 relay in the Mercer County Championship meet exemplified the squad's stellar performance this season.

The PHS quartet of Geoff Respoli, Rob Begin, Tom Natriello, and Louis Abramson fell behind the powerful Trenton squad early in the race.

The Little Tigers, though, refused to give in as they battled the Tornadoes every step of the way on the narrow track at Widener College.

While PHS couldn't quite catch Trenton, its time of 3:38.70 was just .66 behind the Tornadoes and was a season-best. The team's effort in the relay reflected the tenacity and talent PHS displayed at the county meet and all winter.

In assessing the performance of his team, which scored 41 points at the county meet to finish second to WW/P-N, PHS head coach John Woodside was understandably pleased.

"I felt like they gave me enough points to win the meet," said Woodside. "WW/P-N had a great day. The guys should be really proud of what they did. I couldn't be prouder."

In Woodside's view, the performance at the county meet was just the latest of many steps forward this season for the PHS winter program.

"It was a breakthrough season," asserted Woodside. "The kids competed hard. They got respect. They surprised some of the other teams and, in some ways, they even surprised me."

PHS gave its foes an early jolt at the county meet when Little Tiger senior star Begin finished second in the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.79, just .06 behind the winning time posted by Hightstown's Mike Demko.

"Robbie started things off well for us," said Woodside of Begin, a star baseball player who was running in his last track meet before focusing his efforts on the diamond this spring.

"He exceeded my expectations by getting second. He beat some really good people. He also scored for us in the 400 (taking fourth in 54.88). Robbie did so much for us. It was the first time he had run two 400s for us in the same meet."

Another Tiger senior star who made the most of every step at the meet was Abramson, who won the 800. "Louis had a tremendous performance," said Woodside of the half-miler, who clocked a time of 2:08.33 in nipping WW/P-N's Mike Page in a photo finish.

"It was a very exciting race. The other guy blew past Lewis and built a lead of 20 meters. Louis battled back and passed him and then the guy came back in the final stretch. They both leaned at the tape; it came down to a thousandth of a second."

PHS' other individual victory at the meet came by a wider margin as senior Ryan Trupin won the high jump by two inches with a leap of 5'10.

"Ryan has lost only once this year and that's when he came to a meet without his track shoes," said Woodside, reflecting on Trupin's dominance which landed him a spot in the upcoming Meet of Champions.

Sophomore distance runner Dan Cavallaro marked himself as a potential title contender in the future as he took sixth in the 1,600 which boasted a strong field of veteran runners.

"Dan made total progress this winter," said Woodside. "He battled hard against a group of really good runners."

For Woodside, coaching his group of veteran stars resulted in an experience to savor. "We had a core of seniors, they were just more mature physically and mentally,' explained Woodside. "I would say this is my most successful season as a coach. It was great, it was fun."

And if the Little Tigers can build on the momentum they produced this winter, Woodside and his charges could be having a lot of fun in the spring season.