1981 Was a Championship Year for Mercer's Sharpless, Johnson & McClain

Published 12/16/25

This article is the latest in an ongoing series highlighting the upcoming honorees of the 3rd annual Mercer County Track and Field Hall of Fame induction class. The induction & awards banquet for the Class of 2026 will be held in May at Mercer Oaks (See here for details).

To win an all-group gold medal in NJ high school track and field is an immense challenge. Amazingly, in the spring of 1981, Mercer County high schools managed to produce 3 winners at the Outdoor NJSIAA Meet of Champions:

Barry McClain, Peter Sharpless and Elliott Johnson.

Barry McClain who was inducted in last year's Mercer T&F Hall of Fame Class won the 110 high hurdles at the '81 Meet of Champs with a personal best winning time of 13.8. The Trenton senior beat out the silver medalist--Camden's Martin Booker-- by 2 tenths.

McClain had a great meet and narrowly missed winning a double. In his second event of the day in the 400 Hurdles he and Booker swapped positions., with McClain earning the silver in 52.9 to Booker's winning time of 52.2.

For Princeton High School senior Peter Sharpless, the 1981 Meet of Champs high jump competition was an opportunity to gain a rare repeat. He had already won the MOC the previous year as a junior.

Sharpless didn't disappoint, as he took his 2nd straight gold with a 6'10 clearance to match his winning height from 1980. Sharpless became only the 2nd high jumper to ever win more than one career gold medal at the spring MOC. Previous to Sharpless, only Skip Johnson of Hackensack in 1971 & '72 had won multiple all-group HJ titles.

In spring of '81 Sharpless ran the table on major NJ championships. Besides his gold at the Meet of Champs, he won the Mercer County Meet at 6'9, the CJ Sectional at 6'8 and the Group II State Meet with another 6'8. His senior season was a truly dominant campaign.

For Ewing's quarter miler Elliott Johnson the outdoor Meet of Champions was his shot at athletic vindication. He had narrowly missed winning an all-group indoor title in March of '81 when he took the runner-up spot in the 400 meters, losing out to West Deptford's Kevin Overton at the winter Meet of Champs.

At the '81 outdoor MOC, not only did Johnson finally take 400 gold, he also broke the meet record by two tenths, Johnson covered the one lap race with a colossal performance of 47.7 seconds.

So dominant was Johnson's win that he broke the tape a full 7 tenths ahead of runner-up Leroy Ford of Westside--who came in next at a distant 48.4.

Like Sharpless, Johnson won all the other major NJ outdoor titles in the '81 outdoor season as well. He won the Mercer County 400m in 48.6, the Group III CJ Sectional 400 in 49.2, and the Group III State Meet 400 in 47.9.

Both Elliott Johnson and Peter Sharpless will be inducted into the Mercer County Track and Field Hall of Fame--along with 16 other honorees--at the 2026 Awards Banquet which will be conducted at Mercer Oaks on Sunday May 17th, 2026 (Click here for details).

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