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Princeton High School – Coach Irwin was the Head Track Coach of Princeton High School from 1928 until 1954. At Princeton his teams won 5 state championships, with the first coming in Group 2 in 1938, followed by four in a row from 1951 to 1954 in Group 3. In 1931 his Princeton squad won its first of 14 Central Jersey Championships under his leadership. He also won a state cross country crown in 1928 and 10 Mercer County Spring Track Championships, with the first being at the inaugural county meet in 1934. During Weiss’s tenure, Princeton had a dual meet winning streak of 110 victories in a row. The first ever Mercer County Track & Field Team Champions 1934 PHS Coached by Irwin Weiss (Standing far left side of photo) With individual state champions such as Jim Mitchell, Mose Walker, Al Terry, and Carl Brown, Weiss’s teams dominated during his high school coaching career. After his stint at Princeton High School, Weiss coached as an assistant at both The Lawrenceville School and Princeton University. In 1971 he was voted Coach of the Year by the New Jersey College Track Coaches Association. In 1972 he was given The Helms Award for his contributions to Amateur Athletics in the areas of track and field, swimming, basketball, football, and officiating. He is also an inductee in the Princeton High School Sports Hall of Fame and the TCNJ Alumni Athletic Hall of Fame. MAJOR TITLES WON 5 STATE T&F CHAMPIONSHIPS - GROUP II (1938) & GROUP III (1951-1954) STATE CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP CLASS B (1928) 14 CJ SECTIONAL T&F CHAMPIONSHIPS (1931-1936, 1938, 1948-1954) 10 MERCER COUNTY T&F CHAMPIONSHIPS (1934-1936 & 1948-1954) Back to Historical Class

Published 9/15/2026 As the 2026 cross country season gets underway, let's take a look back at the first consequential public school program in Mercer County history: The Princeton High School team of 1928. 98 years ago Princeton High School's Charles Wooding became the first ever individual from a Mercer County school to win a state XC title, and Princeton became the first program in county history to win a state team crown. The squad was coached by hall of fame coach Irwin Weiss. Trenton Times Nov 11, 1928 At the 1928 NJSIAA meet held at Weequahic Park in Newark NJ, Princeton's XC squad scored 25 points to win the inaugural Class B state division. They beat out 2nd place Union who scored 30. Charles Wooding Finishing in 1st place, Charles "Charley" Wooding of PHS covered the 2 & 3/4 mile course in 13:15. He led a 1-2-3 sweep, with his teammates Michael Cifelli (13:17) and John Fischer (13:20) finishing 2nd and 3rd. Rounding out the top 5 for the Little Tigers were Briggs and Hahn who came in 9th and 10th. The course was originally slated to be 2 1/4 miles, but a judge's error resulted in all runners in the Class B competition covering a half mile farther. Plainfield News, Nov 12, 1928 It would be 46 years later until another Princeton High team would win a state crown--the 1974 team who won Group II. The '74 team will be inducted at the upcoming Mercer County Track and Field Hall of Fame's 4th annual induction and awards banquet in May of 2027. © 2026 Mercer County Track & Field Hall of Fame Back to Articles & News

Trenton Central High School – Javelin Ogden was a state record holder and a two time state champion in the javelin. He won Group 4 state titles in 1940 and in 1941. In the 1940 state meet, his gold medal helped lead Trenton Central to the Group 4 team title. In the 1941 Group 4 Championships Ogden set a state javelin record with a winning throw of 179 feet 3 inches. In both 1940 and 1941 Ogden won the Javelin at the South Jersey Championships. He set the meet record in ’40, and broke his own meet record in ’41. He was a member of 3 straight Big-6 Conference Champion teams and 2 straight South Jersey Champion teams. MAJOR TITLES WON 2-TIME STATE CHAMPION GROUP 4 – JAVELIN (1940 & 1941) 2-TIME SJ SECTIONAL CHAMPION – JAVELIN (1940 & 1941) 2-TIME BIG-6 CONFERENCE CHAMPION – JAVELIN (1940 & 1941) Back to Historical Class

Published 5/14/26 Paper Chases were distance running contests held in Mercer County around the end of the 19th century and into the early 20th. Otherwise known as the game of "Hounds and Hares" a paper chase is a long distance competition where two or three runners called hares leave a trail of papers on the ground. The papers are then tracked by pursuing runners called hounds. In fact, the cross country term harrier comes from the root word hare. A hound--or one who chases a hare--is a harrier. The goal of the paper chase is for the hound runners to catch and tag a hare before they reach their destination at the end of the course. The hares are usually given a 3 to 5 minute lead at which time the pack of hound runners (harriers) are allowed to start. The route the harriers take is determined by following the trail of papers left by the hares. Many times weather elements such as wind can make it quite challenging for runners to follow the trail of paper. Author Norman Bingham Jr elaborated on the rules as they stood in 1895: THE BOOK OF ATHLETICS AND OUT-OF-DOOR SPORTS, published 1895. Originally developed in England around 1800, Paper chases started to appear in New Jersey as early as the 1870s. One of the first held among NJ school boys was in Bridgeton in 1878. The Bridgeton Pioneer, Nov 14 1878 In Mercer County, Paper chases were contested as early as 1892 in Trenton by the City Troop: Trenton Times Nov 25 1892 Princeton University's Cross Country team held a 4 mile paper chase in the fall semester of 1899. Daily Princetonian, Volume 24, Number 83, 30 October 1899 Princeton University's John F. Cregan (L) and J.M. Perry (R) who acted as the hares in the 1899 Tiger Paper Chase In Trenton, during the fall of 1907, a Paper Chase was held near Cadwaleder Park: The Trenton Times, Nov 29, 1907 Within a year the popularity of cross country grew in Mercer County and paper chases were held in Trenton on a consistent basis. Every Saturday afternoon in 1908 the Trenton YMCA held a paper chase in Cadwaleder Park. Trenton Sunday Advertiser, Nov 21, 1908 Lawrenceville Prep's varsity cross country team put on a paper chase in 1914. The Lawrence, Oct 7 1914 Lawrenceville Prep's Richardson (L), one of the hares, and xc team captain Slaymaker (R) who was leader of the hounds in the Paper Chase of 1914. Paper chases stayed common throughout the county in the 19'10s and early 1920s before their popularity waned. The last documented paper chases in Mercer were held by the Princeton University ROTC in 1928. Perhaps it's time for a renaissance... © 2026 Mercer County Track & Field Hall of Fame Back to Articles

Published 9/13/2026 18 years ago today, on September 13, 2008, West Windsor North's Joe Rosa set the course record at the Knights Invitational cross country meet, held in Plainsboro NJ. Rosa's covered the 2-mile course in 9:38.22 to win his division. His new mark beat the previous course record set by John LiPuma--also from WWN. There was a field of 64 competitors in Rosa's race. The top 10 Finishers were as follows: Source: Milesplit NJ The 15th ranked squad in NJ at the time, West Windsor North came away with the team title. © 2026 Mercer County Track & Field Hall of Fame Back to Articles

Notre Dame 1998 -- Olympic Hurdler Todd Matthews-Jouda dominated NJ track and field while competing at Notre Dame. As a high school competitor he could win big competitions on both the track and in the field. His specialty however, was the high hurdles. Individually, Matthews was a 2-time Meet of Champions winner in the 110m High Hurdles, setting the meet record of 13.52 seconds his senior year. He was also the indoor all-group champ in the 55m hurdles in 1998, and won the Indoor Eastern high hurdles title twice, in '97 & '98., On the nation-wide level, Matthews won two indoor national titles; The Pentathlon in 1997 and the 60m Hurdles in 1998. Matthews led Notre Dame to multiple team championships including back-to-back Parochial A titles in 1996 & 1997. He scored in events ranging from hurdles, sprints, long and high jump. After representing the USA at the 1998 World Junior Championships in Annecy France where he took 6th place, Matthews enrolled at Clemson University. He continued his track career while running for the Tigers , earning All-American in the high hurdles. After college, Matthews embarked on an international career. While representing Sudan, he took gold medals in the high hurdles at the Afro-Asian Games in 2003, a gold at the African Championships in 2004, and another gold at the Pan Arab Games also in 2004. Matthews competed for Sudan at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens Greece and the World Championships in Helsinki Finland in 2005. Matthews holds numerous honors. His best time in the international hurdles was 13.36, and he set a Sudanese national record of 13.45 in 2004. He was inducted into the Notre Dame High School Hall of Fame Class of 2007. MAJOR TITLES 3x Winner of Meet of Champions (Indoor) 55HH 1998, (Outdoor) 110HH 1997 & '98 9x State Champion Parochial A (Outdoor) 100m 1996, '98, 200m 1996, '98, 110HH 1996, '97, 98, LJ 1997, '98 3x State Champion Group III (Indoor) 55m 1998, 55HH '98, HJ '98 15x Mercer County Champion (Indoor) 55m 1997 & '98, 55HH '96, '97, '98, HJ '96 & '98 (Outdoor) LJ 1997 & 98, 100m '97 & 98, 200m '98, 110HH '96, '97, '98 2x National Indoor Champion - Pentathlon 1997 & 60m HH 1998 Back to Class of 2024

Published 9/2/2026 Did you ever wonder who sponsored track and running events in Mercer County back in the early 20th Century? Well, one of the main sources of support was the local newspaper: The Trenton Times. Check out this amazing article from The Times, January 15, 1909. The Trenton Times also sponsored an athletics club called The Trenton Times A.A. Club. The club was formed in 1920, and track and field was one of the sports offered. The roster of the track club included athletes from all over Mercer County, and was open to athletes from the county who were in middle school, high school, college, or not affiliated with a school. The newspaper continued financing the club through to 1962. Who was responsible for such awesome support? Ultimately everything done by an organization has to be cleared by the people at the top. The president of the Trenton Times Company was Andrew Crozer Reeves. Reeves - President of the Trenton Times Co. The man who was vice president and head editor of the newspaper was publisher James Kerney. Kerney - A great supporter of our sport. Hats off to The Times! © 2026 Mercer County Track & Field Hall of Fame Back to Articles & News

Steinert High School 1980 -- Hurdles & Sprints A three-sport standout who also made his mark in football and basketball, Steinert’s Darryl Reaves earned this honor by being one of the best hurdlers (particularly the intermediate hurdles) in Mercer County history. In the late 1970’s, Reaves was dominant in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles but saved his best efforts for 1980 (his senior season) when New Jersey made the transition over to the 400 hurdles. Undefeated in dual meet action, Reaves won the Group IV state title. But at a time of year when many competitors were getting tired, Reaves was only warming up. At the Eastern States Championships, Reaves blazed to a Mercer County record time of 53 seconds (at that point the third-fastest time in the country and fastest in New Jersey). A week later, the Spartan flew out to Sacramento, California for the Golden West Invitational and finished fifth in 52.8 to qualify for U.S. Junior Nationals. Reaves graduated Steinert with at least a piece of four school records: in the 110 hurdles, 400 hurdles, as a leg on the school’s 4x400 and incredibly as part of their 4x800. He continued to set records as part of the University of Virginia’s men’s track team, helping to set a school mark in the 4x400 and most impressively followed that by serving his country for six years in the United States Marines Corps. MAJOR TITLES State Champion Group IV 400 Hurdles 1980 Mercer County Champion 400 Hurdles 1980 Eastern States Champion 400 Hurdles 1980 Back to Class of 2025

Nottingham High School 2016 -- Distance To summarize the scholastic running legacy of Grace Dwyer Cook in a few paragraphs is an invitation to understatement. Put bluntly, she was the greatest distance runner Nottingham High ever produced and won so many individual county, sectional and state titles that the school may not see her like again. The first Nottingham runner to qualify for what was then the Nike Cross Country Nationals (in 2013 in Portland, Ore.), Grace was among New Jersey’s most consistent distance runners in the decade of her graduation: the 2015 Group III and Meet of Champions winner in the 3200 outdoors; the Group III 3200 champ indoors. In all, she won an astounding 17 sectional titles in the 800, 1600, 3200, 4x800 and cross country, as well as 12 Mercer County crowns. Despite all that individual success, her favorite high school moment was helping the Northstars win their division in spring track her senior year. But high school was only the beginning for Grace Dwyer Cook. She built on that phenomenal resume by excelling on the Division I collegiate level, helping Furman reach the NCAA Cross Country Nationals three times, including a seventh-place finish in 2017. Individually, she starred in two different conferences, winning the 2019 Southern Conference 10,000 while taking third in 2022 Atlantic Sun Conference final at the same distance. In all she earned 10 all-conference berths (seven All Southern Conference and three All Atlantic Sun Conference) and complemented her track achievements by reaching the academic honor roll and all-academic teams six times in her respective conferences. VIDEO Dwyer winning the Group III State 3200m Title 2015 MAJOR TITLES Meet of Champions Winner - Outdoor 3200M 2015 2X Group III State Champion - Indoor & Outdoor 3200M 2015 17x CJ Sectional Champion - Cross Country (3) 2012-'14 - Indoor 1600M (3) 2013-'15, 3200M (3) 2013-'15 - Outdoor 800M (1) 2015, 1600M (3) 2013-'15, 3200M (4) 2013-'16 12x Mercer County Champion - Cross Country (3) 2012-'14, - Indoor 1600M (1) 2014, 3200M (2) 2014-'15, - Outdoor 1600M (2) 2013-'14, 3200M (4) 2013-'16 More Photos of Grace Dwyer Back to Class of 2026

Princeton High School 1976 -- Distance Royce Flippin III was from a family that excelled in athletics. His grandfather Royce is in the USA Lacrosse Hall of Fame. His father Royce Jr was a star athlete, and became athletic director at Princeton University. Royce III himself excelled in all three seasons of running while at Princeton High School. His spring highlights were many. Flippin won the outdoor state Group II title for the 2 mile run in 1976., back to back Central Jersey Sectional titles in the 2 mile in '75 & 76, the Mercer County 2 mile championship in 1974, and the Mercer County Mile in '75 & '76. Winning the County Mile in 1976 in a county & meet record 4:16.1 Indoors Flippin won the 2 mile run at the indoor county meet in 1975 and the 1 mile run at the indoor county meet in 1976. In Cross-country Flippin won 2 county championships in a row in 1974 & 75. Those same two seasons he won the Central Jersey Sectional in Cross-country. He helped lead his team to the Central Jersey and State Group II team titles in '74. MAJOR TITLES State Champion Group II - 2 Mile Run 1976 4x CJ Sectional Champion - Cross Country 1974 & '75, Outdoor 2 Mile Run 1975 & '76 7x Mercer County Champion - Cross Country 1974 & '75, Indoor: 2 Mile Run 1975 & 1 Mile Run 1976, Outdoor: 2 Mile Run 1974, 1 Mile Run 1975 & '76 Back to Class of 2024

Lawrence High School 1979 -- Sprinter The newspapers often got her last name wrong, calling her ‘’Powers’’ instead of Dowers. But to those who competed against Lori Dowers, one of the most important and dominant sprinters in Mercer County history, there wasn’t so much a problem with spelling as being left far in the dust. Dowers made her indelible mark locally when she won the 100-yard and 220-yard titles at the Mercer County Championships in back-to-back seasons, 1978 and 1979. But for one of head coach Jo Ann Couglin-Groeger’s most talented protegees, inclusion in this Hall of Fame was cemented by how she continued to elevate her game when the stakes got higher against New Jersey’s best competition. In 1978, Dowers won the Central Group 220 title by a whopping 8/10ths of a second. The following season, she went one better, taking the 100 and 220 Central Group II titles to spearhead the Cardinals to their first sectional team title. But that was just the warmup. One of the greatest meets in Lawrence girls’ track history came at the Group II state championships when Dowers won both short sprint titles, both in dominant fashion. Thanks to her key role in the team’s fourth-place finish in the 440 relay, Lawrence clinched the team championship before the opposition took the track for the mile relay. Dowers went on to compete collegiately for the Hornets of Delaware State University. In 1980 she gained college All-American honors in the 60 Meter Dash when she finished in 3rd place at the women’s indoor national track and field championships. Delaware State 1980 Appropriately Dowers (still the county 100-yard dash record holder at 10.8 seconds) was inducted into Lawrence High’s Hall of Fame in 2008, the school’s inaugural class. 1981 MAJOR TITLES 2x State Champion Group II - 100 & 220 (1979) 3x CJ Sectional Champion - 100 (1979), 200 (1978 & '79) 4x Mercer County Champion -- 100 & 200 (1978 & '79) Back to Class of 2026

The Pennington School & Trenton Central – Mid-Distance Joe “Buddy” Olbrys went undefeated in the 880 Yard Run his senior year at Trenton Central, culminating in a 1936 NJ Class A State Championship victory. He spent one year at The Pennington School as a post-graduate--where he took runner-up in the half mile at the 1937 NJ State Prep meet--before enrolling at The University of Notre Dame. At N.D. he was captain of the Fighting Irish track team. He also ran cross country and was part of two top ten team finishes at the NCAA championships in 1939 and 1940. Notre Dame 1941 Olbrys’s running career took a detour when World War II broke out in 1941. Joe enlisted in the Navy and served aboard the USS Cape Johnson as a Second Lt. He was awarded the Purple Heart for injuries received in enemy action. After his military service he worked for The U.S. Veterans Unit of the State of Wisconsin. Back to Historical Class