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Published 7/20/26 Attention all track and field fans and supporters of the sports of running, cross-country, and track: The 4th annual induction banquet presented by the Mercer County Track and Field Hall of Fame will take place on May 16th, 2027. For the third straight year the venue will be Mercer Oaks at 25 Village Rd W, West Windsor Township, NJ 08550. More details to follow soon, including a list of next year's inductees. Please stay tuned to our website for frequent updates on the Class of 2027 and other updates and articles on track and field and cross country running in Mercer County NJ. Back to Articles & News

Trenton Central High School 1984 -- Olympian Wenda Vereen made her mark as not only the most consequential sprinter in Mercer County history, but also as one of the greatest athletes in any sport--men or women--to ever come out of the county. Vereen was world class by her junior year at TCHS. She achieved an amazing high school personal best in the 100m of 11.18 seconds. Her high school "pb" for 200m was just as remarkable at 22.99. In outdoor track, Vereen was the Meet of Champions winner of the 100 & 200 meters in 1983--setting state records for each in the process. She was also State Group IV champion for the 100 and 200m in 1983 and again in 1984. In indoor track Vereen was just as dominant. She won 2 golds at the indoor Meet of Champs in 1984, setting the meet record in both the 55m Dash and 55m Hurdles. In indoor Group IV state meet competition she won back to back 55m Dash titles in 1983 & '84, and took gold in the 55m hurdles in '83. Vereen led the Trenton girls team to the 1984 Group IV Outdoor State Championship, the 1984 CJ Sectional title, and the 1983 Mercer County outdoor title. In the summer of '84 after her senior high school season, Wenda qualified as a 4x100m relay runner for the United States Olympic team. The US team won the gold medal in Los Angeles later that summer. Vereen attended Morgan State and continued to pursue track and field achievements as a collegiate athlete, and afterward as an international competitor. She earned a 4x100m relay bronze medal competing for the US national team at the 1989 World Cup in Barcelona Spain. In 1993 she was again a member of Team USA and earned a silver medal while running the 4x100m relay at the IAAF World Championships in Stuttgart Germany. She qualified for her final Team USA roster in 1995 when she ran the 200m at the indoor world champs. As of 2024, Vereen still holds multiple state and county records. She was elected into the Morgan State Hall of Fame in 2014, and she coaches the Racing Cheetah Track Club in Indiana. 1993 Vereen (center) receives IAAF World Championship Silver Medal She ran 3rd leg on Team USA's Relay which set an American Record. Watch video of it here. Running the bend for Team USA 1993 MAJOR HIGH SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS 4x MEET OF CHAMPIONS WINNER - 100 & 200 1983 (OUTDOOR), 55M AND 55H 1984 (INDOOR) 8x GROUP 4 STATE CHAMPION - 100 & 200 in both 1983 & '84 (OUTDOOR) 55M 1982, 55M 1983, 55M & 55H 1984 (INDOOR) 6x CJ SECTIONAL CHAMPION - 100 & 200 in 1981, '83 & '84 11x MERCER COUNTY CHAMPION - 60 YDS 1982, 55M & 55H in both1983 & '84 (INDOOR), 100, 200 & 100H in both1981 & '83, (OUTDOOR) Back to Class of 2024

Lawrence High School 1980 -- Sprints, Jumps, Hurdles The history of Lawrence High girls’ track and field is filled with great champions on a county, sectional and state level. The beginning of that legacy can be traced to the late 1970’s, in large part to the 1978 Group II State Championships when Kim Hatchett helped take the program to the next level. After taking second the week before at the Central Group II sectionals, Hatchett leaped 5-4 in the high jump to become the first Lawrence High girl to win a state group spring track title. It didn’t take long before she had company with her sprinting teammate Lori Dowers and sister Karen Hatchett joining her atop the podium. But the legacy of Kim Hatchett wasn’t a few fleeting moments of glory. She and her sister, as well as Dowers, changed the definition of not only her program but of Mercer County girls’ track, She was also a 110 low-hurdles state medalist in 1978, county meet record holder and helped pave the way for one of the greatest singular meets in local history, Lawrence’s domination of the Group II state championship meet. On the collegiate level, she added to her spectacular resume with ACC titles for the University of Virginia in the 100 meters and 400-meter hurdles. There she gained All-American status on Virginia’s 4x400-meter relay, and the Cavaliers’ 1981 indoor national team title appropriately included her and her sister, cementing her place among Mercer County track legends. After Virginia Kim earned a Master's Degree from Harvard. Today she is Managing Director of Private Wealth Advisement at Morgan Stanley in New York. MAJOR TITLES NJ STATE CHAMPION GROUP II - HIGH JUMP 1978 MERCER COUNTY CHAMPION - 110 YARD LOW HURDLES 1978 ACC CHAMPION - 100 & 400 HURDLES 1983 Back to Class of 2026

Current head track coach at The Peddie School and manager at The Shore Athletic Club. Graduate of Hightstown High School 1988.

Robbinsville High School 2013 -- All-Around Athlete Arguably the first great athlete to come out of Robbinsville High School, Noel Jancewicz Challgren was also one of the most intriguing as spectators never knew what to anticipate before one of her meets. They knew greatness was coming in some form, but such was Noel’s incredible versatility that they never knew what event would be her strong suit that day. The first Robbinsville High girl to win an event at New Jersey’s Meet of Champions outdoors in track, when she took the high jump as a senior in 2013, Noel could do it all, taking a county or state-level medal in an astounding 10 different events--including the 55 meters, 55-meter hurdles, 100, 200, 400, high jump, long jump, shot put, javelin and 4x400. This translated into 11 different Mercer County crowns and would have been an even higher total if you were to include two multi-purpose events in which she holds the Mercer County record: the heptathlon and the pentathlon. As it is, she graduated as the county high jump record holder and in 2011 was the top American finisher in the event at the Penn Relays. Video of Jancewicz winning CJ Sectional HJ in spring 2012 Jancewicz Challgren got so comfortable at Franklin Field that she followed her Robbinsville success with four years of glory at the University of Pennsylvania, taking the 2014 Penn Relays heptathlon title. She earned Penn’s MVP award and was an 11-time medalist at the Ivy League’s Heptagonal Championships, the true definition of a Hall of Famer. 2014 Heptathlon winner at Penn Relays MAJOR TITLES NJ Meet of Champions Winner High Jump (Outdoor 2013) 6x State Champion - Indoor: Group I HJ (2012), 400m & HJ Group 2 (2013) - Outdoor: Group I HJ (2010), 400m & HJ Group 2 (2013) 8x CJ Sectional Champion - Indoor: Group I HJ (2012), 400m & HJ Group 2 (2013) - Outdoor: Group I 100m (2010), Group I HJ (2011), Group II HJ (2012), 400m & HJ (2013) 7x Mercer County Champion - Indoor: HJ (2011), HJ, 55m & 200 (2013) -Outdoor: LJ & HJ (2011), 100m, 200m & HJ (2013) Eastern States Champion HJ Indoor (2012) Back to Class of 2026

Notre Dame 2007 -- Sprinter & Hurdler The resume of Notre Dame High’s Kristen Mahon is so spectacular to almost defy belief; at a school blessed with a cornucopia of sprinting stars over the last half century, Mahon makes a compelling case as the best girl in the first quarter of the 21st Century, carving her niche for the Fighting Irish almost immediately. The 2007 New Jersey Meet of Champions winner and record setter in both the 400 meters and 400-meter hurdles, Mahon took down one of the county’s longest standing standards when she set the Mercer mark in the 400 hurdles as a junior. That year she also earned second in the 200 at the MOC, won an Eastern States title and by the time she had graduated, she owned four major school records (in the 100, 200, 400 and 400 hurdles). This bevy of accomplishments not only earned her Athlete of the Year recognition, but Athlete of the Decade from the Trentonian. Incredibly, this was only the beginning for Mahon, who earned a full scholarship to Villanova University for track and field. With the Wildcats, Mahon earned All Big East honors (as well as All Big East Academic recognition). At the conference championships, she was a top-three finisher in the 4x400, 400 hurdles and 500 meters. In the hurdles race, she cracked the prestigious one-minute mark and even contributed to the team’s All Big East distance medley relay, Off the track, Mahon continued to stand out, becoming a nurse practitioner and specializing in the field of dermatology. She is also a member of the Notre Dame High School Hall of Fame. MAJOR TITLES 2x NJ Meet of Champions Winner - Indoor 400 meters (2006) - Outdoor 400 meter Hurdles (2007) 6x State Champion - Indoor Group III 200m (2006), 400m (2007) - Outdoor Non-Public A: 100m & 200m (2005), 400m & 400 Hurdles (2007) 7x Mercer County Champion -Indoor: 55m, 200m & 400m (2006), 200m & 400m (2007) - Outdoor: 400m & 400 Hurdles (2007) Back to Class of 2026

Princeton High School 1981 -- High Jumper Some track and field success seems inevitable, but in the case of Princeton High’s Pete Sharpless, timing and some encouragement by his head coach were significant in changing the narrative and putting him on the path to greatness. An AAU standout before high school, Sharpless quit the Princeton High team as a freshman because of a lack of interest. Sharpless gave the sport a second try after a conversation with Tigers head coach Marc Anderson a year later and that moment of reflection and reconsideration changed everything. What followed was one of the most amazing runs in Princeton High track history as Sharpless didn’t lose a dual meet in three years in the high jump, earning All-State recognition all three seasons. A four-year varsity basketball starter for the Little Tigers, Sharpless often seemed impervious to pressure and only got stronger in the big meets. The kicker came at the Meet of Champions when Sharpless became the first Mercer County high school competitor to win an individual event twice, taking the boys’ high jump in 1980 and 1981. Sharpless still owned the Princeton High school record as of his induction with a best of 6-10.25. In college, Sharpless stayed sharp, earning Division III All-American recognition at Glassboro State in three consecutive seasons. Sharpless led Glassboro State to three national titles and was the college’s high-jump record holder. These accomplishments led Sharpless to be voted to Princeton High’s Mount Rushmore of greatest athletes in an online vote on nj.com, a remarkable turn of events for a career that almost didn’t happen. MAJOR TITLES 2x NJ Meet of Champions Winner - HJ (1980 & '81) Group II State Champion - HJ (1981) 3x CJ Sectional Champion - HJ (1979, '80 & '81) 3x Mercer County Champion - HJ (1979,' '80, '81) Back to Class of 2026

Trenton Central High School -- Special Contributor Some greatness is not defined by furthest throw, fastest time, highest vault or longest jump. The greatness of the Mercer County track and field community transcends talent and is built on commitment, effort and humility and for the last half century has no better embodiment than Trenton High’s David ‘’Poppy’’ Sanderson. Officially, he has been the athletic trainer at Trenton Central High School, a product of North Carolina A&T and The University of Pennsylvania’s Sports Fellowship Program. But these are just lines on a page, titles that give little definition to the character of a man, the tireless effort, the omnipresence that has made him one of the backbones of the Mercer County track community since the 1970’s. His colleague and longtime friend Al Jennings labeled him ‘’Mr TCHS’’ for what has done for the high school’s sports teams from responsibility for uniforms, caring and preventing injuries and even delving into the psychology of sports, assisting coaches within a large scope of athlete’s issues on and off the field. This has included athletes all over the Mercer County region with one single common theme: tireless kindness. It is Sanderson’s determination to get the most out of our community both on and off the track that has made him an irreplaceable cog in our schools; a teacher, a trainer, a psychiatrist, an advocate, a sage and always a friend to our athletes. Back to Class of 2026

Steinert High School 1982-- Thrower Unbeaten seasons in a track and field event throughout an entire New Jersey slate are rare. They are reserved for the best, the elite, the legends. And in the spring of 1982 in the discus, Steinert High’s Rich Henrie earned that mantle. The Mercer County champion in the event (with a career best of 184-9), Henrie dominated showcases like the Bernards Invitational and Mercer Relays. But in those, he was just warming up as he concluded his senior campaign with wins in Central Group IV, at the Group IV state championship and at the Meet of Champions. That last one was a biggie as he became not only the first Steinert boys’ track and field performer to win the MOC but also the county’s first thrower to take the crown at a meet that by then was over a decade old. Voted Steinert High’s Spartan of the Year (for all sports), Henrie was far from a one-event specialist and was arguably the school’s best all-around field performer. In addition to his discus effort (which was the best in the Eastern U.S. that year), Henrie owned the school indoor shot put record (57-9, a mark that helped him grab second place in Group IV) and tossed the javelin 177-9. Tactically speaking, Henrie was ahead of his time and on the cutting edge. He was one of the first great rotational shot putters in county history--adopting the spin style near the end of his sophomore year at a time where that style was a rarity in the sport. Nowadays nearly every world-class shot putter uses the rotational technique. In all, Henrie earned 10 school letters, including four in spring track, three indoors and three in football, just a sidenote for a Steinert legend. MAJOR TITLES NJ MEET OF CHAMPIONS WINNER - DISCUS 1982 STATE CHAMPION GROUP IV - DISCUS 1982 CJ SECTIONAL CHAMPION - DISCUS 1982 3x MERCER COUNTY CHAMPION - DISCUS 1981, SHOT & DISC' 1982 Back to Class of 2026

Hamilton West 1999 -- Throws When initiating the debate as to the best all-around boys’ scholastic thrower in Mercer County history, one must immediately consider Terrence Glover of Hamilton West High, who made the last days of the 20th Century his personal showcase, earning a boys’ record five Meet of Champions titles. The 1999 national scholastic champion in the discus, Glover was a ferocious, intimidating competitor, who won the Meet of Champions in the event his final three years, setting records in every campaign. He was a two-time All-American in the discus, three-time sectional winner and record setter and four-time Mercer County champ in the event. Quite simply he dominated as few before him did and arguably no one has since. But Glover, who took a second in the event at the Penn Relays, was much more than a one-event specialist. He was a tactician, who enjoyed the long bus rides to meets, visualizing hours ahead of time how he would dissect the competition. And these visions usually came true. Glover was a two-time indoor state champion in the shot put, winning the Eastern States title and taking third at Nationals. By the time he had graduated, Glover had achieved the incredible feat of going both over 200 feet in the discus (204-5 best) and 60 feet in the shot (60-5 best), an almost unfathomable mark of strength and skill. Glover could do it all, earning All Conference recognition in the Big Ten while at Penn State and even high jumped 6-2 while weighing 250 pounds. After college, he appropriately became an IT professional. MAJOR TITLES National Champion Discus 1999 Eastern States Indoor Champion - Shot Put 1999 5x Meet of Champions Winner - Indoor Shot Put 1999, Outdoor Discus 1997, '98, '99 & Shot Put 1999 7x State Group III Champion - Indoor Shot Put 1998 & '99, Outdoor Shot Put 1998 & '99, Discus 1997, '98, '99 5x CJ Sectional Champion - Shot Put 1998 & '99, Discus 1997, '98, '99 4x Mercer County Champion - Indoor Shot Put 1999, Outdoor Discus 1997 & '98, Shot Put 1998 Back to Class of 2026

Notre Dame & The Peddie School 1965 -- Pole Vault Sometimes greatness is followed by more greatness. The legacy of former Notre Dame High and Peddie School pole vaulter GIlbert Joseph Botvin was inspired by one of the greatest of all-time, two-time Olympic champion Bob RIchards. Hearing about Richards’ feats and seeing him on the back of a Wheaties box in the 1960’s, Botvin switched from high jumping to pole vaulting in his backyard in his middle-school days and the result was arguably the greatest scholastic career, not only in Mercer County history but in New Jersey in the challenging event. Coached by another Olympic pole vault champion, Don Bragg, Botvin was at the cutting edge technologically of the sport, literally. Beginning with an old bamboo pole, Botvin progressed to what was then a new fiberglass pole, only to have Bragg use a saw to cut it. The adjustment changed Botvin’s flex point and propelled him to greatness. Botvin was a multi-time record holder among New Jersey scholastic vaulters. While a senior at Peddie, Botvin was the first New Jersey high school vaulter to clear 14 feet in state history. Back when he went 13-2 as a junior at Notre Dame in 1964, he not only claimed a state title but ironically broke Bragg’s state record set 11 years earlier at Penns Grove. A year later at Peddie, he won the prep state title at 13-6, finally reaching the 14-foot mark at a dual meet at CBA in 1965. His prep mark was 18 inches above the previous state standard and he eventually added an Eastern States title, underlining a career that defined greatness. Winning the Eastern States Championship 1965 Botvin's greatness continued in the professional world after his high school athletic career concluded. He achieved his undergraduate degree while competing for the Raiders of Colgate University. After graduating from Colgate, Botvin earned a Ph.D in psychology from Columbia University. He is currently the Professor Emeritus at Weill Medical College of Cornell University. He has served on the faculty at Cornell since 1980. MAJOR TITLES Mercer County Champion 1964 NJ Parochial State Champion 1964 NJ All-Group Champion 1964 NJ Prep State Champion 1965 Eastern States Champion 1965 Back to Class of 2026

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