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Published 2/21/2026 PRINCETON HIGH WINS '33 INDOOR MERCER TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP PHS Track T&F. Indoor Mercer Champions 1933. Even before the inaugural Outdoor Mercer County Track Championships were held in the spring of 1934, there was an indoor county championship held in the winter of 1933. Princeton High School won the team title. Leading the way for Coach Irwin Weiss's Princeton squad was MCTF hall of famer J im Mitchell who won 2 golds and a silver. Trenton Times Feb 23, 1933 Mitchell took 1st in the 220 Yards to lead a Tiger 1-2 sweep with his brother Emerson taking 2nd. He also finished 2nd in the 60 Yard Dash to teammate John Thompson, and he ran on PHS's winning Mile Relay Team. Cornelius Thiel led another 1-2 PHS sweep in the Half Mile Run, with teammate Walter Bullock taking the runner-up spot. The PHS relay comprised of Basilio Ferrara. John Hale, James Davidson, and Mitchell on anchor, put forth their winning effort in what turned out to be a chaotic adventure. Only 2 teams scored. Trenton Times Feb 23, 1933 The county high school championship was sponsored by the State Capitol Athletic Association and was included within a larger AAU event that contained other separately scored divisions. Besides the high school division there was a college division,, a women's division, and a junior high division. The meeting also included special invitational events featuring world-class athletes such as 3-time Olympic gold medalist Frank Wykoff in the sprints. The final scoring in the county division was PHS with 31 1/2 points, 11 1/2 points for Cathedral, 6 points for Trenton, and 3 for Hamilton. The meet was held on Wed February 22 of '33 at the Trenton Armory. © 2026 Mercer County Track & Field Hall of Fame Back to News & Articles

Published 3/18/2026 The late Deacon Van Butler (Dec 23, 1952-June 19, 2021) will be posthumously inducted into the Class of 2026 when The Mercer County Track and Field Hall of Fame hosts it's 3rd annual induction dinner on May 17th, 2026. Van Butler attended Trenton Central High School and graduated in 1971. In spring of his senior year he took the gold medal at the '71 Meet of Champions in the 100 Yard Dash--setting a new meet record of 9.8 seconds. At the same MOC he took runner-up honors for the 220 Yard Dash. With his win in the 100, Butler became the first-ever Mercer County high school athlete in history--men or women-- to win The Meet of Champs. The '71 meet was the 3rd MOC ever held. Butler was also a 3-time Group IV State Champion and a multiple time sectional and county champion in his athletic career for the Tornados. Butler is part of an induction class of 18 of Mercer's greatest ever female and male athletes in track and cross-country (See the full 2026 class list here). The class will be honored at Mercer Oaks on Sunday May 17th. The public is welcomed to attend the event-- RSVP is required. I NFO ON ATTENDING THE EVENT CAN BE FOUND HER E © 2026 Mercer County Track & Field Hall of Fame Back to Articles & News

Published 3/6/26 The Mercer County Track and Field Hall of Fame’s 2026 induction class is comprised of extraordinary individuals in track and cross country.  Among the 18 inductees who will be honored at the hall’s 3 rd  annual awards banquet are five women from the county’s pioneer era of girl’s sport—The 1970s. The ‘70s five  are some of the best to ever come out of Mercer County New Jersey. The quintet is comprised of Trenton Central’s Dorothea Smith (Class of 1977) and Gina Nelson Holloway (Class of 1979), along with Lawrence High’s trio of Lori Dowers (Class of 1979), Kimberly Hatchett (1980) and Karen Hatchett Pavlin (1980).   In a girls track program with a storied history, sprinters Dorothea Smith and Gina Nelson became Trenton Central’s first ever girls state champions when they both won titles at the 1977 state meet.  Smith won the Group IV 220 Yard Dash and Nelson took the Group IV 100 Yard Dash.                               Smith was also the 220 Mercer County Champion in both 1975 and 1977.  She held the Trenton school record at that distance until future Olympian Wenda Vereen broke it in 1982.  She was part of two Mercer championship 440 Yard Relay teams for the Tornados., one of which was anchored by Nelson. Nelson was both county and sectional 100 Yard champion in ’77 to go along with her state title. From 1977 to ’78 she was a member of 4 county and sectional championship relays. She earned all of her many accomplishments while simultaneously being a member of the varsity cheerleading squad for TCHS. Both Nelson and Smith finished runner-up at the 1977 Meet of Champions in their respective events. Lawrence High's girls track team in the late 1970s was led by Coach Jo Ann Couglin-Groeger, and her group attained historic results.  In 1979, the Lady Cardinals team won both the Sectional and the State Championships for Group II. The squad was led by speedster Lori Dowers, and twin sisters Kim and Karen Hatchett.  Dowers was a sprint sensation for Lawrence.  A master of the 100/220 yard sprint double, she was the first female athlete in county meet history to win back-to-back doubles when she swept the 100 and 220 at the Mercer Championships in both 1978 and 1979.  In sectional competition Dowers won her first Central Jersey title as a junior--in the 220 in spring of '78. In '79 as a senior she repeated as 220 sectional champ and added the 100 title to complete another major double win.   Her greatest double occurred at the 1979 Group II State Meet.  She she took gold in both sprints to help lift Lawrence’s team to the state crown. 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 3 rd  place at the women’s indoor national track and field championships. It's no surprise sisters Kim and Karen Hatchett were so highly accomplished in sports. Their late father William "Bucky" Hatchett is the only student-athlete in Rutgers University history to be inducted into the Scarlet Knight Athletic Hall of Fame in two sports--football and basketball. His daughters followed in his footsteps. Karen (L) & Kim (R) with their father William Bucky Hatchett 1978 Kim Hatchett was Lawrence’s first ever track state champion.  She was the Group II winner of the high jump in the spring of 1978.  A versatile athlete, earlier in that same season she was county champion in the 110 Low Hurdles--setting a county meet record. Kim Hatchett After graduating, Kim went on to The University of Virginia where she was ACC Champion in the 100m and 400m Hurdles in 1983.  She also achieved All-American status on Virginia’s 4x400m team at the 1982 indoor national championships, where one of her relay teammates was her sister Karen. 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.   Karen Hatchett excelled in sprinting, hurdling and jumping for Lawrence.  One of the most decorated athletes in county history, she won 12 major championships in her high school career.  From 1978 to 1980 she collected 3 county titles, 4 sectional titles, 4 Group II state titles, and she won the 1980 Meet of Champions in the high jump.   Karen Hatchett Pavlin At the University of Virginia, Karen was twice an All-American.  She was a national champion on the Cavaliers Distance Medley Relay at the 1982 indoor national meet.  She also earned All-American for a second time while teaming with her sister Kim in the previously mentioned 4x400. After UVA Karen studied at Dartmouth and Cornell. She is the current Chief Workforce Innovation Officer at ServiceNow in New York City. While at Virginia Kim and Karen were members of a program that won the 1981 indoor national championship and multiple ACC team championships. Coach Coughlin On account of Lawrence High’s tremendous efforts in 1979, The Trenton Times  named Lawrence Coach JoAnn Coughlin the “Mercer Coach of the Year” for spring track. Lori Dowers and Karen Hatchett won the 1979 Times spring track “Co-Athletes of the Year” award, and in 1980 Karen was awarded 1st team All-State for the high jump by the Star-Ledger . Smith, Nelson, Dowers, and both Hatchett sisters will soon be honored at the hall of fame awards banquet on Sunday May 17, 2026 at Mercer Oaks (725 Village Rd W, West Windsor Twp NJ).   They will be joined by 13 other inductees who once competed for or coached at Mercer County high schools and excelled in the sports of track and field and cross-country. The deadline to RSVP for the induction banquet is May 10. Info on attending can found HERE. © 2026 Mercer County Track & Field Hall of Fame Back to Articles

Published 3/1//26 PEDDIE WINS INDOOR STATE TITLE 98 Years ago The Peddie School took first place in the Prep Division of the 7th NJSIAA Indoor State Track and Field Championships. The meet was held in Newark NJ on March 3, 1928. Peddie became only the 2nd Prep track and field program in NJ state history to win an indoor state crown. They dethroned the six-time defending champions St Benedict's who finished 2nd. Lawrenceville Prep was 3rd. Six other schools also competed. Associated Press March 4, 1928 Arthur Walsh was a double-winner for Peddie. He took gold in the 70 Yard Dash and the 220. Peddie swept the high jump with Chase Withrow and Clyde Austin tied for 1st, and William Ely in 3rd. The winning height was a new meet record. Associated Press March 4, 1928 Another major scorer on the track for Peddie was Charles Anderson with a time of 53 3/5 seconds for 2nd place in the 440. Charles Anderson 440 Charles Pfeifer and Joseph Sawyer came in 2nd and 3rd in the hurdles, and Charles Wise and George Blackburn were at 3rd and 4th in both the 70 & 220 --to back up Walsh's victories. In the field Ely was 2nd in Shot Put with Austin taking 4th. Peddie's team was coached by George Weed. The 1928 team also finished 3rd at the indoor national meet. The Peddie School Yearbook 1928 © 2026 Mercer County Track & Field Hall of Fame Back to Articles

Published 2/26/2026 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). Steve Brown of McCorristin and Stephan Fletcher of Princeton High School (Both 1983 graduates) will be inducted into the The Mercer County Track and Field Hall of Fame when the committee hosts its 3rd annual awards banquet on May 17th, 2026 at Mercer Oaks. Steve Brown 1981 Known by most as a basketball star who as a junior led McCorristin to the 1982 state basketball title, Steve Brown was just as dominant in track and field. Brown was a 7-time state champion in track who dominated the sprints in the Parochial A Division from 1981-1983. He was also a 3-time county champion, and an Eastern States champion, and his personal best in the 200 meters of 21.3 set in 1983 was the county record. Brown could do more than sprint. He was an accomplished jumper who scored at the state meet in the Long Jump, and was named first team All-Mercer 1981 for the event as just a 10th grader. Brown Long Jumping for The Iron MIkes Brown's senior year was his best, as he broke the Mercer County Meet record for the 200 and 400 in 1983 when he took gold in both. He later set a personal best in the 400 of 47.6 which he ran to win the Eastern States Championship of '83. Princeton's Stephan Fletcher held a 2 year monopoly in the High Hurdles at the NJ Meet of Champs. He won the all-group indoor title for the 55m Hurdles and the outdoor title for the 110m Hurdles as junior in 1982. He repeated the same feat as a senior in '83 . In Mercer competition, Fletcher was a 3-time county champ in the high hurdles. He won the county meet indoors twice--in 1982 and '83. He won the outdoor county hurdles crown in 1982. In Group II state competition, he was not only a multiple time individual champion, but his scoring helped lead the PHS boys team to the outdoor state track title in 1981 and the indoor state title in 1982. Stephan is from a family of highly successful people in the sport. He was joined in both Group II team victories by his brother Lamont who was a formidable track athlete in his own right. Their father Lamont Fletcher Sr was not only a double Mercer County Champion in 1959--120 Yard Hurdles and the 180 Yard Hurdles--but he was also a trailblazing coach who built a successful girls track program at PHS in the 1970s. Stephan Fletcher Brown and Fletcher will join 16 other inductees at Mercer Oaks on Sunday, May 17th. Anyone wishing to attend the induction and awards banquet can access more info HERE. Deadline to RSVP is May 10. © 2026 Mercer County Track & Field Hall of Fame BACK TO ARTICLES & NEWS

Princeton High School – Sprinter & Thrower   Al Terry won the Group III State Championship in the 100 and 220 Yard Dashes in both 1953 and 1954.  In the ’54 State meet he tied the 220 meet record at 21.9 seconds, and also scored 5 th  place in the Javelin.  His achievements played a major role in Princeton winning state team titles in both the ‘53’ and ’54 seasons. In addition to his 4 state titles, he was also Central Jersey Champ in the 100 & 220 in 1954, and was part of 2 Central Jersey team titles won by Princeton in ’53 & ‘54. In his junior year at the Mercer County Championships in 1953, Terry won the 220 and finished runner-up in both the 100 and Javelin.   As a senior in 1954 he won county gold medals in both sprints.  His versatile scoring led PHS to the Mercer County team title both years.   In dual meet competition Terry was undefeated in his high school career. Terry was a standout football player.  He served in the United States Marine Corps and competed for the Lejeune Marines Track and Football Teams.  Terry with an easy win for PHS MAJOR TITLES WON 4-TIME STATE CHAMPION GROUP III 100 & 220 (1953), 100 & 220 (1954) 2-TIME CJ SECTIONAL CHAMPION – 100 & 220 (1954) 3-TIME MERCER COUNTY CHAMPION – 220 (1953), 100 & 220 (1954) Back to Historical Class

Nottingham High School 1995 --Javelin Jackie Davis was the top javelin thrower in the state while representing Nottingham High School. She was a 3-time all-group champion, winning the Meet of Champions Javelin Throw as a frosh in 1992, and then twice in a row as a junior and senior in '94 & '95. In state meet competition Davis won the Group III javelin title all four years of high school from '92--95. Davis also set the county record in the javelin at 140' 1" and she was a four time county champion from 1992-1995. MAJOR TITLES 3x Meet of Champions Winner Javelin 1992, '94, '95 4x Group III State Champion Javelin 1992 to 1995 4x CJ Sectional Champion Javelin 1992 to 1995 4x Mercer County Champion Javelin 1992 to 1995 Back to Class of 2024

Published 2/25/26 59 years ago on February 25th, 1967 , Ewing High School senior Joe Pluta set the NJ state 2-Mile record while winning the indoor Group 4 State Championship held at the Jersey City Armory. Joe Pluta Pluta actually set 2 records on that date. He broke the meet record set by Bob Boglione from Bellville, and he broke the all-time NJ high school record--besting the mark set by Marti Liquori of Essex Catholic. Both previous records were set in 1966. Trenton Times Sun, Feb 26, 1967 In winning the indoor state meet, Pluta added another major highlight to his senior year. Just a few months earlier in the fall of '66 he was sectional champion in cross country. © 2026 Mercer County Track & Field Hall of Fame Back to Articles

Published 1/30/2026 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 of 2026. Whether it was going over hurdles or going over crossbars, Donna Powell, Kristen Mahon-Lewis, and Noel Jancewicz-Challgren all excelled at clearing barriers amid the challenges of top notch track competition. That's why all 3 ladies have been selected for induction when the Mercer County Track and Field Hall of Fame holds its 3rd annual awards ceremony this upcoming spring. The star trio will join 15 other inductees from Mercer County high schools who in their eras all excelled in, or contributed to, the sports of track or cross country. Induction is scheduled for Sunday May 17th, at Mercer Oaks. Donna Powell competed for Trenton Central in the mid 1980s. She was a 2-time Group 4 State Champion in the 400 Hurdles--as a junior in 1985 and again as a senior in '86. Her '86 outdoor season culminated with a win at The Meet of Champions in the same event. Powell not only hurdled. She was a versatile athlete who could run the open sprints at the state ranked level, and she was a member of championship relay teams for Trenton--joining forces with star Tornado teammates such as Wenda Vereen (HOF Class of 2024) , Tracey Wright, and Tamarian Nieves. TCHS's Donna Powell holds state championship trophy 1984 Additionally, Powell enjoyed more than individual success in her high school running career. She played a key role in helping to lead the TCHS program coached by hall of famers Holland Moore and Al Jennings to its first-ever girls outdoor state championship in 1984, and its first ever girls indoor state championship in 1986. Another all-time great hurdler from Mercer, Notre Dame's Kristen Mahon also excelled in the open sprints. Kristen Mahon As a junior Mahon won gold in the open 400 at the 2006 Indoor Meet of Champions. Then like Powell 21 years before, Mahon took gold in the 400 Hurdles at the '07 Meet of Champs to cap off her senior NJ campaign with the Irish. Mahon was also a multiple-time county champ, multiple-time state parochial champ, the current all-time county record holder in the 400 Hurdles with a time of 1:00.11, and she holds the current Outdoor Mercer County Championship Meet record in the open 400 meters at 55.17. After her career at Notre Dame, Mahon attended Villanova University where she was a 4-year competitor in track and was part of a Big East indoor team championship in 2010. Jancewicz Noel Jancewicz of Robbinsville won the High Jump at the Meet of Champions in the spring of 2013. She was also a Group 2 State Champion both indoor and outdoor in the HJ, as well as a multiple time county and sectional champion in the event. Jancewics HJ at the sectional meet 2012 But Jancewicz was not limited to being a field event athlete. She was exceptionally fast and found additional success as a sprinter. On the track she collected a mixture of county, sectional and group state championships in her prep career, taking titles in distances of 55m, 100m, 200m, and 400m. So impressive was Jancewicz at racing, that excluding all of her many victories in the high jump, her remaining sprint victories are enough to put her in any high school track & field hall of fame. After graduating from Robbinsville, she attended UPenn, and was a multiple time Ivy League Champion, competing in the high jump and multi-events. Anyone wishing to celebrate the careers of Powell, Mahon, Jancewicz or any other inductees in the Class of 2026 may RSVP to attend the hall of fame induction event on May 17th by visiting our Banquet 2026 page here. BACK TO ARTICLES AND NEWS

Published Jan 5, 2026 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). It's been said that it's harder to repeat as a champion than to win the title the first time around. If that saying is true, Nottingham's Grace Dwyer Cook's accomplishments are all the more impressive. She was a repeating machine. In cross-country running, Dwyer won 3 straight Mercer County Championships and 3 straight CJ Sectional Championships between 2012 to 2014. In winter track the repeats continued. For 3 consecutive years--2013 to 2015-- Dwyer won both the 1600m and 3200m at the indoor CJ Group III Sectional Championships. She also added an indoor Group III state title in the 3200 in 2015. In winter county competition, Dwyer repeated as Mercer indoor 3200m champion in 2014 and '15. In 2014 she added county gold in the 1600m to make it a double win that year. The repeats were even more mind-blowing in Dwyer's outdoor career for the Northstars. During her spring track campaigns, she won back-to-back Mercer County1600m titles in 2013 and '14, and in the 3200m she won the county title an unprecedented 4 years in a row from 2013 to '16. In outdoor sectional competition, Dwyer accomplished yet another quadruple when she swept the 3200m at the CJ Championships 4 years in a row from 2013 to 2016. She also won CJ 1600 titles first 3 of those years,. The 2015 CJ meet was especially remarkable as she added the 800m title for a sectional hat trick. Dwyer leads the pack In outdoor Group III competition, Dwyer won the state title for 3200m in 2015 (video below). She followed that up the next week with the most prestigious win of her incredible high school career by taking The Meet of Champions 3200m, She won it with a personal best time of 10:21.46. Group 3 State 3200m 2015 After graduating from Nottingham, Dwyer attended both Liberty University and Furman. At Furman she won the 10,000m at the 2019 Southern Conference Outdoor Championships. For her stellar collection of hardware throughout her running career, Grace will be inducted this spring into the Mercer County Track and Field Hall of Fame on May 17th, 2026 . She will be joined by 17 other inductees who each possess outstanding athletic achievements and contributions to the sport. For more info on the May 17th induction event or to become a donor to our 501 (c) (3) organization, visit our banquet page here . © 2026 Mercer County Track & Field Hall of Fame Back to Articles

West Windsor North --Hurdles To earn a berth in the Mercer County Track and Field Hall of Fame, a performer must show consistency of excellence, the ability to perform on the greatest stage and take their program to new heights. Pati Dziekonska achieved that and more for West Windsor-Plainsboro High in the second decade of the 21st Century, when she added to Mercer County’s great legacy of hurdling talent and was consistently among New Jersey’s best. The Meet of Champions winner in the 100-meter hurdles in the spring of 2014, Dziekonska was a monster performer, both indoors and outdoors. She was an eight-time Meet of Champions qualifier, two-time 55-meter hurdles winner indoors at the MOC and led the Northern Knights to team titles in Central Group IV in 2012 (both indoors and outdoors) and Mercer County in 2013. Dziekonska did it all, excelling in the 55 and 100 hurdles, long jump, triple jump and sprints, but for all her individual achievements relished most leading her teammates; she helped WW-PN qualify for the New Balance Nationals in the shuttle hurdles and through her leadership was named Most Courageous Performer at the 2014 Mercer County Championships. In college, Dziekonska kept on winning, earning scholar-athlete recognition all four years at Indiana State University. An all-conference performer in the 4x100 and 60-meter hurdles, she helped the Sycamores win the shuttle hurdles at the prestigious Drake Relays in 2018. Dziekonska & WWN Coach Brian Gould After earning her Masters in public health, she competed for Independence Blue Cross in the Corporate DMR at the Penn Relays. MAJOR TITLES 2x Meet of Champions Winner - 55m Hurdles 2013 & 2014 State Champion Group II - 55m Hurdles 2013 Eastern Champion - 55m Hurdles 2013 10x CJ Sectional Champion - (Indoor) 55m Dash 2014, 55m Hurdles (4) 2011 to 2014, (Outdoor) 100m Hurdles (4) 2011-2014, Long Jump 2014 7x Mercer County Champion - (Indoor) 55m Dash 2014, 55m Hurdles (3) 2012-2014, Long Jump (2) 2013 & 2014, (Outdoor) 100 Hurdles 2012 See below to watch Pati's interview after winning her 2nd straight indoor Meet of Champs in 2014. Back to Class of 2025

Published 2/16/2026 Lawrence Indoor Track 1985 41 years ago on Saturday February16th1985 , Lawrence High's boys won the Mercer County Indoor Track Championship. It was the first indoor county title in the school's history. The Cardinals ran up 93 points to beat out runner up Trenton by nearly 30 points. Ewing finished third. Charles Lackey Charles Lackey was a key performer for the winning team. He won the High Jump at 6'4" and finished 2nd in the 55m Hurdles breaking a Lawrence school record in the process, as Ken Jones of Trenton edged him out at the tape. They were both clocked at 7.7 seconds. Thrower Eddie Wright earned Lawrence another gold medal in the Shot Put. He threw 51'11". Sprinter Kevin Kaufman was a significant point scorer for Lawrence as he had two top 3 finishes on the day. He was 3rd in the 55m Dash, and he placed 2nd in the 400 to Hightstown's Daryl Hagans. The winning coach was Chris Chamuris. Commenting on the victory he said: Trenton Times Feb 17, 1985 BOX SCORE © 2026 Mercer County Track & Field Hall of Fame BACK TO NEWS AND ARTICLES