GROUP EFFORT: Princeton High boys’ track star Sean Wilton, center, and PHS throws coach Brandon Willams, left, and Tiger volunteer assistant coach and former Princeton University men’s track coach Fred Samara are all smiles after Wilton placed first in the shot put at the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Group 4 state meet at Franklin High on May 30. Last Wednesday, senior and Brown University commit Wilton placed ninth in the shot put at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions. Wilton will wrap up his PHS career by competing in the New Balance Nationals Outdoor 2025 from June 19-22 in Philadelphia. (Photo provided courtesy of Ben Samara)

By Justin Feil

Sean Wilton will have at least three more throws in his Princeton High track career.

The PHS senior will try to further his own school record in the shot put at the New Balance Nationals Outdoor 2025 from June 19-22 in Philadelphia.

“It’s going to be my last meet,” said Wilton. “I really just gotta do what I gotta do. I want to put a lot of different work in. This spring, I’ve been doing a lot of pure distance throws where now I have so much time before this meet, I can do like a full prep for it. I’m just going to take my time, ease into it, build up for this meet and be ready when the day comes.”

On May 30, Wilton set a PHS outdoor record of 60’ 7.5 to win the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Group 4 championship. He also threw 166’9 in the boys’ discus for fifth place at groups, a mark that puts him third in the PHS record books. Wilton’s 62’2.25 shot put at New Balance Nationals Indoor this March stands as the best ever in school history.

“We have this big board in the weight room, but the moment I saw the record on the board my freshman year I knew that that was my goal,” said Wilton. “And that day that I got it was just such a good feeling. That’s when you know you made it. You achieved something that no one else has in your entire school history. That was the goal. That’s the best feeling you can get in a sport like track and field. I’m very happy to leave with that record.”

Wilton eclipsed the record of 57’ 6.75 set by Paul Brennan in the Mercer County Championships in 2019. Prior to that, the shot put record went all the way back to 1983 when Peter Young threw 57’1.5.

“A lot of the times it was like, all right, we’ve got the Brennans, but after the Brennans are gone, what do we have? And we got to see that and see Sean’s legacy,” said PHS head coach Ben Samara. “It’s incredible because Paul just had broken that record that had stood for 40 years, and we’re like, ‘Wow, this record is going to be around forever.’ And then Sean comes along and he is the best shot putter in Princeton High School history now. And he willed it to happen which is awesome.”

The third-place discus mark was a bonus. He had been a little inconsistent with throws from 125’7 to start the year to 156’1 at the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) Championships. Then it clicked at groups.

“Discus is a very different event than shot put,” said Wilton. “For a while, I was pulling the discus out of its orbit. I would set it up so well, and then just do the last little bit wrong to pull it just out of its way and it would hurt me a lot. And I kind of plateaued because of it. But at that meet, I literally just waited, I was a bit more patient at the finish and then it just kind of flew out of my hand.”

Wilton had hoped to better his marks at the Meet of Champions, but had a tough day last Wednesday at Pennsauken High. Fouls cost him in the shot put and he settled for ninth with a 57’1.5 effort and also threw 146’3 for 23rd in the discus. He’s using that meet as an important lesson to prepare for throwing shot at nationals.

“I was just too amped up,” said Wilton. “I think my warmups were too hard. The big thing I try to do is build for every meet. From the start of that Monday in practice to the end of the week to the meet, I’ll be building. At that meet, I went way too hard, way too quick and I couldn’t build into my throws. I got a 60-foot warmup but then from there I got really tense because I wanted to hit that again. I knew I had that mark in me. But then I got two fouls and 57. So now what I’m gonna do is I’m going to take it easy for nationals, I’m gonna build up to the meet. And when I’m there, I’m just going to take my warmups nice and easy, warm up and then just have three good throws and see if I can make finals.”

Wilton was one of two Princeton athletes to make the Meet of Champions. Junior distance star Kajol Karra ran 11:01.19 for 15th in the girls’ 3,200 meters. She’s part of a returning group that has the Tigers optimistic about the girls next year.

“We’ve been talking about the girls team for a couple of years now,” said Samara. “That next year would be the year and I think that we’re losing a great a couple of great captains, but a lot of our firepower is back. We have some really good girls on the sprint side, and our distance girls are now maturing into upperclassmen and that’s a team that really could threaten to win Meet of Champions in cross country.”

While the girls look to be in great shape, losing Wilton among a number of high achieving boys means the PHS boys will have to rebuild back. In the meantime, Wilton will be beginning his college career at Brown University. For the first time this summer, he won’t be getting ready for a football season. He’ll just be focusing on lifting and preparing to be a college thrower, starting over at a new level of competition.

I gotta work harder,” said Wilton.“It’s a clean slate. It’s just going to be a good reset. I’m just excited for the competition. I know it’s going to be there and I’m excited to have that build back up toward senior year because right now this is where I’m supposed to be peaking. But freshman year next year it’s just going to be a build-up year, so I’m excited for that too.”

Wilton possesses all the tools to succeed. While the coaches thought it would take a while to break the shot put record that had stood for so long, Wilton used it as motivation and had confidence in his abilities.

“When I started my freshman year, my first ever meet I was at 40 feet, which is a very good mark for freshmen,” said Wilton. “And then from there, there’s just like a rule of thumb that you add five feet every year, so I knew I could be hitting 60 by my senior year and really I just had to keep working. The really big reason is I knew myself and I knew how hard it was going to work and I knew how fast I was progressing was not going to slow down. I was just going to keep getting better and stronger. And once I started really getting close to it, I knew I was going to hit it very, very soon. Like my sophomore year I knew I was definitely going to get the record at some point.”

Samara expects Wilton will hit another level in college. He’ll continue to get stronger and work at his technique as the latest PHS thrower to continue his career at an Ivy League school.

“I think he’s going to do some incredible things at Brown,” said Samara.“I think he’s going to be able to have almost the next evolution of Sean Wilton.”

What makes Samara so sure is what he saw over the last four years from Wilton. He’s been on a steady rise and the MOC was just a small hurdle in his development.

“He’s one who will never stop moving forward,” said Samara. “The higher the level of competition, the more of a gamer he is, which is why I think he was surprised on Wednesday by what happened. That was a real anomaly for him and I can’t see it happening twice in a row. I think he’s going to have a huge, huge series at nationals.”

It’s his final chance to add to his record-setting career at PHS. He is graduating with his name on the wall to inspire the next generation of throwers, and still more to accomplish as he continues his career in college.

“I’m very happy with how I ended up,” said Wilton. “I know there’s more left on the table, but I can get that in college. I’m just happy with my career. I’m very happy with where I’m going next. I did everything that I wanted to pretty much.”