TAKING HIS SHOT: Princeton High senior track and field star Sean Wilton lets the shot put fly at the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) Indoor Championships in late January. Wilton set a personal record of 61’00.50 in winning the shot put at the meet. Wilton went on to break that record with a heave of 62’2.25 at the New Balance Nationals Indoor this March. In the spring season, Wilton set a PHS outdoor record of 60’ 7.5 to win the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Group 4 championship. (Photo by Rohan Viswanathan)
By Bill Alden
Culminating one of the greatest careers in Princeton High boys’ track history, Sean Wilton competed in the shot put at the New Balance Nationals last Friday at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.
Making his final throws in a PHS uniform, Wilton placed 13th with a best mark of 59’9 3/4 to add a final line to his glittering high school resume.
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.
Wilton came a long way over the last four years. “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. 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.”
Getting the outdoor record was a huge highlight for Wilton. “That day that I got it was just such a good feeling,” said Wilton. “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.”
PHS head coach Ben Samara was happy to see Wilton achieve that record.
“It’s incredible because Paul [Brennan] just had broken that record that had stood for 40 years, and we’re like, ‘Wow, this record is going to be around forever,’ ”said Samara. “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.”
Having committed to attend Brown University and throw for its track program, Wilton is looking to make more good things happen at the college level.
“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.”
Samara, for his part, is excited to see what Wilton does at Brown.
“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. He’s one who will never stop moving forward. The higher the level of competition, the more of a gamer he is.”
Wilton is proud of the level he reached at high school.
“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.”
For ending his historic PHS career with a record-breaking and championship season, Wilton is the choice as the Town Topics’ top boy performer of the high school spring season.
BORN TO RUN: Princeton High girls’ lacrosse player Leah Bornstein races upfield in action this spring. Junior midfielder/attacker Bornstein piled up a team-high 98 points on 63 goals and 35 assists and led the Tigers in ground balls (125) and draw controls (105) as PHS went 12-10. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)
Top Girl Performer
In 2024, Leah Bornstein experienced a breakout year for the Princeton High girls’ lacrosse team, tallying 78 points on 56 goals and 22 assists as a sophomore after scoring just seven goals with two assists in her debut campaign.
But this spring, Bornstein took her game to an even higher level as she piled up a team-high 98 points on 63 goals and 35 assists and led the Tigers in ground balls (125) and draw controls (105).
Coming into 2025, Bornstein realized that she had to assume more responsibility for the Tigers.
“I have a lot bigger role this year, just because so many seniors from last year left and now we only have four seniors,” said Bornstein. “I am very grateful that I was chosen for captain this year so that is a big factor.”
Bornstein, a star guard for the PHS girls’ basketball team, believes that juggling the two sports has helped her excel this spring.
“Basketball and lacrosse are similar with the cutting, the picks, the footwork,” said Bornstein. “I love basketball. I like to use picks in lacrosse like I do in basketball or rolling like I do in basketball.”
But while Bornstein was busy on the hardcourt, she made time to keep her lacrosse skills sharp.
“Every Sunday in the winter, I would work on lacrosse to keep me ready for the season,” said Bornstein.
PHS head coach Katie Federico loved the work she got from Bornstein this season.
“Leah goes 100 percent, she is the energizer bunny,” said Federico. “She just doesn’t stop. I know that the girls feed off of that energy too which is really nice.”
In Federico’s view, an increase in confidence helped trigger Bornstein’s superb spring as she helped the Tigers go 12-10 and reach the semifinals of the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) tournament.
“Leah really grew into her leadership role this year,” said Federico. “Last year, I felt was a breakout year for her, it was huge. This year, I think she just had that confidence that she could do it and be there to make the plays. The biggest force in her having such a successful season this year was that confidence piece. She is just everywhere.”
Developing into a force who was seemingly everywhere for PHS when it came to scoring, getting ground balls and draw controls, makes Bornstein the choice as the top girl performer this spring.
Top Newcomers
Coming into this spring, Princeton Day School baseball head coach Eric Schnepf sensed that AJ Doran would make a big impact for the squad this spring in his freshman season.
Schnepf pointed to Doran’s competitiveness and desire to be thrown into the fire of varsity ball as key qualities.
Doran showed early on that he was ready to thrive at the varsity level, going 4-for-10 at the plate in his first three games.
Building on that strong start, Doran ended up hitting .385 with team highs in homers (3) and RBIs (22) He also displayed a propensity to come through in the clutch, hitting a homer in a 1-0 win over a strong Hightstown team and a homer as eighth-seeded PDS edged top-seeded Montclair Kimberley 2-1 in the quarterfinal round of the Prep B state tournament.
Schnepf credited Doran with excelling from beginning to end this spring as he helped the Panthers go 10-17 and advance to the Prep B semis and the quarterfinal round of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Non-Public South Jersey Group B tourney.
“AJ has been swinging a really good bat all year,” said Schnepf. “He is a big, strong kid, the ball comes off his bat real hard.”
For producing as a power hitter for PDS in his freshmen season, Doran gets the nod as the top boy newcomer.
Lena Wijaya got off to a relatively slow start this spring in her debut campaign for the Princeton Day School girls’ lacrosse team.
Freshman midfielder Wijaya totaled three goals in her first five games. But getting experience and gaining confidence, Wijaya caught fire down the stretch. She tallied 10 goals and one assist in the team’s last six games as the Panthers went 5-1 to end for spring with a 9-9 record.
Wijaya ended up with 21 goals and three assists on the season and marked herself as a player to watch in the future.
PDS head coach Lucia Marcozzi was excited by how Wijaya progressed this spring and is expecting big things over the rest of her career.
“Lena was phenomenal, she really found her groove, especially when we saw a lot of different defenses,” said Marcozzi. “I think she really gained her confidence getting the ball into the back of the net. She started the first four games, it took a little while for her to get going. She has a great shot, she knows how offense works. I think her confidence is just going to keep going up as she keeps playing.”
For emerging as a key offensive threat for the Panthers in her debut campaign, Wijaya is the choice as the top girl newcomer.
Top Coaches
When the Hun School boys’ lacrosse team started its 2025 season by going 0-7 under new head coach Joe Donnelly, things looked bleak.
But as the losses piled up, Donnelly didn’t get frazzled, emphasizing the positives and urging his players to keep paying attention to detail.
“One of the biggest things that we imparted on them early the season is that we have to do the little things right to achieve our big goals,” said Donnelly. “Early in the season it was a little bit tougher of a buy-in, especially playing those teams that we are playing. But the more time we spent together, the more we focused on the flashes of greatness instead of looking at the bad parts about our games or practices and focusing on the positive as a unit. The more and more we felt comfortable working with each other and knowing that when things go wrong, it is not going to continue to go wrong.”
Things started to go right for the Raiders as the spring unfolded and they saved their best for last in the Prep state tournament. Sixth-seeded Hun routed 11th-seeded Oratory Prep 15-1 in a first round contest, topped third-seeded Pennington 13-5 in the quarters, defeated second-seeded Blair 11-6 in the semis, and then edged top-seeded Lawrenceville B 9-8 in a thrilling final to win the Prep crown.
In Donnelly’s view, the resilience and consistent work ethic displayed by his players led to the state run.
“They are gritty, they don’t give up, and they play with a chip on their shoulder,” said Donnelly. “For being a prep school, I think we are extremely blue collar in the way that we approach everything, from the weight room to practices and our film sessions. They have done nothing but buy in and be excited about the progress.”
Hun senior star Luke Donahue credited Donnelly with holding things together as the Raiders struggled in the early going.
“I think one thing coach Donnelly harped on us the whole year was that we win together, we lose together, we do everything together,” said Donahue. “It doesn’t come from one individual making superstar plays, it comes from when we play together.”
Winning the Prep title was proof of concept for the Raiders.
“It is a symbol for the determination of this group,” said Donnelly, whose team ended up with a 7-13 record. “You can put your head down after struggling early in the season and just give up but that is not this team. This team is one that was 100 percent bought in. This kind of resilience and grit is what is going to continue to help us grow as a program.”
For sticking with process and helping his squad play its best when it counted the most in his first season at the helm of the program, Donnelly is the pick as the top coach of a boys’ team.
There was a special camaraderie on the Princeton High girls’ golf team this spring.
The squad’s senior star, Jacqueline Zang, pointed to that upbeat mentality as a key to her success.
“It’s just way more fun having a group of people out there that you know are rooting for you and there to support you and the girls are great and we’re all super close,” said Zang. “So practicing together and competing together, it’s just been so much fun.”
The Tigers ended up having a lot of fun collectively this season, going 8-1 in dual matches and winning the Red Devil Invitational and Lady Bombers Tee-Off Classic along the way.
PHS then produced a historic postseason run which saw it place first in the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) tournament, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) South Jersey Group A sectional, and the NJSIAA Public A state championship.
While the Tigers featured a lot of talent throughout the lineup, PHS head coach Jess Monzo pointed to the ability of his players to keep their heads in the heat of competition as a key quality underlying their championship campaign.
“Golf’s a funny game,” said Monzo. “It’s not always the expected number one or the higher ranked team that’s going to go out and always win. But they have the capability of doing that, so just telling them to relax and treat every stroke the same right, don’t focus on any negative shots because golf has a very big mental aspect – the mental part of golf where one bad shot will lead to several bad shots. So you have to always tell them once you hit it, you can’t worry about that one anymore.”
Echoing Zang’s thoughts, Monzo believes that the squad’s special unity paved the way to the state title.
“It’s a testament to the girls because no matter what, they really believe in each other,” said Monzo. “And I think that’s what really sets them apart and helps them have as much success as they have had this year because they know deep down that they’re all good and if they don’t play well that someone else is going to pick it up for them if they happen to have a bad hole. Just the belief in each other really helped them perform.”
Monzo’s role in helping Tigers stay the course in producing a season for the ages makes him to top coach of a girls’ team.