Times of Trenton boys track and field honors, 2019

ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

A look at the MileSplit state rankings showed multiple capital-region athletes leading their events at season’s end.

No one long-jumped further than Princeton’s Nils Wildberg, whose 23-11 leap at the NJSIAA Group 4 meet was unsurpassed. No one threw the discus further than Princeton’s Paul Brennan, whose 186-11 toss at the Penn Relays was only three inches further than the 186-8 that won him the NJSIAA Meet of Champions title by four feet, three inches.

But there's one local name on that list that appears twice, and has an M of C title to his credit, and might have had another. Hopewell Valley senior Sean Dolan outdid the rest of the state in both the 1600, running 4:09.14 at the M of C, and the 800, which he won at the state Group 3 meet in 1:50.53.

He can add The Times’ boys track and field Athlete of the Year status to those accomplishments.

On the state’s final day at Northern Burlington on June 8, Dolan’s 4:09.14 won the 1600 by 2.74 seconds, and over the course of the season, no high schooler in the state had a time within 1.83 seconds of Dolan’s winning 1600 time, with Christian Brothers Academy’s Tim McInerney clocking 4:10.97 to win the Monmouth County title in early May.

Sean Dolan is The Times' boys track and field Athlete of the Year. (Larry Murphy | For NJ Advance Media)

Dolan’s choice not to run the 800 at the M of C, despite entering the event with the top seed by .76 seconds, was no meet-day scratch. Dolan spoke after winning the 800 at the Group 3 meet of wanting to focus on the 1600 for his college experience to come at Villanova. Passaic’s Luis Peralta won the 800 in 1:53.26.

The choice to forgo a possible double gold on his last day in a Hopewell Valley uniform says a lot about Dolan as a person, Bulldogs coach Dan Johnson said.

“For Sean, I don’t think he was pretty much worried about the title, which is very rare for this day and age for the athletes,” Johnson said. “He was mainly focused on the 16. He really wanted to break the record for the 16, and I think that was just his goal as far as just going into the Meet of Champs.”

Dolan came up short of that meet record, with Toms River South alum Chris Marco setting that at 4:07.31 in 2012.

The M of C win kept the trend going for Dolan of a spring season in which there was hardly a race in which Dolan didn’t claim first place. He swept through the NJSIAA postseason in the 1600, winning Central Jersey, Group 3 (4:22.59), state Group 3 (4:10.76) and the M of C. He added county (1:52.81), sectional (1:53.01) and state group titles in the 800. In early May, Dolan had the top time of more than 200 runners in the 3200 at the Holmdel Twilight Series, clocking 9:02.66 to finish 1.77 seconds in front of fellow Colonial Valley Conference runner Liam Murphy of Allentown.

He nearly added a Penn Relays title, finishing second – and as the top U.S. runner – in the mile in 4:18.60, just .38 seconds behind Canadian runner Foster Malleck.

The successful spring came after an injury-hampered winter that kept him out of the NJSIAA postseason.

“He was just very careful as far as his training and different things in the winter season, so we were able to keep him out of certain races and not race him as much, but he still was able to run at the Millrose Games and different races like that,” Johnson said. “We were just careful as far as which races he ran.”

As Dolan gets set to make the trip to Villanova, broadening the Philadelphia Big Five representation in his family with brother Tim having completed his freshman year on the track team at Penn and father Steve as the director of track and field at Penn, he leaves an example behind at Hopewell Valley.

“He understood that when he stepped on the track, he was probably one of the best athletes out there, both on our track team and in a competition and a meet, and each day he’d come in and he’s helping out the younger runners,” Johnson said. “Even when he wasn’t running, he was attending meets and cheering on his teammates and everything, and that’s just so rare in this day and age.”

TEAM OF THE YEAR

Only one area team won an NJSIAA sectional title this spring, and that was just one of the Nottingham boys track and field team's accomplishments this season.

Nottingham began the string of success by holding off West Windsor-Plainsboro North 88-84 to win the Mercer County title a year after taking third with 48 points in a meet that Princeton dominated. Senior Alix Oge won the 110 hurdles, junior Louis Akpadago won the 100, freshman Shamali Whittle won the 200 and senior Dylan John won the javelin.

Then came the Central Jersey, Group 3 title, which Nottingham won with 74 points ahead of WW-P North’s 56.5. A year earlier, WW-P North finished ahead of runner-up Nottingham, 77-68.

Dana Ridley won a sectional title in the 100 and 200, Oge won the 110 hurdles, and Nottingham teams won both the 4x100 and 4x400 relays, with Javon Jenkins, Jaier Nelson, Judeson Mirac and Ridley winning the shorter and Whittle, Emilio Selesnick, Ridley and Jalen Corbin winning the longer race.

Nottingham came in third in Group 3 with 34 points, behind winner Deptford, with 47 points, and runner-up Hopewell Valley, with 40. There, Nottingham won what was the Northstars’ signature event for the season, the 4x100, with Jenkins, Nelson, Mirac and Ridley clocking 42.16.

Nottingham grabbed notice in the 4x100 when Akpadago, Whittle, Mirac and Ridley clocked 41.82 seconds at the Moorestown Invite on April 13, a time only one other school bettered at any point in the season. Nottingham turned in a 41.71-second finish to win the M of C title, a time that only St. Peter’s Prep beat when it won the NJSIAA Non-Public A title a week earlier in 41.65 seconds.

Nottingham’s ability to continue winning 4x100 titles despite injury made the achievement all the more impressive. The Northstars didn’t have Akpadago or Whittle at all during the NJSIAA postseason, with Jenkins and Nelson filling in at the sectional and M of C and Oge and Selesnick helping deliver the Group 3 title in the event.

Boys All-Area
400 Hurdles: Terris Burton, Steinert, Sr.
Burton was the NJSIAA Meet of Champions runner-up, clocking 52.55 seconds after winning county, sectional and state group titles in the event.
100: Javon Porter, Hamilton West, Jr.
Porter had the top prelims time in the section in a wind-aided 10.54 before finishing third in 10.65 seconds.
110 Hurdles: Alix Oge, Nottingham, Sr.
Oge was the M of C runner-up, clocking 13.93 seconds after winning county and sectional titles in the event.
1600: Sean Dolan, Hopewell Valley, Sr.
Dolan won the M of C title in the event in 4:09.14, sweeping through the NJSIAA postseason after winning the section and the state group titles.
4x100: Nottingham
All juniors, Javon Jenkins, Jaier Nelson, Judeson Mirac and Dana Ridley delivered the M of C title in 41.71 seconds.
400: Ny'Aare McCrae, Trenton, Sr.
McCrae was the Central Jersey, Group 4 runner-up in 48.56 seconds.
800: Jackson McCarthy, Princeton, Sr.
McCarthy took sixth at the M of C in 1:55.09 after finishing fifth in Group 4 in 1:53.15.
200: Dana Ridley, Nottingham, Jr.
Ridley was the M of C runner-up in 21.03 seconds after winning the sectional title and finishing runner-up in Group 3.
3200: Liam Murphy, Allentown, Jr.
Murphy was the sectional champ in 9:28.87, was runner-up in Group 3 in 9:08.55 and was 12th at the M of C in 9:25.49. He clocked 9:04.43 at the Holmdel meet in early May.
4x800: Lawrenceville
Lawrenceville senior Robert Enck, junior Jakob Kunzer, junior Vishnu Rajakannan and sophomore Chris Crane had the top area time in the event, finishing in 8:05.59 at the Holmdel meet in April.
4x400: Trenton
Rookie Sam Gaddie and seniors Ny'Aare McRae, Mahsiah McRae and Christian O'Neal took sixth in Group 4 in 3:19.89.
Discus: Paul Brennan, Princeton, Sr.
Brennan won the M of C title at 186-8, just three inches short of his state-best distance from the Penn Relays of 186-11.
Triple Jump: Richmond Shasha, Hamilton West, Sr.
Shasha was the runner-up at the M of C, jumping 48-9 ¼ after winning county and state group titles in the event.
Long Jump: Nils Wildberg, Princeton, Sr.
Wildberg's 23-11 jump at the state Group 4 meet was the best in the state all season, and WIldberg went on to finish second at the M of C at 22-6.
Pole Vault: Simon Schenk, Princeton, Jr.
Schenk was the runner-up at the M of C at 15-6, his best vault of the season after winning the county title, finishing fourth in the section and third in Group 4.
High Jump: Christian O'Neal, Trenton, Sr.
O'Neal's top jump on the season was 6-6 at the Mercer Coaches Classic in early May, preceding a win at the county meet, a fifth-place finish in the section and a third-place finish in Group 4.
Javelin: Drew Huth, Allentown, Sr.
Huth heaved the javelin 165-5 to finish third in the section, the top throw of any local this season.
Shot Put: Chukwuka Obidike, Hopewell Valley, Sr.
The Group 3 champ tossed the shot put 54 1 ½ to win that title after finishing second in the section and winning the county title.

Athlete of the Year: Sean Dolan, Hopewell Valley, Sr.
Team of the Year: Nottingham

Boys All-CVC
400 Hurdles: Terris Burton, Steinert, Sr.
100: Javon Porter, Hamilton West, Jr.
110 Hurdles: Alix Oge, Nottingham, Sr.
1600: Sean Dolan, Hopewell Valley, Sr.
4x100: Nottingham
400: Ny'Aare McCrae, Trenton, Sr.
800: Jackson McCarthy, Princeton, Sr.
200: Dana Ridley, Nottingham, Jr.
3200: Liam Murphy, Allentown, Jr.
4x800: WW-P North
4x400: Trenton
Discus: Paul Brennan, Princeton, Sr.
Triple Jump: Richmond Shasha, Hamilton West, Sr.
Long Jump: Nils Wildberg, Princeton, Sr.
Pole Vault: Simon Schenk, Princeton, Jr.
High Jump: Christian O'Neal, Trenton, Sr.
Javelin: Drew Huth, Allentown, Sr.
Shot Put: Chukwuka Obidike, Hopewell Valley, Sr.

Athlete of the Year: Sean Dolan, Hopewell Valley, Sr.
Team of the Year: Nottingham

Boys All-Prep
400 Hurdles: Vinny Veeramachaneni, Lawrenceville, Sr.
100: Nicholas DeGennaro, Hun, Sr.
110 Hurdles: Mekhi Muse, Pennington, Sr.
1600: Cameron Desnoes, Lawrenceville, Sr.
4x100: Lawrenceville
400: Jakob Kunzer, Lawrenceville, Jr.
800: Robert Enck, Lawrenceville, Sr.
200: Isaiah Muse, Pennington, Fr.
3200: Martin Adams, Hun, Sr.
4x800: Lawrenceville
4x400: Lawrenceville
Discus: Alex Gilbertson, Peddie, Jr.
Triple Jump: Jean-Andre Sassine, Lawrenceville, Sr.
Long Jump: William Murray, Lawrenceville, So.
Pole Vault: Jack Wragan, Lawrenceville, Jr.
High Jump: Josh Hemmings, Lawrenceville, Jr.
Javelin: Quinn Kieselowsky, Lawrenceville, Sr.
Shot Put: Chase Johnson, Lawrenceville, Sr.

Athlete of the Year: Robert Enck, Lawrenceville, Sr.
Team of the Year: Lawrenceville

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.