Princeton High Boys' Track Gets Third-Place Finishes at MCT

Princeton High's Zaid Smart placed third in the 3200 in the Mercer County Tournament, held May 14 at Steinert High School. Considering he was up against two of the top distance runners in the state, however, Smart knew third place was the realistic goal.

"Being close to the Rosas (West Windsor North brothers Jim and Joe Rosa) for most of the race is a blessing," Smart said.

Smart led for most of the race. In the final couple of laps, the Rosas began to pull away.

Joe Rosa won in a time of 9:15.8, followed by Jim Rosa at 9:22 and Smart at 9:24.7.

Smart's performance in the 3200 earned Princeton six points as a team, a third of what it earned for the meet. Princeton place ninth with 18 points. Nottingham won the 16-team field with 117 points.

Smart joined teammates Sage Healy, Matt Wong and Kevin Ivanoff to place third in the 4x800 in a time of 8:26.2.

"All the teams know each other," Princeton Coach John Woodside noted. "West Windsor South and West Windsor North have the most distance runners and were the teams to beat. We figured as long as we ran well, we'd get third."

Princeton earned its other points when Mike Sorrentino placed third in the pole vault with a height of 11' 6".

"Last week, he almost made thirteen feet in a meet," Woodside noted of Sorrentino. "We were hoping he might be able to make that height. Still, third place at the county meet is a really good finish."

Part of Princeton's team will now focus on finishing out the regular season and getting ready for the state sectionals on May 27 and 28 and Woodside is anxious to see the rest of his squad does at the next Mercer County Championships.

On May 21, the Freshmen/Sophomore Meet will be held at Steinert.

"We should do really well in that meet," Woodside said. "We have some really talented juniors and seniors and they did well, but our strength is in the freshmen and sophomores. We have a lot of talented freshmen and sophomores."

And at the Freshmen/Sophomore Meet, there will not be a Rosa in sight.

I wanted to hang with them for a little bit, but they are both out there," Smart smiled. "I knew once they kicked it, that was it."