2021-2022 Princeton High School End of Season Report For Varsity Winter Sports
Basketball Boys
Head Coach: Patrick Noone
Assistant Coaches: Rob McMahon & Steve Hennessy
The Varsity Boys Basketball team finished 4-14 this season. Even though the boys’ basketball record doesn’t show the success of their year, the boys had a competitive season. The squad was led by Jaxon Patrone and Chris Rinaldi who were selected as members of the All-CVC team. The boys maintain competitive games against one of the most talented teams in the CVC Hamilton West HS. Even though the PHS boys’ basketball team did not qualify for the NJSIAA post season tournament the team had a lot of fun this year and enjoyed their campaign.
Basketball Girls
Head Coach: David Kosa
Assistant Coaches: Carly Setaro & Katie Dineen
The Varsity Girls Basketball team finished 10-11 this season. The team enjoyed a 7-6 record in conference play. In the Mercer County Tournament, the PHS girls team beat WWP North in the first round 41-30, losing to the eventual champion Ewing HS in the Quarterfinals. In the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 4 Bracket, the PHS girls’ basketball team earned the 13th seed falling to Middletown South in the first round.
As a team, the girls prided themselves on their defense, giving up 38.3 points per game (PPG), which is the 5th consecutive year the team gave up under 40 PPG. Nora Devine was selected 2nd Team All CVC while Riley Devlin earned Honorable Mention.
The team graduates 4 seniors - Sofia Aguayo, Molly Brown, Katie Chao, and Nora Devine.
Fencing Boys
Head Coach: Aaron Blanchard
The boys fencing team finished with a 3-3 record but had a phenomenal post season! The boys fencing team qualified for the NJSIAA state tournament and made it to the sweet sixteen and won their first-round matchup. The boys narrowly lost the second round to the 2nd Place winners West Windsor Plainsboro South. The entire boys fencing squad continued to improve significantly as a team and worked well individually for the duration of the season. The group had their best season to date.
The team qualified 2 squads to the state championships Boys Epee and Boys Saber. The Boys Foil lost their qualifying round by a single touch. The two boys fencing team qualifying squads (Epee & Saber) did very well.
Individual fencers performed exceptionally well. Lawrence He took the state championship and Theodore Kopaliani placed 24th. Oliver Cai did extremely well in a very competitive group of boy’s foil contenders. Noah Zeng placed high in the final standings as a first-year freshman fencer.
The entire group of freshman fencers came out this year were quite strong and have a lot of potential. The work ethic of the entire boys fencing team ensures the future success of the program.
Fencing Girls
Head Coach: Barbra Callahan
The PHS girls fencing team had a fantastic season this year, securing an early win against The Lawrenceville School. The Foil squad has grown this year and secured 2nd place in Districts. The girls squad faced several challenges against opposing schools not being able to roster full teams for scheduled competitions. However, our group of fencers pulled together and were flexible to make certain everyone enjoyed the exhibition. Girls Foil and Girls saber both secured spots in the state squad championships and performed well. Girls Foil placed 13th and Girl’s Saber placed 17th in the state. Shira Kutin qualified for the state individual championships in Girl’s Saber and placed 35th in the state. This has been the best season yet for the PHS Girls Fencing team. The athletic department is proud of the cohesion of the team and the growth they demonstrated as fencers this season both on and off their fencing stripes!
Ice Hockey Boys
Head Coach: Dave Hansen
Assistant Coach: Marik Johnson
The 2021-2022 boys ice hockey team had four returning seniors and several freshman joining to solidify a very capable squad.
The team started the season 4-0-1, however key injuries to the defensive line & starting goaltender which drastically altered the team’s tactical plans. The effects were felt immediately as the team continued to compete against many top ranked schools with healthy full squads.
The losses galvanized our boys as they turned the corner and held a nine-game unbeaten streak with two ties. Defense remained shorthanded all year and the goaltending platoon was led by a position player filling in as the number one starter.
Regardless of the challenges they faced, the PHS boys ice hockey team had a successful season having won three of the last five regular season games to gain the number one seed in the Mercer County Tournament. The squad outscored their opponents 16-6 in the first two games, but came up short in the final against Notre Dame High School. In the NJSIAA state tournament loss, the team demonstrated incredible resolve scoring five goals in five minutes for an improbable 2nd period comeback. Ultimately, there was not enough fuel in the tank and the boys season ended in a loss. This season, coming off of a COVID shortened year, could be just a preview of the success that is to be expected next year!
Ice Hockey Girls
Head Coach: Christian Herzog
Assistant Coach: Dominic Capuano
The PHS Girls Varsity Ice Hockey Team finished the season with a total record of 4-5-1. Highlights of the season included many new students developing a passion for the sport of ice hockey since only having previous experience playing field hockey. Players enjoyed the trip to Maryland to play Holton Arms Academy and Rye Country Day School. Players enjoyed the comradery that the trip allowed, and all the team was grateful for the opportunity to compete in their league. Other season highlights include a come from behind 5-4 win against Randolph HS late in the season after having loss to the team (10-6) earlier in the year.
Players enjoyed an amazing Senior Night celebration against the Westfield HS which resulted in the girl’s ice hockey team’s strongest win to date (12-1). Parents of senior players were especially grateful for the extra effort our coaches put into making Senior Nite a success even though it could not be held at Princeton University’s Hobey Baker rink.
Individual accomplishments included Grace Rebak being voted to receive the Harry Rulon Miller Sportsmanship Award, Freshman CeCe Gibb was voted to the All WIHLMA all-star team with a season high of 20 pts. Grace Rebak, Erin Kiesewetter and Tessa Solvibile were all selected to make the WIHLMA All-Academic team and all maintained GPA’s over 4.0 while also being excellent student athletes.
Swimming Boys/Girls
Head Coach: Carly Misiewicz
Assistant Coaches: Patrick Remboski & Shawn Fitzpatrick
The Girls swim team had a very successful season this year with a record of 13-1. Coming off a 'Virtual' season in 2020-2021 where the girls went 12-0, it was great to build upon their previous successes. This season, there was the Mercer County Tournament and there was also the NJSIAA State Tournament as well. The girls were extremely successful in Mercer County this year, remaining undefeated. The girls also worked extremely hard and were able to win the the event by a huge margin over The Pennington School. This was the first time since 2016 that the PHS girls swim team won the Mercer County Tournament.
The girls’ team qualified 4th in the NJSIAA North II Section B and ultimately fell to Summit High School in the Sectional Semifinals. They hope to be back next year and come out victorious! Many girls also individually qualified for the NJSIAA Meet of Champions : Senior Tracey Liu in the 100 Backstroke, Junior Beatrice Cai in the 200 IM, 100 Free, and 100 Fly, Sophomore Courtney Weber in the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke, Sophomore Kyleigh Tangen in the 50 free, 100 free, and 200 free, and Freshman Sabine Ristad in the 500 Free. In addition to the individual qualifiers, the Girls 200 medley, 200 free and 400 free relays qualified as well. There were also 2 broken school records - Courtney Weber in the 100 Breaststroke and the team of: Kyleigh Tangen, Tracey Liu, Beatrice Cai, and Annie Zhao set a new school record in the 200 Freestyle Relay.
The Boys swim team also had a tremendous amount of success this season as well, finishing with a record of 15-1. The boys went undefeated in Mercer County and ultimately fell to Chatham High School in the NJSIAA Group B State Championships. The boys team also won the Mercer County Tournament, which was the first time they had won since 2014. The PHS boys swim team clenched the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group B Sectionals, by taking down West Windsor Plainsboro North High School by an impressive margin, with a final score of 105-65.
The boy’s team was ranked #1 in the Central Jersey Group B Section. They defeated West Windsor Plainsboro North High School to win the Central Jersey Group B Sectional Title. The team then went on to defeat Tenafly by a score of 87-83 in the NJSIAA Group B State Semi-Finals. Unfortunately, the boys fell to Chatham High School in the NJSIAA Group B State Finals but many life-time bests were accomplished at this final meet of the season. Many boys qualified individually for the NJSIAA Meet of Champions : Senior Alex Shaw in the 50 Free and 100 Free, Junior Daniel Baytin in the 50 free, 100 free and 100 breaststroke, Junior Julian Velazquez in the 200 Free, Freshman David Xu in the 200 Individual Medley and Freshman Daniel Guo in the 200 Free. In addition to the individual qualifiers, the Boys 200 Medley, 200 Freestyle, and 400 Freestyle relays all qualified as well.
Winter Track Boys/Girls
Head Coach: Ben Samara
Assistant Coaches: James Smirk, John Torrey, & Jenifer Smolyn
The Princeton boys and girls track teams had a stellar season, highlighted by five athletes qualifying for the NJSIAA Meet of Champions (MoC). Kendall Williamson reached the MoC in the 55m dash and 200m dash. Zach Della Rocca qualified in the 200m dash. Ada Metaxas (TJ), Sawyer Quallen (TJ) and Peyton Reynolds (PV) also qualified in the field events. Reynolds was also the NJSIAA Sectional Champion in the girls' pole vault.
On the distance side, Andrew Kenny (mile) and Addison Motto (800) led the way for the boys, qualifying for both Easterns and Nationals. Junior Robin Roth led the way for the girls, competing at Easterns in the (2 mile).
Wrestling
Head Coach: Jess Monzo
Assistant Coach: Ron Dolenti
The PHS Wrestling team had an exceptional season this year. Jess Monzo recently completed his third season with the PHS Tigers. During that time, the team improved from 9-19 (2019-2020) and not being able to field a full squad, to 6-5 (during the 2020-2021 covid year, wear the team just competed in a CVC schedule), to this past season 19-5, 11-2 in their conference (CVC ); and 6-0 winning their division (Colonial Division). This past season the PHS wrestling team placed 2nd in the Mustang Invitational behind host team Clifton, and 4th in the Mercer County Tournament, while placing 9 wrestlers in the top 6. Princeton qualified for the Central Jersey Group 4 Team State Tournament this season, losing to Brick Memorial HS in the first round, This was the first time the squad qualified in the sectionals since 2018. Princeton High School placed 4th in District 17, behind Saint John Vianney, Hunterdon Central, and Hillsborough. The team advanced 4 wrestlers to the region tournament, which ties the greatest number of wrestlers advancing for the PHS Tigers in the last 20 years. During these last 3 seasons PHS has had a female wrestler advance to the state tournament and win a state title in each season.