By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
Varun Narayan and Nils Wildberg are putting what they learned a year ago to good use this season for the Princeton High School track and field team., The Little Tiger athletes have come into their own as jumpers this season after spending last year learning from their older teammates. Now, with that added experience under their belts, the duo are leading the way in the long jump and triple jump for Princeton., “We both started our freshman years,” said Narayan, a junior with one year more experience than the sophomore, Wildberg. “That year I did just the long jump and started triple jump in the last meet of the year. When we were freshmen and sophomores we learned from the older kids. They were committed and took it very seriously. My sophomore year and now in my junior year I have seen a lot of improvement.”, Both jumper recorded personal bests in the triple jump at last Saturday’s Mercer County Relays. Wildberg went 41-feet, 8-inches, while Narayan jumped 41-5.5 as they combined to win the relay event., “We did well,” Wildberg said. “Not so much in the long jump, but that is okay. We have some time before counties to improve in the long jump. We spent a lot of extra time practicing over spring break. I like to see improvement over a short period of time. Also, I just really love jumping.”, Both jumper are willing to put in as much time as it takes to reach the highest level possible., “They are so into it that I sometimes need to dial them back,” Princeton associate head coach Ben Samara said. “They go a little over the top sometimes. As a coach that is a good problem to have because you a trying to dial them back. But they want to do the work. The next piece for us is keeping them healthy. If they can stay healthy they can do some good things., “They both had personal bests in the triple jump at the county relays. In the long jump they didn’t do as well. But that came after the triple jump so I am not surprised by that. We’re hoping they do well in the county meet and at sectionals. We’re in a super tough section in Central Jersey Group 4. The goal is to get out in the long jump and they have a chance if they can get over 21-feet. That would be a fantastic accomplishment.”, Narayan has steadily progressed since he was a freshman and this year is no different. He’s been getting better and better with each meet., “Each year we see improvement as we watched and learned from the older juniors and seniors,” Narayan said. “My sophomore year I picked up a lot from them. This year we have some freshmen and we have tried to help them. They watch our jumps and what we do and how we train and I have seen that reflected in their jumps.”, In addition to their jumps, both Narayan and Wildberg also participate in the sprints. It’s something they see coming with the territory of being a veteran on the team., “You have to take on more responsibility,” Narayan said. “If you are going to one of the leaders of the team you need to do that. I am doing pretty well (with the sprints). I have seen a lot of improvement there. I ran each one once last year but I am doing it more this year. A lot of the training we do with sprints and jumps is very similar. This year my times have been significantly better.”, Wildberg came to the team originally as a sprinter. But has now developed into more of a jumper for the Little Tigers., “Originally I was only going to sprint,” Wildberg said. “But Coach Samara had me try jumps and I felt pretty good about it. We all try to help each other out. Varun is better than me so I look to him and imitate the positive things he does. It was the same with some with some the seniors last year. Also, the coaches we have helped me a lot., “I generally just want to improve overall. I would like to break 21-feet for long jump and 42-feet for triple jump. I think that is possible this year.”, Samara has little doubt the two jumpers will do whatever they need to do in order to improve., “They are a microcosm of the larger picture for our program,” Samara said. “We feel success breeds success. We have had a lot of successful jumpers over the years. We’ve had a couple county champs and people who have come in and risen the bar. And then guys like Varun and Nils come in and raise the level as well. Each year we raise the bar. That has always been the ultimate goal and we have tried to spread that attitude. You see that in the distance program and it filters down to the rest of the team.”, The Princeton boys finished seventh at the Mercer Relays, while the girls finished sixth. As the season goes on both teams will look to improve and do even bigger things at the championship meets., “Our team has been doing fairly well,” Narayan said. “We lost a couple key returning runners, but a lot of kids have stepped up and are taking it seriously. They see improvement in their times. A lot of the younger kids have improved and we have improved as a team., “I was happy with how we did at the county relays. We had worked hard over spring break. Nils and I came to the high school together and did some drills on our own. So we have seem some improvement.”
