The 25 Greatest Athletes in Princeton History

Princeton has had many great student athletes, and the top 25 were interesting, if not compelling, since there were few listed prior to 1950. I would submit that Bill Bonthron ’34 should have been near the top of the list, since he was the world record holder in the 1,500 meters outdoors and the mile indoors! He defeated all three 1936 Olympic 1,500 meter medalists in 1934, but went to work in NYC after graduation and didn’t qualify to run in the ’36 Olympics. 

During the decade of the 1930s track was more popular than any sport in the U.S. except baseball, college football, and possibly boxing. Bonthron’s University indoor mile record stood until first Ross O’Dell ’66 and then I (4:11.6) broke his record. For my senior thesis, “100 Years of Distance Running in America,” I interviewed Bonthron and wrote about his classic 1934-35 duels with Kansan Glenn Cunningham and New Zealand’s Jack Lovelock, in the National Championships in Milwaukee, at the Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden, in Europe, and at the famous Princeton Invitational, which drew crowds of more than 30,000 to Palmer Stadium!

Thank for the list of Princeton’s top athletes. I would like to add to the record the historic firsts achieved by rowers Carol Brown ’75 and Caroline Lind ‘06. Thanks to Title IX, Carol was in the founding class of women’s rowing at Princeton at the outset of coeducation. Her bronze medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games was the first time women were allowed to compete in Olympic rowing. Caroline was an inheritor of Carol’s legacy. In 2008, she won gold in the women’s eight, becoming Princeton’s first female Olympic gold medalist in the summer games. In 2012, she won gold again in London, becoming Princeton’s first female double gold Olympic medalist. Both women were groundbreakers “in the nation’s service” and continue to inspire the current generation of rowers at Princeton.

25 of the greatest PU athletes.

14 men, 11 women.

Men competing for about 125 years.

Women for about 50 years.

Hmm?  

I was surprised, even shocked, that your January 2025 edition did not include my classmate George Sella ’50 among Princeton’s 25 Greatest Athletes. 

George starred at wingback in the single-wing offense and at cornerback on defense of our 1947, 1948, and 1949 teams. This was prior to “free substitution” being introduced, but even if later on, he would have starred playing both ways. He was a spectacular ball carrier, pass catcher, blocker, and tackler and, in my opinion, was a more talented all­around football player than Dick Kazmaier. I take nothing away from Kaz, but he played on offense only and was a member of a superior team his senior year — third in the nation if I recall correctly. 

Further, George at 5-foot-10 held the great Yale basketball scorer, 6-foot-3 Tony Lavelli, to one field goal and three foul shots in Dillon Gym. Coach “Cappy” Cappon had devised a box and one defensive scheme and George, catlike, smothered Lavelli, almost completely denying him the ball. 

Incidentally, George was rated New Jersey’s top high school athlete of the year in 1946 out of Cliffside Park High School over the great multi-sport star Bucky Hatchett, out of Verona High School and later Rutgers. 

I note that almost all of your greatest 25 athletes went on to the Olympics or played as professionals. Not George. After Princeton he was drafted by the Chicago Bears but opted to earn his MBA at Harvard and went on to become CEO of American Cyanamid.

George Sella was a very special athlete and individual.

While myriad debates rage — about inclusions, omissions, the notion of a university celebrating its athletes, and even the folly of eyeball-and-click-attracting rankings themselves — I hope we can all agree that the cover art for the issue is absolutely brilliant in both conception and execution. Three cheers for the creator, Sean Rubin ’09!

Add to Bradley’s resume that he was selected for and played on the USA’s gold-medal winning men’s basketball team in the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games.

What about Moe Berg, Class 1923? Tigers’ baseball captain his senior year, language wizard, future major leaguer, and World War II spy for the OSS. He turned down the Medal of Freedom, now the Presidential Medal of Freedom but created by President Truman as the highest honor given to civilians during WWII. After Berg’s death in 1972 his sister Ethel accepted the medal and donated it to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y. Two biographies were written about Berg in 1974 and 1994, and a Hollywood movie, starring Paul Rudd, was made in 2018. The Baseball Hall of Fame mounted an exhibit on Berg the same year. Finally, two of Berg’s baseball cards are said to be on display at the CIA Museum in Langley, Va. If you’re remembering the greatest Princeton athletes ever, you can’t forget Moe Berg.

Track and field is the universal sport. I agree with those who have asked why Bill Bonthron ’34 was overlooked. Perhaps, as admitted in the article, it was due to recency bias. Not only should Bill be on that list, he should be at the top of the list as the number one athlete in the history of Princeton. Like Bradley, he was a Sullivan Award winner. Unlike Bradley, he was national champion at both the NCAA and open levels. He broke the world’s listed record in the mile and held the world record at the 1,500 meters for two years. He was better in his sport than Bradley was in his, plain and simple. What he did not have was a professional career, like Bradley’s, as track was an “amateur” sport at that time.

Craig Masback ’77 was also mentioned by other letter writers. How can an NCAA gold and silver medalist be overlooked? Following Princeton, Craig ran in world competitions at the elite level, including finishing second in the Spartakiad Games and third in the ultra-prestigious glamor event of the track circuit, the Dubai Golden Mile, when Sebastian Coe set the world record and Steve Scott set the American record. He most certainly would have been a medal contender in the 1,500 at the 1980 Olympics had the U.S. not boycotted those games.

Finally, did the committee ever consider Paul Cowie ’46? Known as the “fastest man in football,” Paul was Intercollegiate 100- and 200-meter champion for the track team. His times, set in the cinder track era, would still be fast today. All of these accomplishments were made after being held as a prisoner of war by Germany during World War II.

Let’s go back and do a Princeton-quality job putting together a top 25 list.

While I don’t disagree with any of the selections, one person who deserves consideration is Bill Bonthron ’34. At a time when the 1,500-meter run was regarded as one of the premier track and field events, Bonthron held the world record for two years. In his junior year, he was the IC4A champion in both the 800- and 1,500-meter runs. In 1934 he received the Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the U.S.

Buoyed by Bonthron’s acclaim, Princeton hosted the inaugural invitational mile run at Palmer Stadium in 1934. Before a crowd of 18,000 people, Bonthron faced three famous rivals: Glenn Cunningham of Kansas University, Gene Venzke of Penn, and Jack Lovelock of New Zealand. Bonthron broke the world record for the mile, but so did Lovelock, who won the race.

The first Princeton Invitational was such a spectacular success, it became a staple on Saturday of Reunions weekend, with 40,000 spectators attending the following year.

At the invitation of track coach Pete Morgan, Mr. Bonthron returned to the Princeton campus to offer inspiring remarks at track team banquets in the 1960s.

Not having Will Venable ’05 in the list is pretty dumb. Two sport athlete, Major League Baseball player, first team All-Ivy in basketball, and also a league champ in high school track, Will very well could be the number one person on this list. Regardless of how you define athlete, not having him on the list was a total miss.

What an amazing surprise to be on the PAW top 25 athlete list. Not so sure I will feature in the additional rankings! However I did put a lot of time and effort into sport from age 12 to 35 without any sponsorship or sports scholarships.This included training twice a day during the first seven years of my professional career in asset management. I have recently taken up rowing again in the masters events with undiminished love for the sport.

Bill Campbell ’45 for golf and swimming: He played in 19 Masters Tournaments, was U.S. Amateur champion, and twice ECAC champion, as well as president of the USGA, captain of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, and a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

The 25 Best Athletes? How about something in line with the University’s mission? The Best University Presidents? The 25 most important historical contributors? Our legacy to English fiction? The scientific contributions the faculty has made to our knowledge?

This “celebration” of athletes is an affront to our institutional purpose. It condemns us to comparison with other colleges and universities whose academic values are reduced to 30 second halftime assertions on television. We are bigger, better, and more valuable than that.

Omitting Henry Bolger Milligan ’81 from this list is a travesty. I can’t imagine many (if any) of those recognized earned 10 varsity letters (four wrestling, three football, three baseball) during their four years at Princeton. He was awarded the William Winston Roper Trophy in 1981, along multi-sport star Mark Lockenmeyer. He graduated with a BSE at Princeton and went on to get his MBA at NYU.

Henry just didn’t participate in three sports, he excelled at all of them. As a defensive back in football, he tied the Princeton record for interceptions. In wrestling he qualified for the National Championships both his junior and senior year and achieved All-American status as a senior. He was also a standout third baseman and pitcher on the baseball team.

Post-graduation Henry took up boxing and was National Amateur Heavyweight Champion in 1983 while defeating future Olympic gold-medalist Henry Tillman in pursuit of the title. He very well could have won his own Olympic medal had he not had the misfortune of running into an up and coming powerhouse named Mike Tyson during the trials. He was featured in several national magazine articles including People and Sports Illustrated. In his spare time he appeared in a movie with Robert De Niro and Jessica Lange (Night and the City) as well as multiple commercials. Henry Milligan is not one of Princeton’s 25 greatest athletes, he’s one of our top five!

I agree that Bill Bonthron ’34 should have been on the list. When I ran track at Princeton, he was a legend. However, I would also recommend that Dick Edmunds ’61 be recognized. He dominated the 440 in the early ’60s. He anchored a mile relay team that shocked the track world by winning at the Florida Relays against some of the great track schools in the South. Dick made the finals in the Olympic Trials and finished sixth. He was selected as an alternate for the mile relay at the Rome Olympics.

Carl Van Duyne ’68 should be considered. Captain of the Princeton sailing team, he won the U.S. Intercollegiate Single-Handed Championship in 1966. He won silver in the 1967 and 1971 Pan Am Games sailing the Finn, a high performance, physically demanding single-handed dinghy. Competing in the Finn at the 1968 Olympics, he was leading a race when his sail touched a flag on the top of a mark. Although no one saw the incident (the race officer at the mark said he did not touch the mark), he withdrew from the race as at that time there was no alternative penalty. As a result the racing rules of sailing were changed in 1969 to allow a penalty turn rather than withdrawing from the race. Unfortunately Carl passed away at the age of 36. The trophy for the Middle Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association single-handed champion is named after Carl.

As deserving as these choices are, any list of the top 25 Princeton athletes is incomplete without Augie Wolf ’83, who still holds the school record in the shot put and held the school discus record until 2022. An eight-time Heps champ, Augie dominated the Ivy League like no other thrower before or since, including winning the shot and discus outdoors in ’81, ’82, and ’83. Augie was national champ, indoor and outdoor, in 1984 and went on to finish fourth at the 1984 Olympics.

I had great fun reading Mark Bernstein’s story about “Top Tigers,” the greatest athletes in the history of Princeton University. There will be much debate about who should be in or out, but to me there is no doubt that Bill Bradley ’65 belongs on top. I saw him play in all three of his varsity seasons, often against the finest players in the nation. He was always the most dominant figure on the court. In his time, Bradley received every accolade imaginable, including one that is memorialized by a banner hanging in Jadwin Gymnasium: “Bradley ’65 — Sullivan Award Winner 1965.” Though not as widely acclaimed as it was some decades ago when Bradley received the honor, the Sullivan Award was then given to the “the amateur athlete who by performance, example and good influence did the most to advance the cause of good sportsmanship during the year.” It is hard to think of a more deserving recipient than Bill Bradley.

Princeton also has one other Sullivan Award winner: track and field athlete Bill Bonthron ’34. In his senior year, Bonthron set the world record — the world record! — in the iconic 1,500-meter distance. It seems obvious to me that Bonthron belongs on a list of Princeton’s top 25 athletic luminaries.

Princeton football versus Rutgers, 1965. There was no need for Charlie Gogolak to kick a sixth field goal late in the game, but Palmer Stadium was rumbling with the chant of “Go-Go-Gogolak,” and the cheers were crushing when he was sent on to the field for that last score. I’d put Gogolak on your list just for that one unforgettable moment.

Fun list, both for reacquainting me with some of the greats and informing me of other Tigers whose achievements I just wasn’t aware of.

Nice to see other commentators mentioning Geoff Petrie and Bill Bonthron. How about also Robert Garrett 1897, who bagged gold, silver, and bronze medals in track and field in the two first modern Olympics?

Mollie Marcoux ’91 being on the committee explains her omission — humble and a great two-sport athlete (best ever in hockey, soccer).

I was a chemistry grad student at Princeton 1962-67 (Ph.D. *67) and got to see Bradley play for three years, definitely numero uno. I was also glad to see Cosmo Iacavazzi on the list because we saw him play on the great teams football teams of that era.

However, no mention of squash players from the ’60s who were top-notch, at least in that era. I only played squash once, with my lab-mate with a borrowed racquet, and he killed me, but I have great respect for the game (and played handball instead on the squash courts).

Princeton had great teams and players. I remember one, Stephen Vehslage ’61, who also played pro and was written up in Sports Illustrated as being a great player but had the habit of passing out suddenly during games and having to stay on the floor for a few minutes to regain consciousness, totally confounding his opponents.

Editor’s note: Read about Vehslage, “A Knockout of a Champion,” in the Sports Illustrated archives online.

I will second those who make arguments for Henry Milligan, Geoff Petrie, Craig Robinson, and Bob Tufts and also think that George Sella and Andrei Iosivas are worthy of the list.

That said, you really whiffed by not including Jen Babik ’95, who helped lead the softball team to three Ivy titles and the Women’s College World Series. She was a third-team All-American her senior year, a three-time first-team All-Ivy softball player, a varsity field hockey player, and a Rhodes scholar too. Perhaps you were saving her for the list of top-25 Princeton unicorns?

Pat Glory ’23: 2023 NCAA Division I wrestling champion, two-time NCAA finalist, four-time All-American.

Glory should be included on this list; what he accomplished is one of the hardest feats in all of Division I athletics.

No Pat Glory '23, NCAA wrestling champion and four-time All-American? How? Seems like a massive oversight, especially given the wrestling program being cut from 1994-96 and the only other NCAA champion in wrestling being in the early 1950s.

It was nice to see Cosmo Iacavazzi on the list of Princeton’s greatest athletes, along with Dick Kazmaier of course. But there was a Princeton football player was drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft that isn’t on the list. I wonder if someone can identify who this was.

No tennis players? How about Johnny Van Ryn 1928, who was a Wimbledon doubles champion; Marjorie Gengler ’73; Bill Colson ’72, who was national junior clay courts champ before entering Princeton and later becoming managing editor of Sports Illustrated; Jay Lapidus ’81, once ranked 34th in the world; Leif Shiras ’81. Still others.

Emil Deliere ’72? All-Ivy in football. Multiple All-East in wrestling. Two time All-America in wrestling.

All 25 on your list are worthy of inclusion but the list should be expanded to top 50 to properly recognize pre-World War II athletes who are notably missing, and notable athletes from other sports — our NCAA wrestling champ Pat Glory, one or more of the back-to-back Ivy and Henley lightweight crews, along with several fencers. Perhaps also the greatest teams, as singular athletes are tough to pick out of many team sports. Fascinating exercise.

I was disappointed by the list having so few Black athletes. Here are two notable omissions:

Armond Hill ’85 co-captained Princeton men’s basketball to the 1975 NIT title and was the 1975-76 Ivy League player of the year.

Craig Robinson ’83 was two time Ivy men’s basketball player of the year. His 20 points and 16 boards powered Princeton to a NCAA first round win in 1983 over Oklahoma State.