Princeton alumna Mariah Hart helped to lead the Lady Panthers’ girls basketball team to a fifth consecutive playoff appearance and a second-place finish in District 6-6A. Photo by Jerry Winfrey / C&S Media
By David Wolman
Whether it was on a football field, cross country course, volleyball court, basketball court, tennis court, golf course, or baseball or softball field, the Princeton Panthers provided plenty of memories during the 2024-25 school year in athletics.
The Princeton Herald is proud to introduce the first of a three-part series that recognizes the top moments, top female and male student-athletes, the top teams and top individual performances at Sachse.
The categories of the inaugural C&S Media high school sports awards and the dates that the award winners, as chosen by sports editor David Wolman, will appear in The Princeton Herald are as follows:
Part I (July 10)
Biggest story:
Breakthrough moment:
Newcomer of the Year:
Best Team:
Part II (July 17)
Best Game:
Best Finish:
Biggest Upset:
Multi-Sport Athlete of the Year:
Part III (July 24)
Coach of the Year:
Most Improved Athlete:
Best Female Athlete:
Best Male Athlete:
Here are the winners of the first four awards – biggest story, breakthrough moment, best team and newcomer of the year.
Biggest story: Panthers complete in first season in Class 6A
In a span of 12 years, from 2012 to 2024, Princeton has moved up three classifications, from 3A to 6A.
Princeton found itself competing against some of the largest high schools in Texas, including Allen, which has the highest enrollment of any high school in Texas with 6,947 students. And while the wins didn’t come as often as what the Panthers had wanted, some of which can be attributed to depth, Princeton didn’t back down to any challenge it faced during its first season in Class 6A this past school year.
The best success of any team was enjoyed by the girls’ basketball team. The Lady Panthers won 24 games, finished in second place in District 6-6A and made the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season. Incoming senior Gabriella Trejo placed in the top 10 at the 6-6A cross country meet. Alumna Terrayah McCoy and alum Kingston Williams were state qualifiers in track and field.
Breakthrough moment: Williams overcomes past disappointments in long jump, hurdles
“God puts you through challenges, so you are prepared when you need to be.”
Those were the words that Princeton alum Kingston Williams wrote on a post on his personal Instagram account.
That same post shows a video of Williams tripping over a hurdle in the 300-meter hurdles at the 2024 Region II-5A meet at the University of Texas at Arlington’s Maverick Stadium.
Williams quickly got up to his feet, but, by the time that he regrouped, he was well behind the field. At the same meet, he scratched on all three attempts in the long jump.
Fast-forward to this year, Williams exorcised those demons. Returning to the same stadium where he tripped over the hurdles, he qualified for the state meet in both events. He won the regional title in the 300-meter hurdles, finishing in a new-school record time of 37.24 seconds. In the long jump, he placed second with a mark of 23 feet-even. During the state meet, Williams placed fifth in the long jump and earned fifth place in the 300 hurdles.
Newcomer of the Year: Zoie Rainey, softball
Princeton fielded one of the youngest teams in District 6-6A.
The Lady Panthers had six freshmen receive playing time, including catcher Zoie Rainey and pitchers Fernanda Rodriguez-Fierro and Carlee Dutler.
Princeton’s youth showed at times. The Lady Panthers struggled to a 4-21-1 record and 0-16 record in District 6-6A.
Despite those struggles, Princeton head coach Brian Goulart is optimistic that the Lady Panthers came turn things around in the next couple of years. One player that he said who has stepped up to the challenge is Rainey. she was named to the all-6-6A team after she finished with a team-best .383 batting average with 23 hits, 13 runs scored, one home run, three triples, eight doubles and 19 RBIs.
Best team: Girls’ basketball
One year after playing in the regional final for the first time in program history, Princeton had the talent and experience to make a return trip. But getting back to that round of the playoffs required the Lady Panthers to outlast a tough field of teams that resides in District 6-6A.
Having to play the likes of Allen, McKinney, McKinney Boyd, Plano, Plano East, Plano West, Prosper and Prosper Rock Hill, Princeton wasn’t afraid of the competition. The Lady Panthers beat every district opponent at least once, including a sweep of the season series against Allen. In the first game between Princeton and Allen, the Lady Eagles were left stunned after the Lady Panthers rallied from a 14-point deficit to earn a 58-47 overtime win Dec. 12, 2024.
Princeton gave it all it had in its Class 6A Division II bi-district game against state-ranked Denton Braswell but came up just short in a 58-51 loss.
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