ALUM ON CAMPUS

James “Pito” Walton III '14 Named Captain of Princeton's Hockey Team

James “Pito” Walton III graduated from Far Hills Country Day School in 2014 and went to the Lawrenceville School for his high school years. There, he played on the varsity hockey team his first three years, lettered in lacrosse, and was the golf team captain.

During high school (2016 and 2017), Pito also represented the Atlantic District at the USA Development Camps.

When Pito was a high school senior, he decided to play outside of school for the North Jersey Avalanche, a nationally ranked hockey organization. That year, as a defenseman, he had 25 points in 47 games and was the team’s Newcomer of the Year. The team was Tier1 Elite and AYHL Champions and was a quarter-finalist at the USA Hockey Nationals.

Pito committed to Princeton in February 2018 and graduated from Lawrenceville that year.

After Lawrenceville, he played for the Coquitlam Express for one season in British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). He was named to the league All-Rookie team and was the team Defenseman of the Year. He had 36 points in 58 games.

He enrolled at Princeton in the fall of 2019 and has been a regular defenseman on the team. He has played in 56 games over two seasons; his sophomore year was canceled due to COVID-19.

He received Princeton Hockey’s Hobey Baker Trophy, awarded annually to that Princeton freshman hockey player who, among his classmates, in play, sportsmanship and influence have contributed most to the sport.

He has also been on the ECAC All-Academic all three years at Princeton. A politics major, he will graduate in May 2023.

Pito is the son of Jim and Betsy Walton and brother to Isabel “Bella” Walton, who graduated from Far Hills Country Day School in 2011 and Tulane in 2019 and is now an elementary school teacher in New York City.