By BOB LEDDY (TAFWA)
R.I. Track & Field Foundation
5 Dec. – – La Salle junior David “DJ” Principe on Saturday finished 17th out of 196 competitors in the boys’ portion of the Nike Cross Country Nationals, held in a steady rain on the Glendoveer Golf Course in midtown Portland, Ore.
Principe, this year’s Rhode Island and New England champ, clocked 15:28 on a muddy 3.1-mile route. Teammate Matt Bouthillette placed 49th in 15:40. The two Ram runners were entered individually in the Nike team event on the strength of finishing among the top five runners at last weekend’s Nike Northeast Regionals in New York State.
The race champ was No. 5-ranked Casey Clinger, of American Fork, Utah, in 15:03. Top-ranked Team Temecula, of Great Oak, Calif. took the team title with 114 points.
Principe employed his customary mental toughness in negotiating the Glendoveer route, and leading the nation’s best for the first 400 yards of the race.
“I’m happy,’’ said Principe, who entered the Nike ranked 14th in the United States by DyeStat. “My main goal was to crack the top 21. I went out hard with the leaders. I made the decision to get out fast.’’ Principe went through the first mile in 4:58.
“That second mile was the hardest,’’ he said. “It’s on the back side of the course; not many spectators. You had to be mentally tough, because your mind can wander so you have to stay focused. I was with the 12th [place] runner, and tried to move up. The rain was something of an advantage,’’ he said. “We’ve run in those kind of conditions before, and we expected it after last year here [where it also rained].’’
“I thought DJ did an excellent job of getting out and being able to move about,’’ said Ram coach Ken Skelly. “Matt did a great job. He stayed engaged and did what he had to do. I’m very happy These kids make us look good.’’
Rego leads R.I. girls
The La Salle girls (running as Rhode Island entrants) earned a team position on a second-place finish last weekend at the Northeast Regional meet. The Rams came in 18th of 22 teams in final standings on Saturday. The team’s top finisher was senior Eliza Rego. She placed 81st out of 197 runners with a time of 18:31. Rego went through the first mile in 5:15.
“We’re a little disappointed,’’ Ram coach Kelly Martin said. “We were up there the first mile and a half, but after that they fell back. Maybe we let the race get away from us.’’
The nation’s No. 1 girls’ team this season – Fayetteville-Manlius of upstate New York – successfully defended its 2014 title, tallying 55 points. Manlius has won eight of the last nine Nike championships. The individual winner on Saturday was top-ranked Katie Rainsberger, of the Air Academy High School in Colorado Springs, CO. in 16:56.
R.I. GIRLS’ RESULTS
Team
18, La Salle 361.
Individual finishers
81, Eliza Rego 18:31; 89, Karina Tavares 18:39; 114, Grace Connolly 18:59; 132, Emily Kane 19:13; 162, Alyson Walsh 19:33; 168, Audrey O’Neill 19:40; 172, Elise Papazian 19:45. Dist. – 3.1.
R.I. BOYS’ RESULTS
Individual finishers
17, DJ Principe 15:28; 49, Matt Bouthillette 15:40. Dist. – 3.1.