Principe Clocks 4:00.73 At Pre Classic!


He nearly did it again.

DJ Principe came less than a second from breaking four minutes in the mile on Saturday.The La Salle Academy senior finished 13th overall in the International Mile of the Prefontaine Classic with a new state and New England record of 4 minutes, 0.73 seconds.

Principe went through his 800m split at 1:59 and was 3:00 at 1,200m. The top 12 finishers in the race dipped under four minutes with Brazil's Thiago do Rosario Andre winning with a time of 3:51.99.

"He competed at the highest level possible and went out and did his best," said La Salle distance coach Bill Myers. "You can't ask for more than that."

It was Principe's second time under 4:01. Back in January, he set an RI and NE mark of 4:00.97 at the New Balance Games in New York.

Although he fell just a few strides of his intended goal, head coach Vin McGinn commented afterwards that Principe's performance on track & field's biggest stage ranks as one of the best. 

"It is absolutely amazing," he said. "I am someone who has followed La Salle's history and I think this is the single greatest accomplishment (for sports) in La Salle history. I don't think there is any equivalent."