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R.I. State Meet: Central Boys Get It Done!

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La Salle's DJ Principe was a triple winner on Saturday.

The past few years Central High has been one of the top contenders for a state championship. But luck hasn't necessarily been on the Knights' side, including last spring's outdoor meet where a dropped baton in the 4x100-meter relay squelched any hope for a team crown. 

On Saturday at Brown Stadium, everything worked out just fine for head coach Dan Okleasky and his Central High squad. Highlighted by victories in all the sprinting events (relay included) and a win in the high jump, the Knights earned their first state crown since 1995 with a 97-85 victory over defending champion Bishop Hendricken. La Salle, led by a triple-winning performance from DJ Principe, was third with 71 points.

The Knights' Donatien Djero was a double-winner, capturing the 400m (49.76) and 100m (10.75) dashes and also anchoring the school's first-place 4x100m relay squad, which was timed in 42.43, the second fastest time  ever at the State Meet.  He was also second in the 200m (21.98).

Central's Dametrius O'Connor led a 1-2-5 finish in the 200m with a winning time of 21.69. He was also third in the 100m (10.97) and ran legs on the first-place 4x100m and meet-closing 4x400m (3:24.66) squad.  

The Knights also earned a win from top-seed Gus Karweh in the high jump with a leap of 6 feet, 8 inches.
Principe capped off an outstanding four years at La Salle by collecting 30 points for the Rams. The Stanford-bound runner won the 1,500m with a time of 3:59.80. He also was first in the 3K with an 8:44.91 clocking and ran a personal best of 1:53.75 to win a loaded 800m race. Afterwards, Principe talked about his productive day, his career at La Salle and his plans for the Brooks PR meet in two weeks where he will make another attempt at a sub four-minute mile.
East Greenwich's foursome of Cebastian Gentil, Dante Prosseda, Quentin Viera and Colin Cianciolo established a meet record of 7:54.36 in the 4x800m relay. 

Boys Highlights

For additional video interviews, results and photos, click here.