It was a bittersweet afternoon for the La Salle Academy boys
at Saturday's Nike Cross Nationals (NXN) Northeast Regionals.
The defending champion Rams were looking to earn their second straight appearance to the Nationals in Oregon.
As it turned out, La Salle will be making the cross-country trek to NXN next weekend. But it will be minus five of its varsity runners.
D.J. Principe and teammate Matt Bouthillette each earned berths by finishing among the top five individuals. But the Rams, who also had a solid 14th place effort from Jack Salisbury, didn't quite get the overall performance it was hoping for on Saturday and placed sixth overall with 225 points. Dowington West of Pennsylvania won the title with 97 points. Finishing second was New Jersey's Christian Brothers Academy with 140.
"I thought DJ and Matt had a great race today and very proud of them to represent our school and our state in Oregon next weekend. What they did was an outstanding race, very methodical in how they approached it. And Jack Salisbury was right behind them and had an excellent race," said La Salle coach Ken Skelly. "As a team, it wasn't the day we were hoping for. But it was an excellent day to watch two individuals move on from one team. I don't know how many individuals from teams can boast that. I am very proud of those guys. I thought they had a great day. We are on to Oregon with those two next weekend. We'll see."
Principe, who was one of the pre-race favorites to win the individual title, led during the early stages of the race. He finished with a time of 15:52.30, less than seven seconds from individual champion and last year's runner-up, Blaise Ferro of CBA, who crossed the line at 15:45.90. New Jersey's Tim Bason of West Windsor Plainsboro was second in 15:51.0.
"It was kind of a weird race, similar thing to the New
England's," said Principe, the state and NE champion this fall. "I kind of had
10 meters on everyone going through the first half mile so I assumed I was kind
of pushing the pace. Going through the first mile in 5:11, I think, was kind of
too slow. It kind of came back to hurt us a little bit. We just left everyone
in the race a little too long. It was good to see me, Matt and Jack, and everyone,
compete in the last 1K. Matt and I had to make some big moves in the last 1K to
make sure we stayed with the pack and get in good position. All and all I was
happy with the later part of the race."
Bouthillette was the last person to break 16 minutes at Saturday's meet with his course best of 15:55.40. He knocked off more than a half dozen runners the last half of the race.
"The plan coming in was just to get out hard the first 400 (meters) and basically stay relaxed until the top of the hill," he said. "A lot of kids go with guns blazing that first 400 and fall off at the top of the hill. The plan was to go out kind of conservative, go through that first mile really good and when I get to the top of the hill basically just let it go. Once I got to the top, I really started letting it go. I think I was in about 13th at the top and when I came down I was in ninth."
Both runners are aiming for strong performances next weekend in Oregon. They also admit it won't be the same heading out west without the rest of their teammates. At last year NXN, the top-ranked Rams placed 18th overall.
"It's really bittersweet," Bouthillette said. "Individually it's awesome. Last year was not the best showing and we definitely had some unfinished business there."
"It's really tough," Principe added. "Obviously I am pleased to be going back and I'm happy Matt's going with me. But that's never the goal. This is a team sport. I run every day with these boys. Once I get there, I'll probably have a different mindset. But until then, I am obviously going to be disappointed that I am not going with everyone."