La Salle's DJ Principe and Tennessee's Brody Hasty made history at Saturday's Great American
Remember Alan Webb, the great Virginia high school runner from South Lake, who broke Jim Ryun's long-standing mile record and later went on to set the American record, too.
How about last year's No. 1 distance runner, Drew Hunter, another Virginian, who signed a professional contract with adidas before he graduated from Loudoun Valley and established national HS indoor records in the mile and 3K
Those are just two of many gifted harriers that competed at the Great American -X-C Festival in Cary, North Carolina.
And DJ Principe has run faster than all of them.
In an historic race on Saturday morning, the La Salle Academy senior finished with a personal best time of 14 minutes, 32.4 seconds for the five-kilometer course. Surprisingly, Principe's effort in the Race of Champions' event didn't earn a win as he was edged at the line by Tennessee's Brody Hasty, who was timed in 14:32.2. Both times are No. 1 and No. 2 in the nation this year.
The talented duo dipped under the previous CR of 14:43.60 by Virginia's Sean McGorty in 2013.
And here's the race...
***
Principe's performance wasn't the only eye-opener by La Salle. Finishing 33rd overall was freshman Max DiMuccio with a time of 15:53.2. DiMuccio's time currently ranks No. 5 among all freshmen in the country. As a team, the Rams were fifth overall with 241 points. St. Xavier of Tennessee won with 111 points. Bishop Hendricken was 21st with 427 points. The Hawks' top finisher was Jordan Dagrin with a time of 16:11.0.
In the girls' ROC, La Salle senior Grace Connolly ran the state's fastest 5K this year, placing 11th overall with a time of 18:08.9. Junior teammate Alyson Walsh was 44th at 19:26.8. The Lady Rams were sixth among 22 schools with 238 points.
With all five of their scoring runners occupying the first 11 placements, Hendricken captured the JV title. The Hawks' defeated St. Xavier, 32-49. Sophomore Nick Braz was second overall in 16:51.5. Jack Hilton, a junior, was fourth at 17:04.
