The tough part about doing the Performer of the Week is often times there is more than one deserving candidate and making the right decision never seems right. That's why we decided to go with two this week.
Last week we chose La Salle Academy's DJ Principe after his record-breaking win at the Bowdoin X-C Classic in N.Y. Even though we don't usually like to pick the same person for two consecutive weeks, his performance at the Great American X-C Festival in N.C., on Saturday was hard to ignore. In an exciting, down-to-the-wire finish, Principe placed second overall to Tennessee's Brody Hasty in the featured Race of Champions Both runners broke the course record and ran the No. 1 and No. 2 times in the country this year with Hasty winning with a 14:32.2 clocking and Principe just .20 behind with a PR of 14:32.40.
The Cumberland girls also had a performance we couldn't ignore. The Lady Clippers won their first-ever team title at the Maine Festival of Champions on Saturday. Since participating in the meet at its inception in 2002, the Clippers have sent their share of quality squads to Belfast. With their 30-point win over runner-up Greely, the Clippers were finally able to come back home with the team trophy. Four of their runners broke 20 minutes for the 5K course, led by freshman Adah Anderson in 19:48.72, currently the fastest time in the state by a ninth-grader by nearly two minutes!
Honorable Mention: La Salle's Grace Connolly, based on her state-leading time of 18:08.90 at the Great American X-C Festival. Her strong effort placed her 11th overall in the Race of Champions.
The tough part about doing the Performer of the Week is often times there is more than one deserving candidate and making the right decision never seems right. That's why we decided to go with two this week.
Last week we chose La Salle Academy's DJ Principe after his record-breaking win at the Bowdoin X-C Classic in N.Y. Even though we don't usually like to pick the same person for two consecutive weeks, his performance at the Great American X-C Festival in N.C., on Saturday was hard to ignore. In an exciting, down-to-the-wire finish, Principe placed second overall to Tennessee's Brody Hasty in the featured Race of Champions Both runners broke the course record and ran the No. 1 and No. 2 times in the country this year with Hasty winning with a 14:32.2 clocking and Principe just .20 behind with a PR of 14:32.40.