Some Final Thoughts On The State Meet



D.J. Principe 

Even though he's still got one more race left on his home turf, it was great to see Principe win his final cross-country state meet, his third straight. The La Salle senior clocked a winning time and new course record of 14:56, nearly a minute ahead of runner-up Mars Bishop of Barrington. What impresses me most about Principe is not necessarily how fast he runs, which is always impressive, but how committed he is to his team. It's the way he's been ever since he was a ninth-grader. I remember the first interview I had with a young Principe at the Run4Kerri road race, just a few weeks before he began his high school career at La Salle. Even then, as a 14-year-old kid, he was already talking about how he wanted to help his team. At the awards ceremony after the State Meet, it was clear that the Stanford commit was happier about his team joining him at the podium to receive their winning trophy than receiving his own accolades 15 minutes earlier.