Not surprisingly, despite not the finish he had anticipated, DJ Principe was very upbeat after his performance at Nike Cross Nationals. The La Salle Academy senior, one of the favorites in the field, placed 21st overall.
As he told MileSplit's Johanna Gretschel after his race, he wasn't feeling 100 percent when he toed the line late Saturday morning in Portland, Oregon.
"I have been sick the last few days. I got it pretty much after regionals,," said Principe, who won the NXN-Northeast Regionals on Nov. 26 by more than 30 seconds. "It was certainly not the best timing, but I was trying to stay positive, feeling better as the day goes by. I still thought I was going to be ready to go. I just wanted to go out there and put my best foot forward."
Principe could sense it might not be his day almost from the beginning of the 5K race.
"It was a tough one for sure," he admitted. "I was just trying to stay positive, keep rolling through the first mile. Right from the gun, I kind of knew I was going to be a little off today. I was still happy. I tried to hang in and right around, probably a mile and a half, coming right up to the starting line, whatever I had left kind of went away. I just tried to hang tough. I kind of knew there was still an All-American spot on the line. Just going up the last few hills I wanted to stay with it, try and finish strong."
The Stanford-bound runner did gut out an All-American placement among the nearly 200 finishers. After what has been a memorable final season on the dirt trails, Principe is now taking a well-deserved break before the indoor track season.
He's hoping to continue his success on the oval, including the mile, an event he clocked a big-time PR of 4:07 at the Nike Elite Camp this past summer.
"I was thrilled with how the year went. I got to look at it as a whole and not by (Saturday)," he said. "(I am) definitely looking forward to get on the track again. I really want to focus on the mile a little more this year. With how the summer ended, I was really thrilled with that last mile. I want to focus on that and try and get some good relays and see what we can do with a few new guys on the team."