State Meet Preview: Boys' Middle, Long Distance Events


It's no secret that if La Salle Academy wants to earn its fourth straight team title this week, it's going to have to do a considerable amount of its damage in the distance events. The Rams don't quite have the same firepower that it had last year, but still has potential to rack up some points in events ranging from the 1,000m to the 3K. But it won't be easy. It's a mixed bag in all the races with several athletes capable of  scoring some key points. Once again, the Rams will be relying on four-minute miler DJ Principe, one of the nation's top distance runners. Principe is entered in all three races and could quite possibly win them all. The 3K would appear to be a shoo-in for the Stanford commit. Principe has only run the meet's longest event just once this winter with a "relaxed" 8:35.37 at the RITCA Invitational on Dec. 17. That time is a considerable 25 seconds ahead of the No. 2 seed, Jeffrey Venter of Bishop Hendrciken. Look for Principe to take the pace out hard at the beginning, build a big lead and coast the last third of the race to save some energy for his next two races. The 1,500m should be a much-closer affair. Principe, who nearly broke four minutes for the full mile last month at the New Balance Games, will have to contend with the fresh legs of Barrington senior Mars Bishop, who has opted not to run the 600m this year, an event he won as a sophomore and was second in 2016. Bishop has done 4:01 and will more than likely clock a time in the mid to high 3:50 range on Saturday. Will that be enough to beat Principe, who will already have a race (3K) or two (4x800m) in the bag? The field features seven runners that have cracked 4:10 this winter - La Salle's Joseph dos Reis (4:03.55), Cumberland's Ben Drezek (4:07.33), Toll Gate's Nikolas Cehelsky (4:09.05), the Hawks' Dargin and La Salle's Max DiMuccio (4:09.95). Bishop, Principe and North Providence's Nathan Coogan are your top three seeds in the 1,000m and appear to be the three that have the best possibility to break the tape at the end. Principe did clock a state record of 2:27 at the Dartmouth Relays last month, but that was his lone race of the day. He's still capable of a low 2:30 effort with a few races behind him. Bishop and Coogan  have both gone under 2:35 with Bishop recently winning the Last-Chance Qualifier with a PR of 2:32.14 and Coogan clocking 2:33.85. The Cougars' Coogan will have to dig deep in this one. He'll be coming into the race with limited rest after competing in the 600m, an event that, like last year, could be the most exciting of the meet. Coogan is the top seed after running a solo effort of 1:22.78 in the unseeded section of the Class Meet.  But the NP star will need to match, and more than likely exceed, that performance to win this weekend. Defending champion Harry Antone (1:23.67) is the No. 2 seed and has been running strong all season long. There's also North Kingstown's Sam Toolin (1:24.30), East Greenwich's Cebastian Gentil (1:24.87) and Toll Gate's Nikolas Reygades (1:25.09) among other possible contenders and top finishers. Watch out for Toolin, who has been relatively quiet for him this season. The Skipper sophomore, one of the country's best ninth-graders last year, experienced some health issues that slowed him down during cross country and prevented him from reaching the level he attained in 2016 as a frosh phenom during the indoor campaign. But he's still running some very good times and appears to be putting all his eggs in one basket with hopes of winning his first state crown. This is the only event that Toolin will be competing in this weekend, except for a possible leg in the 4x800m at the start of the meet. He's certainly has the mindset to pull out the 'W'. Speaking of the 4x800m, Hendricken (8:12.89), East Greenwich (8:13.70) and North Kingstown (8:13.92) are your top three seeds. But keep an eye on La Salle, too. The Rams have a seed time of 8:20.46 and will be motivated to place high, possibly win, to get those key points needed to win a team title.