Principe leaves final mark on R.I. cross country

By Mary Albl for DyeStat

NORTH SCITUATE, R.I. – Already a prominent name in Rhode Island, La Salle Academy's David Principe Jr. added to his running legacy on Sunday afternoon.

At the Rhode Island Cross Country State Championships, Principe became the first runner to win three consecutive boys individual titles. The Stanford-bound senior covered the 5,000-meter course in an impressive time of 14 minutes, 56.09 seconds at Ponaganset High School.

Principe's time was almost a minute faster than runner-up Mars Bishop of Barrington (15:53.92) and more than 10 second better than his time from a year ago (15:09.57) setting a meet record.

While Principe secured the victory in historic fashion, La Salle had other reasons to celebrate on Sunday. Freshmen Max Dimuccio finished third (15:57.85) and sophomore teammate Joseph dosReis captured fifth (16:14.33) as the Rams scored 34 points to win the program's third straight team title.

Bishop Hendricken was second with 69 points.

In the girls' race, South Kingstown's Ellie Lawler defender her title, winning in 18:00.67. Randi Burr of Westerly was runner-up (18:12.01).

In the team battle, it was all La Salle once again. The Rams won their fourth straight state title with 63 points. Juniors Grace Connolly (18:40.04) and Emily Kane (18:42.37) finished 3-4 for La Salle, as four runners placed in the top 20.

St. Mary Academy-Bay View was second with 116 points.

Qualified runners will now move on to the New England Championships on Saturday, which will be held at Ponaganset High.