RI HS Miler Principe Almost Cracks 4:00

NEW YORK (21-Jan) — Ajee’ Wilson continued to show strong early-season
form, clocking the second-fastest indoor 600m ever by an American woman
at the 22nd annual New Balance Games at the Armory Track & Field
Center in Upper Manhattan.

Wilson, the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships 800m silver medalist,
rolled through the first 200m alone in 27.26, and ran unchallenged over
the final two laps.  She broke the tape in 1:25.23, a mark which put
her #6 on the all-time world list.

“I just wanted to use it as a time trial,” a composed Wilson told
reporters just a few minutes after the race.  “Training has been going
really well.  We just wanted to see where I was.”

Wilson’s 2016 campaign also had a very strong start, winning the USA
indoor title before winning her silver medal at the world meet.  She
went on to finish second at the USA Olympic Trials, making the Olympic
team as expected, but did not advance to the final.  She later learned
that she had an iron deficiency.

“I’m not really sure how that go out,” Wilson told a reporter, looking surprised.  She continued: “It is what it is.”

In the women’s invitational mile, Canada’s Kate Van Buskirk ran a solid
4:30.14 off of a slow first half (2:18) to get the win.  Van Buskirk,
the 2014 Commonwealth Games 1500m bronze medalist who struggled the
last two seasons with injury and illness, made a powerful move with 300
meters to go, leaving rivals Charlene Lipsey and Sarah McDonald behind.

“We were kind of off pace, and my coach and I talked about waiting for
three or four hundred (meters) to go,” Van Buskirk explained.  “So,
when you made the move it had to be decisive.”

Lipsey, an 800-meter specialist, ran a personal best 4:31.35 in second
place, while McDonald, an Englishwoman, clocked 4:32.06, also a
career-best time.

While a spirited battle between Drew Hunter and Julian Oakley at the
front of the men’s invitational mile played out, high schooler D.J.
Principe of La Salle Academy in Providence, R.I., was running his own
race, trying to become the third USA prep athlete to break four minutes
indoors.  Principe, who will attend Stanford next fall, ran an opening
quarter of 59.3 seconds, slowed in the second quarter to 61.3 seconds,
but got back on pace in the critical third quarter (60.2).  He knew
four minutes was still possible, and keyed off of Hunter and Oakley in
the final lap and kept pushing.

“I’ve never been in a field like that; it was awesome,” Principe told
Race Results Weekly.  “I knew I was a little over.  I didn’t want to
look at the clock specifically, but I knew I had to just give
everything I had.”

Rounding the final bend, after Hunter had beaten Oakley, 3:58.92 to
3:59.04, Principe made it close, finishing in 4:00.97.  That made him
the third-fastest USA high schooler indoors of all time.

“It’s an unbelievable opportunity to be in that type of race, and I
just wanted to take advantage of it,” Principe said after throwing up
in a trash receptacle adjacent to the track.

Hunter, who also broke four minutes as a high schooler on the Armory’s
oval, was also satisfied with his race.  He wasn’t quite sure where his
winter training would put him today.

“It tells me I’m in really good shape,” Hunter told reporters.  “I’m
just not sharp now. So, I was really pleased with it.  I did a pretty
hard workout on Monday, and I ran my last three quarters under 60
seconds.  Pretty challenging.”

In the high school invitational miles for both boys and girls, the top
finishers were guaranteed a starting spot at the NYRR Millrose Games on
February 11 in the same discipline.  In the girls mile, Caroline Timm
of Our Lady Of Lourdes ran away from the field to win in 4:56.25, just
off of her personal best.

“My goal was to go out fast because I can usually get stuck in the
pack, so I didn’t want that to happen this time,” Timm told Race
Results Weekly.  She added: “I was able to keep the lead and that’s all
I really wanted.”