Principe ushers in New Year with encouraging mile

By Mary Albl for DyeStat 

The last race of 2016 for David Principe Jr. is likely one he is going to remember for quite some time. 

On Saturday at the Boston University Indoor Mini Meet, the La Salle Academy  (R.I.) senior ran the mile in 4 minutes, 4.47 seconds, breaking the Rhode Island state indoor record and producing the fastest prep time in the country. 

Quite a statement to end the year. VIDEO OF FINISH

"I haven't done any speed workouts or anything yet, so I kind of just wanted to see where my cross country strength was getting me, hoping to get around 4:10 or under," Principe said. 

Principe was able to hang with the pacer for the first 800 meters and continued to cruise from there. Principe, who shaved off seven seconds from last year's indoor mile time, said the 4:04 didn't surprise him too much.

"I didn't think it was really out of the question," he said. "I was feeling really well coming back from cross country. I knew strength-wise it wouldn't be an issue. It was just more what kind of leg speed I had."

The Stanford-bound distance runner finished the cross country season battling sickness at Nike Cross Nationals, but still managed to finish with All-America status by placing 21st.

Since then, Principe has clocked a US#1 time in the 3,000 meters (8:35.37) at the RITCA Invitational, 4:04.47 in the mile and has plans to compete in the 1,000 at the Dartmouth Relays this weekend. He said the ending to the cross country schedule wasn't what he preferred, but it's serving as some motivation for the indoor and outdoor track seasons. 

"(I'm) not necessarily thinking I want to come out and start running really hard races at the beginning of the year, (but) I definitely feel there was a lot left at the end of cross country season," Principe said. 

Besides Dartmouth, Principe's schedule will be highlighted with the 3,000 at the Yale Classic in late January and the Grand Prix mile in Boston in February. 

"I'm just trying to stay relatively relaxed in indoor," he said. "I'm just trying to have fun and keep the team culture going."

It's been a pretty fun start to the season for Principe, as talk of a possible sub-four minute mile is very realistic. 

"It's a pretty humbling conversation to be in," Principe said. "But for me, I don't want to get too caught up in all the time goals and everything. I just want to keep running my races and hitting my splits and see where it takes me."