La Salle Academy is the two-time defending New England champion and was dominant last week when it won its second straight Rhode Island state title over a strong Bishop Hendricken squad.
Without question, the Rams go into Saturday's 81st annual New England meet at Thetford Academy in Vt., as the favorite to pull off the three-peat. The 1-2-3 punch of DJ Principe, Matt Bouthillette and Jack Salisbury, who occupied those positions at the states, have a chance to do it again this weekend. With the emergence of No. 4 runner, Alex Campagna, a seventh-place finisher at the state meet, it will be a difficult task to dethrone the Rams.
But it shouldn't be a cakewalk for La Salle on a very-challenging terrain down at Thetford. Rhode Island has won the regional meet for the last three years with Hendricken earning the title in 2013. There's a good chance the crown will stay in R.I. with the Hawks as the Rams' biggest challenger. Other teams that should figure in the mix are Pinkerton Academy and Londonbury of New Hampshire, Maine's Scarborough and Connecticut's Staples and Danbury, which was a runner-up to La Salle in 2014.
After his impressive victory at the states, and based on what he has run throughout the season, the Rams' DJ Principe, who was sixth at the NE meet last year, should be listed as one of the favorites for individual glory. Two of his challenges could come from his own teammates - Bouthillette and Salisbury.
But perhaps his biggest threat is Eric van der Els of Brien McMahon in Connecticut, In their last two head-to-head meetings, van der Els has come out on top. On Oct. 10, the Brien McMahon runner finished tenth at the Manhattan Invitational with a time of 12:30.3 for the 2.5-mile course, just six seconds ahead of Principe, who was 18th overall. The two talented harriers also earned All-American status this past June by placing third and fifth, respectively, in the 5,000-meter run at the New Balance Nationals in North Carolina. Van der Els was timed in 14:41.05 and Principe crossed the line with a state record of 14:42.91.
There's also senior Cameron Daly of Inter-Lakes, who captured the New Hampshire Meet of Champions on Nov. 7 with a personal best of 15:25.90. Daly also captured the Manchester Invitational this season and was second at the Woods Trail Run at Thetford.last month. Other top runners listed in the field are Connecticut's Gabriel Altopp (Ridgefield) and Randy Neish (Glastonbury), who were second and third, respectively, at the State Open.
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Click on the link below to see our virtual meet of the top six teams and overall. Keep in mind, it does not include runners that have qualified individually and could displace some of the top finishers from the teams.
Also click on the below link to see how DJ and Eric match up based on their performances in track and cross country the last few years.
Virtual Meet (Top 6)