Indoor or Outdoor? It doesn’t seem to matter.
Our former high school stars continue to impress us.
This past weekend’s Raleigh Relay in North Carolina, a season-opener for a number of collegiate athletes, had a number of alums populate the top positions, most with signifiant PR performances.
Continuing his momentum from his sixth-place finish in the mile at the NCAA Indoor T&F Championships a few weeks ago, former Classical standout and Virginia junior Conor Murphy won the 1,500-meter run with a best of 3 minutes, 39.75 seconds, a time that currently ranks No. 1 in the country. Murphy was just ahead of freshman teammate Gary Martin, who was second at 3:40.08. The qualifying standard for the U.S. Olympic Trials next year is 3:37.50. With his current success, it appears it’s only a matter of time that Murphy attains that standard.
Virginia sophomore Margot Appleton (Portsmouth Abbey) captured the women’s 1,500m with a huge PR and nation-leading 4:08.95. Like Murphy, Appleton is coming off a podium finish in the mile at he NCAAs where she was fourth overall. The race featured two other runners with ties to the Ocean State – Kaylie Armitage (La Salle) and Olive Allen (Portsmouth). Armitage, a sophomore at Furman, clocked an all-time best of 4:23.40. Allen, a senior at High Point, raced to a time of 4:26.07.
DJ Principe (La Salle) has certainly endured some success in his first year for Providence College. The fifth-year senior, who began his collegiate career at Stanford University, finished fifth in the 5,000m with an 11-second PR of 13:38.52, a time that is No.. 5 in the Division 1 rankings. Principe, a multiple all-stater and record-holder with the Rams, is coming off an indoor season where he broke four minutes for the mile for the first time in his career with a time of 3:58.62 at BU’s David Hemery Valentine Invitational, held on Feb. 10-11.
UMass Lowell’s Kenzie Doyle, another La Salle alum, was tenth overall in the Invitational 10K with an impressive 33:25.72 for the 6.2-mile distance. Doyle’s performance broke the school record by nearly 50 seconds! The onetime high school star is enjoying her most successful year for the RiverHawks, one that’s included an appearance at the NCAA Cross-Country Championships this past fall.
In the men’s 10K, Butler’s Jack McMahon (Hendricken) was 29th overall among nearly 100 entries with a PR of 29:18.67. Portsmouth’s Kaden Kluth, a freshman at American University, went sub 1:52 for the 800m, placing 41st in 1:51.69.
Virginia sophomore John Fay (Hendricken) broke the 60-meter mark in the hammer for the first time with a heave of 62.36m (204 feet, 7 inches), an effort that placed him sixth overall.
