Since the summer before his freshman year at La Salle Academy, a mainstay for DJ Principe has been the Run4Kerri road race in South Kingstown.
On Sunday morning, he claimed his first individual title on the 20th anniversary of the popular four-miler.
After trailing for most of the race, Principe took control with a little less than a mile remaining to win with a time of 19 minutes, 40 seconds. Finishing second was early-race leader and former champion Will Sanders in 19:53. Rounding out the top five were Westerly’s Andrew McCann (third, 19:58), recent Hendricken grad Andrew Frezza (fourth, 20:49) and Prout girls’ track coach Ross MacAndrew (fifth, 21:01). Former Westerly standout Matt Walker was eighth overall among the 447 finishers with a time of 21:32.
In the women’s race, Maegan Krifchin took the crown. Krifchin, who won the Vermont City Marathon in late May, was timed in 22:10, good for 12th overall. She was comfortably ahead of runner-up Rachel Schilkowsky of Providence, who clocked 22:28. Westerly’s Shara Delene Bousquet was third and 25th overall at 24:35.
Pilgrim coach and frequent participant Mike Daniels was 16th and the first master with a time of 22:30.
Ocean State Running will add to this story.
