Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
National Champion: Cabral Wins NCAA Steeplechase Championship
June 09, 2012 | Men's Track and Field
ESPN3 Steeplechase Footage (go to marker 52:40)
DES MOINES, Iowa (6/9/12) - Senior Donn Cabral pulled away from the field by a large margin to win the men's steeplechase at the 2012 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship on Saturday at Drake Stadium.
Cabral completed an undefeated season in the event and earned Princeton's third outdoor National Championship. He wins Princeton's first outdoor national championship since Tora Harris won the 2002 high jump, and is the first individual track national champion since 1934 when William Bonthron won the mile.
Cabral won the race with a time of 8:35.44 and was five seconds better than the second-place finisher. The runner-up in the event that past two years earned, Cabral earns his eighth All-America honor.
He stuck with his game plan and settled into second place at a comfortable speed through the first five laps. He took the lead on lap 6 and would hold that position through the finish line. Henry Lelei who dropped back to second on lap 6 would fall on the final barrier but by then Cabral already had a big lead on the rest of the competition and he finished the bell lap is 1:03.43.
The American collegiate record holder, Cabral has a PR of 8:19.41 in the steeplechase. He will compete in the U.S. Olympic trials at the end of the month, but has already run an Olympic "A" qualifying standard.