Before the men's track team's workout last Thursday, head coach Fred Samara told his team that this weekend's Dinski Memorial Evening Track Meet was only a warm-up. Evidently senior Justin Borntraeger missed that practice.
Bursting from the pack one lap into the eight lap mile race, Borntraeger chugged to victory in a world record time of three minutes and something.
"I was ordering a pineapple pizza tonight on e-Bay just after I woke up, and then I thought to myself, 'dude, this is bull[poopie],'" the German-speaking Canadian from Maine said.
And the rest, as they say, was history.
Borntraeger attributed his success to his "energy conservation" training method. While others sapped their crucial life energy by toiling endlessly on the track, Borntraeger wisely rested, storing massive reserves of bounce in his step, torque in his curve and cologne on his chest. Dedication was the word, as Borntraeger religiously held to his sleep routine, refusing to allow the temptations of training, classes or even exams get in his way.
Mike Brady, Princeton's middle-distance (MD) and long-distance (LD) coach, was dumbfounded.
"I used to say that if track were a poker game, Borntraeger would lose every time: He's one of a kind.
"I kept trying to race him in the 800, but I guess he wasn't an MD sort of guy. Now I realize that he was just storing up energy for the LD."
"It's fantastic," said senior Cheryl Kimber, a close friend of Borntraeger's who went on to say that she always believed that the LD was where Borntraeger truly shined.Borntraeger explained that the familiar form of Jadwin Gymnasium carried him to his impressive finish:
"It's round for a reason, remember that."
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