Sophomore Jeff DiChiara goes the distance for the men's track team

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift."

Words spoken by Steve Prefontaine, perhaps the most talented American runner ever. Words that hang above the bed of Jeff DiChiara, sophomore cross-country and track athlete, inspiring him and motivating him to achieve.

DiChiara runs the 10k for the Tigers, a grueling test of endurance and will that demands the best from its participants, and leaves them in pain for days afterwards. A sub-par effort can quickly lead to a miserable race, and DiChiara has thus centered his life on his work ethic and discipline.

A resident of New Jersey, DiChiara has lived his entire life in the same house in Lincroft, a small town west of Princeton. Growing up with two older brothers and a father who were cross-country runners, he began his own career out of a desire to emulate them while still in the fourth grade. All of the DiChiara sons, including his younger brother, still run to this day.

"Yeah, it was kind of a family thing," DiChiara said. "Plus, let's just say I was short, and running was the only thing I could be competitive in. A four-foot tall basketball player doesn't really work."

Continuing to run throughout most of high school, DiChiara only became truly serious about the sport during his junior year, when his team at the Christian Brothers Academy was ranked in the top 10 in the nation. He spent the summer training even harder, and during his senior year his team finished second in the nation, with DiChiara as part of a four-man senior group that dominated the competition.

"That camaraderie [my senior year] is really what I like most about running," DiChiara said. "That's why I came here."

"Deech has a great work ethic, he definitely makes it fun," sophomore teammate Jon Kieliszak said. "He always has those comments everyone else is afraid to say, and he's a great guy to train with because he always makes it enjoyable."

Even with the support of his new team, however, the transition from high school to collegiate running came with difficulty to DiChiara. Since he was used to running the 5k during the cross country season and the two mile during the track seasons, being asked to specialize in the 10k came as a challenge. Though DiChiara would eventually prove to be talented in the longer races, acclimating himself to the increased work and distance of college running took time.

"I'm one of the slower speed guys on the team," DiChiara said. "You can ask [sophomore Emily] Kroshus about that. But Coach Brady's a really good coach, and [senior Paul] Morrison and [senior] Wes [Stockard] have really helped me out with the transition."

"Coming in freshman year, [Jeff] sort of went through the same ups and downs as all freshman do," senior cross-country captain Stockard said. "But he's really stepped up the training and the effort and it's really paid off, as seen by Penn Relays. To run 30:46 as a sophomore is an unbelievable time. He's got a great future as a 10k runner."

A psychology major, DiChiara intends to go to graduate school someday and follow his father into the profession of law. For now, though, he is content to concentrate on his schoolwork and his training, confident that he is always giving his best.

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"Jeff is a really talented runner," sophomore Emily McDonough said. "He's always been ahead of his age group, even when I knew of him in high school."

As he comes to realize that potential here at Princeton, one can't help but think that his lead will only grow.