Cross Country: Captain Cabral leads the pack

This year, they have surpassed even their own expectations. The men took first at their opening Spiked Shoe Invitational meet in September. At the beginning of this month, Princeton’s younger squad took first in the Paul Short Invitational. And Cabral, now the team’s leader and captain, took first individually at the Wisconsin Adidas Invitational, helping his team come in third place.

None of this, of course, was pre-ordained. Cabral didn’t start his collegiate — or even his high school — career as a runner: He was a soccer player in high school.

“I was always one of the slower sprinters on my soccer team, so I started running in the spring of my freshman year to work on my speed for soccer the following fall,” Cabral said.

He soon realized his talent. As his sophomore year approached, Cabral began doing well in longer races. He decided to focus on his distance running. Eventually, running replaced soccer entirely.

Cabral did not wait long before his work paid off.

“My sophomore fall I ran cross country instead of playing soccer and won the Connecticut State Class LL [large schools] championship and got third in the Connecticut State Open Championship,” he said.

As one of the team’s top runners, Cabral said he believes every day is a learning experience.

“I’ve developed a very level-headed approach to training and racing,” he explained. “After every practice and race I try to evaluate what I’m doing wrong, what I’m doing right and how to do better next time. A few years ago I was a much more dependent runner.”

Though it is often viewed as an individual sport, cross country requires teamwork. Cabral pointed out the fact that even though he is the team’s captain, every runner regularly relies on his teammates.

“We each need to realize that at every moment, on and off the course, another member of the team is watching and learning from us,” Cabral said. “My role as captain is to make sure that each guy is doing his part for the team and for himself.”

As a junior, Cabral holds an unusual position as team captain. Leung believes his teammate has risen to the occasion.

“Donn’s done a phenomenal job as captain this year, which certainly isn’t an easy job,” Leung said. “It is a position that requires both attributes of leading by example as well as being the emotional anchor for the team. Donn juggles these two responsibilities exceptionally well. He wins the races but never lets it gets to his head.”

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Leung added that Cabral has helped him both as a teammate and as a friend.

“Personally, Donn has had a huge impact on my running experience at Princeton,” Leung said. “He’s the guy that I go to whenever I have any problems, whether it be running-related or not.”

Head coach Steve Dolan voiced similar sentiments.

“Donn leads by example,” Dolan noted. “He’s dedicated to his training, and that’s contagious among the group.”

Dolan said he believes the team ethic that Cabral helps foster is vital to the Tigers’ success.

“He runs great individually, but a lot of runners are performing well because of the team aspect,” Dolan explained. “It takes more than one guy to be successful as a team.”

Cabral’s recent breakthrough at the Wisconsin Adidas Invitational helped propel the Tigers to the No. 12 national ranking.

“It was exciting to think back to some of the disappointments of last year and realize just how far we had come as a team and how much I had improved individually,” Cabral said of the race.

But despite the team’s momentum, Cabral said he realizes that his work isn’t over.

“For the rest of the season, the biggest challenge our team will face is maintaining our health,” Cabral noted. “We have the talent, and we’ve put up performances that are good enough to win the Ivy League [and] the mid-Atlantic region and even to place in the top 15 nationally.”

The squad is about to enter the most challenging stretch of its season. But with Cabral’s leadership and his team’s support, the Tigers are confident.

“We all look up to and admire Donn for more than just being really, really fast,” Leung said. “Donn loves the team and needs the team as much as we need him.”