Lake Park "Harvey Braus" Invite
RESULTS: VARSITY | JUNIOR VARSITY | FROSH/SOPH
DEERFIELD FINISHES AMONG TOP TEAMS AT LAKE PARK "HARVEY BRAUS" INVITE
The Lake Park “Harvey Braus” Invite beefed up this year. Four top 25 ranked teams and 23 teams in total made this year’s meet the toughest yet. Deerfield finished among the top of the group in all three races and left with 45 new personal records.
The Varsity race got out fast, and Deerfield got trapped behind the masses, unable to move up easily due to the thin course. Deerfield had no runners in the top 30 after a half mile, but they slowly and surely they worked their way into position to take 6th place as a team. Junior Josh Puyear (11th, 15:28) moved his way up to 11th, just missing the awards ceremony for the top 10. Senior Ben Kraemer (18th, 15:41) and sophomore Cole Bernstein (21st, 15:46) followed soon after to give Deerfield a formidable top three, all in the top 25. But then the team score depended on where runners four and five would finish. Sophomore Ryan Bernstein (43rd, 16:18) ran a one second personal best for the fourth spot and sophomore Alex Luo (56th, 16:43) finished the scoring for the Warriors.
State championship contenders St. Charles East and Wheaton Warrenville South dominated this race with 28 and 48 points respectively. Then third place through sixth place was close, separated by only 17 points (Jones 132, Lane Tech 137, Wheaton North 142, Deerfield 149). Every points counts. 6th place ties Deerfield’s highest finish at this meet since 2012, despite the tougher competition.
Deerfield showed it’s depth among these top programs by finishing 5th in the JV race. Big personal bests by senior Joe Ariano (35th, 17:36), senior Micah Plofsky (48th, 17:49), and junior Asher Kriegel (53rd, 17:58) catapulted them to the front.
The frosh/soph team took an impressive 8th place behind 34 personal best times. Sophomore Eric Lakemaker (5th, 10:30) just barely missed the cut for the Varsity race (only eight runners allowed), so he earned a big 5th place medal on the frosh/soph level. A great run by Zach Garland (53rd, 11:36) was big for the team finish as well.
On Tuesday, the Warriors begin their CSL North slate as they head to Maine West to face Highland Park, Niles North, and Maine West. Highland Park has not lost a CSL North Quad meet since 2011, which is like beating 45 straight conference opponents. Propelled by their recent success, Deerfield possibly enters as the favorite for the first time in many years. But the races are run for a reason.
