Niles West "Pat Savage" Invite
RESULTS: VARSITY | SOPHOMORE | FRESHMEN
DEERFIELD EARNS THRID PLACE TROPHY AT MUDDY NILES WEST "PAT SAVAGE" INVITE; KRAEMER, BERNSTEIN, AND PUYEAR MEDAL
It was hard enough to stay on your feet. Tricky spots of mud and standing water slowed down the competitors and even sent some slipping to the ground. And when the races have nearly 700 runners, it’s treacherous to say the least. But that’s cross country, and it’s all about getting to the finish line.
Last year, Deerfield won team trophies for finishing in the top three on both the freshmen and sophomore levels. This year, those runners ran varsity, and helped turn the lower-level success in to a varsity trophy. Junior Ben Kraemer, who had been on a tear in practice, had arguably his best race of the season given the conditions for sixth place in 16:04. Sophomore Cole Bernstein followed in 8th place in 16:07. And junior Josh Puyear finished in 18th in 16:28. Those three earned medals for finishing in the top 25. Junior Ben Zamler (34th, 16:52) and sophomore Eric Lakemaker (35th, 16:53) rounded out the scoring for the Warriors. Deerfield finished in third place behind champion Oswego East and runner-up New Trier.
The sophomore team was without their best five runners who got pulled up to varsity, but they still managed to pull off an impressive ninth place performance. Jonah Satyr led the charge with an 18:02 for 16th place. Carson Amstutz (43rd, 18:47) managed to set a 25-second personal best to break the 19-minute barrier despite the slow course conditions. And David Fisher (96th, 19:58) set a new 1-second personal best as the team’s fifth man. This was Fisher’s first time as a scorer in a cross country race—a position he earned through hard work and improvement.
The Freshmen team earned a dramatic fifth place finish. Deerfield had no runners near the front, but they were very deep through five runners as their 1 through 5 split was jut 34 seconds. Zach Garland (21st, 12:03) and TJ Mangurten (31st, 12:21) were the first Warriors into the chute, and then the three man pack of Avi Wolkenberg (33rd, 12:34), Adam Khan (36th, 12:37), and Lucas Goldenberg (37th, 12:37) quickly finished the scoring for the Warriors. Initial results were posted that showed Deerfield winning a tie-breaker over Evanston for third due to Owen Lacy’s (54th, 12:52) solid 6th man performance, both ahead of fifth place Glenbrook South by a single point. But a timing chip malfunction left the 12th place finisher out of those results. After the correction, the math had Glenbrook South and Evanston tied for third, one point ahead of Deerfield in fifth. This is a subtle reminder that every single point counts because it could make all the difference.
Next week, the Warriors have one final tune-up at Wheeling before the CSL Championships and the IHSA State Series begin.
