Deerfield at Vernon Hills
MUD-SOAKED COURSE CAN'T STOP DEERFIELD FROM MOVING TO 2-0 WITH VICTORY OVER VERNON HILLS
Rain was in the forecast all morning and afternoon, but that didn’t stop Deerfield from taking on Vernon Hills in their week two CSL North matchup. The course was ridden with mud and puddles making times slow, but cross country is about racing people, not clocks.
Deerfield entered the meet looking to improve to 2-0 in CSL North competition, and they firmly accomplished that. Directed to run with a very controlled start, Deerfield’s pack started behind a lead Vernon Hills runner, but the pack swallowed him up to take the first six finish spots for a 15-48 victory. Junior Evan Morris ran a very strong race finishing in ninth in 17:26, a time that is probably worth a PR on a dry course, and pushed back three scoring runners from Vernon Hills. Senior Brendan Beamer also fell just 15 seconds short of a PR despite the tough conditions with his 18th place finish in 18:11.
On the JV level, it was the Brent Meilman show. He took control of the entire race and was only challenged by teammate Drew Spiegel for the first half of the race, and then he cruised alone with a giant lead. He finished 49 seconds ahead of second place in 18:33. Spiegel, who ran a gutsy race sticking with Meilman in the beginning, finished in second in 19:22. Following those two were junior Carter Levinson and senior Sam Voigt who both had arguably their best races of the season as well. Fifteen Deerfield runners crossed the finish line before the first Vernon Hills runner for a perfect score of 15-50.
In the frosh/soph race, it was a trio of sophomores leading the charge. Lucas Goldenberg has turned winning races into a habit, winning this one in 11:25 over the two-mile distance. Brandon Barber followed in second place in 11:28. TJ Mangurten stepped it up in a big way and finished third in 11:31, definitely his best race of the season so far. Freshmen Jon Wool, Dylan Cohen, and Dane Brown finished fourth through sixth before the first Vernon Hills runner came in. Deerfield’s seventh runner was freshman Dawid Turos in 8th place, finalizing the team score of 15-49 in favor of Deerfield.
Deerfield proved many things in this meet. First and foremost, they proved they are a good team with great depth by scoring 15 points on every level. And secondly, they proved that they’re tough enough to perform in ugly conditions—a critical quality for cross country runners.
Next, the Warriors take on Maine West at home. Both teams sit at 2-0 in the CSL North.
