First To The Finish Invite
DEERFIELD ESTABLISHES ITSELF AS STATE TITLE CONTENDERS BY PLACING THIRD IN A FIELD OF 17 RANKED TEAMS
If there were such a thing as a State Meet preview, this was it. The First To The Finish Invitational was not only located at Detweiller Park, the annual site of the IHSA Stata Championships, but the 2A race featured 17 of the top 25 ranked teams in the state. Up until this point, teams have been compared against each other from afar, but on Saturday they went head to head.
Cole Bernstein led the way for the Warriors by getting out hot. Bernstein came through the first mile in 4:55 and was in the top ten of the field of 500+ runners. He paid for the fast start, but his mental toughness allowed him to limit the damage, fading only to 12th place at the finish in 15:40. Lucas Moskovitz started more conservatively in 5:05 and worked his way up to Bernstein, ultimately finishing side-by-side with him in 11th place in 15:40. Bernstein and Moskovitz were a formidable 1-2 punch, but most of the top teams also had a runner or two in the chute in front of them. So the final scores would depend on the next three runners.
Carter Levinson found himself way further back than he had hoped with a 5:15 opening mile, but he worked his way up nicely to 32nd place. A better start ahead of the traffic could get Levinson closer to Bernstein and Moskovitz. All three runners earned medals for finishing in the top 50.
But much sooner than anticipated, Dylan Cohen and Evan Morris reached the chute in 63rd and 75th place. Finishing fourth and fifth on the team was a career best for both runners.
The sentiment in the Deerfield camp immediately after finishing was that there was much room for improvement, but then they were delighted to find out that they finished in third place. In a meet with 55 teams, and most of the best teams in the state, this result shows that Deerfield can compete with the best. Morton won the team title with 150 points, followed by Belvidere North with 177, and then Deerfield with 193 followed by Riverside-Brookfield with 218. These margins can be overcome by November 6 when the State Meet arrives. A few additional contenders who were not at this meet, like Mahomet-Seymour and Fenwick, will be in the mix too.
By the time the Open race started, the temperatures had risen considerably into the mid 80s. Jonah Satyr led the charge for the Warriors, earning a top 50 medal for his 37th place finish. Despite the heat, there were three PRs set in this race by Ryan Jones, Edwin Shi, and John Healy.
Now that Deerfield has had a taste of Detweiller Park against the top 2A competition, the work begins to close the small gap on the top teams before the big day on November 6tH.
