CSL North Quad #2
BLAZING FAST TIMES AND IMPRESSIVE CONFERENCE WINS, MOSKOVITZ PULLS OFF STUNNING UPSET
It was the first day of fall, and the temperature certainly felt like it. The runners welcomed the cross country weather as four CSL North teams competed for conference points.
Highland Park had been having a good season and seemed to be the biggest threat to Deerfield’s quest for a third straight CSL North title. On Tuesday, the teams finally squared off against each other with Niles North and Maine East too.
With a race strategy focused on the positions of Highland Park’s runners and an emphasis on patience, Deerfield dominated their fierce rivals. The Deerfield runners packed up and ran with Highland Park’s packs for the first half of the race, and then unleashed in the second half. Lucas Moskovitz and Cole Bernstein moved up from Highland Park’s second runner, past Niles North’s and Maine East’s first runners, all the way to Highland Park’s first runner Nate Wehner, who was the heavy favorite to win this race. Moskovitz challenged Wehner on the last loop of Harms Woods. They flew down the stretch of the course parallel to Golf Road and made the turn towards the chute at the same time, but it was Moskovitz who edged Wehner by a few tenths of a second for the upset win in 15:16. Bernstein held on for third place in 15:32, and Eric Lakemaker had his best race of the year by far finishing in fourth place in 15:42, a new personal best. Carter Levinson also passed up Highland Park’s #2 and moved on to passing Niles North’s and Maine East’s #1. He finished in fifth place in 15:57. Then the pack of Evan Morris, Dylan Cohen, and David Fisher finished within a second of each other in eighth, ninth, and tenth with Highland Park’s #2 runner on their tails. Seven Deerfield runners finished in the top ten, ahead of all the other team’s #2 runners.
This was without a doubt the best team performance of the season for Deerfield. Instead of running individual races, they ran as a team, making group moves and latching on to each other.
The three conference wins lengthens Deerfield’s CSL North win streak to 36 consecutive wins. It gives Deerfield a 5-0 record at the conclusion of the Quad Meet portion of the season. The CSL North season will conclude at the CSL Championships on October 16.
As great of a meet as varsity had, the frosh/soph runners were even more dominant. In the frosh/soph race, the first seven runners into the chute were from Deerfield, producing a perfect 15-50 score against all three opponents. In fact, last week Deerfield frosh/soph won 15-50 against each opponent, so Deerfield frosh/soph achieved a perfect score against the entire conference. Not one team had a single runner penetrate Deerfield’s top seven.
Edwin Shi won his second race of the year in 11:18 followed by Ryan Jones, Eric Hogenkamp, Nathan Wolski, John Healy, Nick Dowell, and Zach Bolon. All seven runners set new personal records, including Dowell who improved by 57 seconds, broke the 12-minute barrier for the first time, and actually ran a new one-mile PR on his second mile of the two mile race.
After the races, the Deerfield camp was elated, celebrating achievements left and right. It was a nice reminder of how fun and rewarding success in sports can be and how the hard work that gets you there is all worth it. Overall, 32 Warriors set new personal bests. The conditions were great, and the course was fast, but mostly it’s due to the runners who have been putting the necessary time and effort to achieve big things in the sport.
Deerfield now gets some uninterrupted training time before their next meet on October 2 at the Pat Savage Invitational at Niles West.
