IHSA Sectionals
DEERFIELD DOMINATES SECTIONALS, READY FOR NEXT WEEK'S STATE CHAMPIONSHIP. BERNSTEIN MOSKOVITZ EARN ALL-SECTIONAL HONORS
The DFDC is state-bound! And the expectations are high after Deerfield annihilated one of the four IHSA Sectionals.
Woodstock North hosted the Sectional at the brutally difficult Emricson Park course. Emricson Park is very treacherous with hills and uneven ground. It takes a lot of heart and guts to conquer it, but Deerfield had just that.
Seven teams qualify from Sectionals to the State Championships, and Deerfield was not only favored to advance, but a favorite to win. However, Deerfield intentionally sat Ryan Bernstein on the sidelines to avoid any risk of re-injuring his foot on the difficult terrain. The team’s collective goal is to win a State Championship, not a Sectional Championship, and for that they’ll need 100% of Ryan at State. Sophomore Dylan Cohen answered the call to fill in for the Sectionals race and attacked this difficult course.
Per usual, Deerfield started the race with patience, and were thrusted to the back half of the field at the start. As the field began to settle, the Warriors found their spots behind specific Belvidere North and Grayslake Central runners and hung there for at least the first mile.
A pack of four runners was breaking away from the field, and Cole Bernstein stayed in a second pack of runners in fifth through tenth place. Lucas Moskovitz was not far behind, running in about twelfth place. Both runners moved up the entire race. Deerfield’s typical 3-4 duo of Carter Levinson and Eric Lakemaker quickly abandoned their Belvidere North target after the mile and began moving up through the thick of the pack. And what was key in the absence of Ryan Bernstein was that David Fisher was clinging onto Levinson and Lakemaker, only a few steps back. This trio moved through the hills and forest catching runners left and right until they had moved up from the middle of the 141-runner race into the top 20.
Cole Bernstein grinded with the second group as it began to shrink. The pace was becoming too grueling for each runner so they dropped off one by one, but Cole remained until there were only two runners left. The two runners picked off a straggler from the first group, and then Bernstein put distance on both of them and powered into the finish in an amazing fourth place, giving Deerfield a valuable low stick for the team scoring. Not too far behind, Moskovitz had moved his way through many of the stragglers who started faster than him and finished in eighth place. Both Bernstein and Moskovitz earned the honor of All-Sectional by finishing in the top ten.
Then, the next three Warriors came charging in the top 20. Fisher, who has historically been significantly behind Levinson and Lakemaker, was right there with them. In fact, he was ahead of Lakemaker. Levinson was in the team’s third position striding toe-for-toe with Sycamore’s top runner up the uphill finish and out leaned him at the end for 14th place. Lakemaker unleashed an lethal kick to move ahead of Fisher to claim 16th. And Fisher charged up with Notre Dame’s top runner and edged him out for 17th . Evan Morris and Dylan Cohen finished 38th and 39th, displacing multiple runners from every other team in the field.
This performance, with five runners in the top 17, earned Deerfield a dominating victory and the title of Sectional Champions. This is only the sixth Deerfield team in history to win a Sectional title.
But the job isn’t finished yet. The Warriors have a State Championship on their mind. Next week at Detweiller Park, they’ll get a chance to run for all the glory. Morton and Fenwick, two teams that have already defeated Deerfield this season, stand in their way. But Deerfield is running hot, and it’s all up for grabs.
