IHSA State Championships
DFDC'S DREAM SEASON ENDS WITH FIRST STATE TROPHY SINCE 1977! MOSKOVITZ FINISHES 10TH TO EARN ALL-STATE HONORS.
It had been 44 years since a team from Deerfield walked across the awards stage at Detweiller Park. After three straight trophies between 1975 and 1977, the 2021 Warriors finally brought another one home.
Deerfield had all seniors in their varsity seven, but none of them had ever run in a State Championship meet before. However, last spring, this group set a goal of being there in November with a shot to win it all. And as November rolled around, winning it all was a real possibility. There were three teams believed to be the serious contenders for the title: Fenwick, Morton, and Deerfield, but it was hard to pick a favorite out of the three. Deerfield had lost to both teams early in the season but had gotten hot since.
Nerves were plentiful at the start line of the famed Detweiller Park course. In front of thousands of fans, the 28 teams and 40 individuals had only one 15-minute race to prove supremacy.
As per usual, Deerfield was patient at the start. They packed up with Lucas Moskovitz and Cole Bernstein together in the 30s and Ryan Bernstein, Carter Levinson, Evan Morris, David Fisher, and Eric Lakemaker all around 100th. At the first mile mark, Deerfield was way back in 13th place in the team scoring, but in the second mile they made moves. Moskovitz and Cole Bernstein moved up from the 30s to the top 15. Ryan Bernstein, who was still ramping up his training due to an early-season injury, moved all the way up from 97th to 46th, and Levinson and Morris moved up from around 100th to around 75th. These moves brought Deerfield from 13th place up to 3rd place at the two mile mark, behind only Fenwick and Kaneland who both got out to blazing fast starts and were fading.
Of course, the runners were completely unaware of the team scores as the race was unfolding, but they made one final push over the last mile. Moskovitz ripped a 5:04 last mile to finish in 10th place in 15:10., earning him All-State honors. Ryan Bernstein passed another 11 runners in the final mile to finish in 35th, and Cole Bernstein held tough to limit the damage after hitting a major wall. He finished 46th. Levinson and Morris each passed another ten runners to finish in 63rd and 66th to round out the scoring. And David Fisher and Eric Lakemaker finished in 87th and 113th, the top #6 and #7 runners in the whole race. It was clear Deerfield had moved up, but would it be enough?
In incredible exhaustion and through dense crowds, the Deerfield runners found each other in the finish area to acknowledge a job well done, but they had no idea how the teams scores had shaken out. Several tense minutes later, unofficial results were released. 1. Fenwick, 2. Deerfield, 3. Morton.
Initially, the news was met with devastation. The hopes and dreams of winning a State Championship were now over. However, as the reality set in, the Deerfield runners began to realize the magnitude of their accomplishment. 44 years-worth of Deerfield runners had not been where they stood. Not even close. In those 44 years, the highest finish Deerfield mustered up was eighth place. This was second place. This was a podium finish, a trophy winning performance. The awards stand was calling for Deerfield for the first time since 1977.
Each varsity runner was called up to the stage by name to receive a second place team medal, and then they were handed the second place trophy and looked out into the crowd that included 30 of their lower-level teammates and dozens of alumni who traveled from all over to witness this historic event.
This caps a season for the ages. For decades, DFDC runners have learned about the legendary Deerfield teams of the 1970s. And going forward, future DFDC runners will learn about the legendary team of 2021 too.
