First To The Finish Invite 2024
DEERFIELD VARSITY PLACES 14TH AT FIRST TO THE FINISH, 8TH IN THE OPEN RACE WITH THREE IN THE TOP 11
The weather was oppressive at the famed Detweiller Park in Peoria, but in cross country it’s all about place, and every runner had to endure the same unforgiving conditions. The first of several major meets at Detweiller Park was the First To The Finish Invitational, which hosted around 5,000 runners from across Illinois, including 14 of the top 30 teams in the state. Besides the grueling hot sun, the ground was particularly dry and dusty with runners kicking up thick dust clouds for the runners behind them to run through. So conditions were not fast, but the races were super competitive.
Jamie Chandler got pulled out fast with a first mile split of 4:47 and then spent the rest of the race trying to hang on. He battled hard but paid for the quick first mile in the second half of the race, finishing in 20th place in 15:22, earning himself a Top 50 medal. Further back, Ben Freedman and Nick Dowell ran together through the first two miles until Freedman broke away. Both runners had nice finishes of 16:17 and 16:19. Scott Harvey had a great race, nearly PR’ing in 16:26. Danny Kriegel was running a stellar race through 2.5 miles but then hit a wall, and Andrew Calderon came up behind him as Deerfield’s fifth runner. Calderon struggled to find good positioning in the first two miles, but found his gear in the third mile.
Deerfield finished in 14th of the 45 3A schools in the race. Overall it was a fine performance from the Warriors, though they were hoping for a bit more. Historically, Deerfield has progressed well from this performance to the post-season, and like previous years, there is quite a bit of ground to make up in the next seven weeks for Deerfield to return to the State Finals.
The biggest Deerfield highlights came in the open race. Downers Grove North is on another level compared to the rest of the state, and they nearly swept the first six spots in the open race, but Hugo Albrecht-Buehler spoiled that. He found himself up at the front of the 1,100-person race. He went back and forth with the purple singlets from Downers Grove North for all three miles and wound up in fourth place in a PR of 16:23. Amazingly, it didn’t take long for the next Warriors to pass by. Logan Luo also got out near the front and finished in ninth place in a PR of 16:37. Ethan Reich executed a similar race as last week where he started more conservatively, but nearly closed down on Luo in the final mile. He finished in a PR of 16:40 for 11th place. Albrecht-Buehler, Luo, and Reich earned Top 50 medals for their performances. Eli Duncan and Kevin Hou were fourth and fifth for the Warriors who finished an impressive 8th of the 68 teams in the Open race.
In addition to the great racing, the annual overnight Peoria trip was a great experience with a ton of goofiness fun team bonding.