CSL Championships
Full Results:
Varsity - Individual | Team
Junior Varsity - Individual | Team
Sophomore - Individual | Team
Freshmen - Individual | Team
DEERFIELD WINS CSL NORTH CHAMPIONSHIP MEET! SWEEPS ALL FOUR LEVELS! FIVE RUNNERS NAMED ALL-CONFERENCE!
It was an absolutely historic day for the DFDC on Saturday! As hosts of the Central Suburban League championship meet, Deerfield showed their very best on their home course in front of a home crowd. This will be a day that the athletes and program will never forget.
Coming into this meet, Deerfield was a huge underdog. In the last four years, Deerfield had faced Highland Park at 18 different meets and finished below them in the results every time. But when the gun went off on Saturday, it was different. Immediately, Deerfield jumped out in front of Highland Park like they wanted to give the huge upset a chance. Highland Park’s top two runners were in their usual place up front, but Deerfield’s top five runners were all ahead of Highland Park’s #3. Deerfield coaches, teammates, and home crowd were in shock and eagerly waiting to see if Deerfield could hold their position. Not only did Deerfield hold their position, but they moved up further! Ultimately, this proved to be a historic performance for Deerfield as they put four runners in the top seven of the six-team CSL North competition, with their fifth and six runners right there at 11th and 16th. It was an absolutely unexpected outcome. And further, the final results weren’t even close. Deerfield dominated the CSL North with 32 points to Highland Park’s 64 and Vernon Hills 73. This was the first time Deerfield had won the meet in eleven years.
Deerfield earned five of the 14 All-Conference spots, which hasn’t happened since that last win in 2007. Senior Bradley Brodsky ran an all-time personal best of 15:20 to get third place and his second All-Conference distinction. Sophomore Josh Puyear ran 15:44 for fifth place, junior Ben Kraemer ran 16:04 for sixth place, and freshman Cole Bernstein, who wasn’t even in the original Varsity lineup until a replacement was needed, was seventh place in 16:18. Bernstein is only the second Deerfield freshman to earn All-Conference in the last 40 years. Only 2006 grad Dan Bailey has done that before. Finally, senior Jonathan Wallk finished in 11th place in 16:23 to earn All-Conference as well.
Despite their dominating win in at the Conference Meet, Deerfield did not win the Conference Championship. The Conference Championship is determined by the best overall record after two quad meets and the Conference Meet. Deerfield’s 8-1-1 record was still second to Highland Park’s 9-1 record. Due to a loss to Highland Park in the first quad meet and a split with Vernon Hills at the two quads (the loss was by one point), Deerfield finished a half game behind Highland Park.
All that thrill was just at the varsity level. But at this meet, Deerfield dominated on every level.
The Junior Varsity squad won by so much, they nearly scored a perfect score. This race was never a competition as the Deerfield pack had separation out front almost immediately. Senior Declan Black ran a huge personal best time of 16:35 to win the CSL North JV individual championship. Black was followed to the line by senior Brett Needelman (2nd, 16:48), junior Mac Cooley (3rd, 17:08), junior Elai Spector (4th 17:09), and junior Jason Dahlberg (6th, 17:17). Junior Joe Ariano was sixth for the Warriors solidifying six Deerfield runners in the top eight. The Junior Varsity race proved that in a battle of depth, no CSL North team even comes close to Deerfield.
The Deerfield sophomores also annihilated the CSL North in their race. AJ Osborn (1st, 16:53) came away with the individual title with teammate Ben Zamler (2nd, 16:53) finishing only a few tenths behind. Joe Healy (7th, 17:26) was the third Warrior sophomore. Ethan Friedman had a huge breakout race to run 17:37 for 10th overall. And then Jonah Kaplan (11th, 17:39) rounded out the scoring. Zack Greco finished in 17:55 for 14th place, ensuring that Deerfield collected six of the 14 ribbons and had six sophomores under 18 minutes, eight if you count the two sophomores pulled up to Varsity.
The shorthanded freshmen knew they had a talented Glenbrook North team to beat. At the quad second quad meet, Glenbrook North put seven runners between the Deerfield’s third and fourth runners. However, everybody held their ground while Ethan Blacher (6th, 11:59) and Jonah Satyr (9th, 12:05) broke up that Glenbrook North pack they had lost to last time. At the top, the gunners got it done. Alex Luo came out with the individual title in 11:13, just edging out teammate Ryan Bernstein (2nd, 11:13). Lucas Moskovitz held off Glenbrook North’s top runners to finish third in 11:31. Evan Morris (13th, 12:33) and Ben Flaxman (14th, 12:36) secured the final two ribbon spots to secure half of the 14 ribbons for Deerfield. TC Foufas (16th, 12:41), Robert Getty (17th 12:44), and Noam Dor (19th, 13:04) made sure Deerfield walked away dominant up front and in depth with eight runners in the top 19, even with one top freshman in the Varsity race and another out with injury.
In all, 60 of the 69 Warrior set new personal best times on Saturday. They won the meet at all four levels, took five of the 14 All-Conference spots, and won 19 of the 42 ribbons. Total dominance. The course was perfect, and the Deerfield home crowd was loud. It made for one of the best days in Deerfield Cross Country history.
