County Champs
Deerfield traveled to Ingleside, IL to compete in the Art Campbell Lake County Invite hosted by Grant High School. Bright sunshine greeted the runners at the Bulldog Athletic Complex, but temps were still manageable for this late August day. The runners were also met with a bit of an incline that features early and often on this course. Running Kettle Moraine prepared the Warriors for this challenge though times were due to be a bit slower than our home course.
The varsity team ran first though we were openly treating this as more of a workout than a race. With another Invite on Saturday, this meet provided a backdrop to practice pacing and running together. At the end of the year, the closer our top 5 (or 7 or 10 or 14) can stay together, the better we will be. That takes practice and meets are a perfect time to work on this skill. Olivia and Natalia led the way for the red and gray, finishing 15 seconds apart. Siona, Stella, and Azalea rounded out the top 5 showcasing the strength of the youth on this team. Siona and Azalea both moved up at least 10 places from the mile mark to the finish.
The open race was far and away the highlight of the day. This group spiked up and didn't hold back, running smart early and powerful late to come away as the COUNTY CHAMPS! The group positioned themselves near the front before the first charge up the hill, but smartly didn't charge out too aggressively. This strategy paid off as they established nice scoring positions as early as the first mile mark. Isabelle led the way finishing 5th overall out of 187 runners. She stayed strong throughout and showed she is putting past injury woes behind her. Deerfield had two more in the top 10 with Jessica and Maddie taking 7th and 8th respectively. Jessica pushed the pace early and gutted out a tough race with a nice finishing kick. Maddie showed patience and wisdom beyond her years; hanging back a little at the start, gauging the field, and then moving up in the second half of the race. It was quite an impressive debut at this race distance. Gwenyth rebounded nicely from our home opener, finishing 4th on our team and 12th overall. Likewise, Clara had a terrific turnaround from last week and solidified the win as our 5th runner. Freshmen Riley and Meimei were also racing this distance for the first time and proved they were more than capable.
Deerfield travels to Wisonsin for the Blackshirt Challenge in Waukesha on Saturday.
