October 29th – Deerfield hosts Phillips Andover
The story of Sunday’s cross country meet between Deerfield Academy and Phillips Academy was the weather—a steady, soaking rain left standing water and slick conditions at every point of Deerfield’s low-lying course. The boys from Andover were game for a great race nonetheless, and, as always, they competed with fire and dignity. Word was that Andover’s top seven were among the league’s best, and they did not disappoint despite the maelstrom, soundly defeating Deerfield by a score of 19-38. The JV race was much closer, with Deerfield’s second seven narrowly defeating Andover’s by a one-point margin, 27-28.
Ricardo Gonzalez, battling illness and a bold charge from his teammate and captain Marco Marsans, led the way for Deerfield, finishing 4th overall. Marsans was two steps behind in 6th, followed immediately by his co-captain, Will McNamara. Deerfield’s top three have traded spots all season long and have battled through adversity—illness, injury, doubt—throughout it all. With the storm of the weekend behind them, they will look to build on the competitive support they have offered each other all season to finish well over the last two weeks. The next tier of Deerfield’s varsity saw Declan Cullinane return to his #4 form, finishing 10th overall, where he was joined by JJ Siritantikorn in 11th place. JJ made his return following a several week absence due to injury; it is great to have our warrior back for the last few weeks of the season. With JJ rounding out the scoring five, Charlie Lewis and Tom Dillon took 12th and `14th, respectively, to complete Deerfield’s varsity seven on this spongy day.
Jake Meier ’20 led the way for Deerfield’s victorious JV team, finishing first after each team’s top seven completed the course. Freshman teammates Thomas Lyons and Mat Panikar were close on his heels in 4th and 5th, followed closely by junior Ian Gordon in 7th place. Sunday also saw the return to competition for Chris Thagard ’20, who has been patiently rehabbing an injury. It was great to have him back to lead his team with toughness and dedication. A one-point victory relies on depth at every spot, so kudos to Thagard (11th) and his classmate Teddy McCarthy (10th) for edging Andover’s #6 JV runner and securing the win.
Deerfield will host one more meet before the New England XC Championships on November 11th. Next Saturday, November 4th, Northfield Mt. Hermon and St. Paul’s School will come to the Lower Levels to square off in a final tune-up before championship Saturday. Please note–This is a change from the original schedule. Racing begins at 3:00 p.m.