Deerfield Girls’ and Boys’ Cross Country teams traveled today through a leaf peeper’s paradise on their way to Concord, NH to race their NEPSTA Division I rival St. Paul’s School. The previously undefeated St. Paul’s girls were ready for the challenge, and led by their superstar front runner, took the race out in a fast 5:40 for the first mile. The girls tore through the first half of the course, stringing out the field through the brightly colored wooded paths around campus, and passing a curiously placed totem pole before returning back toward the finish for the second half of the race. The Big Green were not deterred as they strategically and confidently front-ended the field and outpaced the Pelicans across the 5km course, stuffing four girls into the top five places. Victoria Patterson finished 2nd overall in a time of 19:03, followed by Noelle Abeyta (19:31), Erin Hudson (20:20), Sarah Jane O’Connor (21:32), Esme Benjamin 8th (21:58), Jane Mallach 11th (22:20), Nora Markey 12th (22:34), Sami Dulam 13th (22:45), Ely Burke 14th (23:16), Erin Howe 15th (23:22), Sofi Sintes 16th (23:27), Ali Thomas 20th (24:19), Gemma Bishop 21st (24:19), Acy Cai 34th (25:58), Jasmine Ramos 38th (27:20), Nafi Sail 41st (28:35), Jerilyn Zheng 42nd (29:06), and Sophia Genender 45th (31:55). At the end of the day, the Deerfield girls took home a well-earned victory over a solid St. Paul’s squad, outscoring the Big Red 22-33. The girls travel to Connecticut next week to take on the other Pelicans, Loomis Chaffee, as well as arch rival Choate Rosemary Hall. Follow the girls as they march through their fall schedule on the road to the championship meet in November.