9/21/19 – 47th Annual Canterbury Invitational
As has been the case for the last three years, the mercury topped 80 degrees today for the 47th running of the Canterbury Invitational. The combination of Canterbury School’s hilly course and the high temperatures made for a challenging day in terms of racing conditions, but it was, as always, fun for Deerfield’s harriers to get a big meet feel at this early stage of the season. Only the varsity sevens raced at Canterbury, and both the girls and boys teams finished 5th overall.
The Division I girls race was the first of the day, and two runners immediately broke free from the starting pack to set the early pace. One was the eventual top finisher from the Winsor school, and the other was Deerfield’s own Maddie Priebe. Ali Thomas and Jane Mallach took the first mile out quickly together, too, settling into the chase pack as the runners disappeared into the woods section of the race course. Racing through a nasty head cold, Priebe toughed out a difficult race over challenging terrain to hold on to second place. Thomas & Mallach held their positions with Ali unleashing a vicious kick over the last half mile to break away from her teammate and pass a few competitors before the finish. Tri-captain Erin Howe was Deerfield’s fourth finisher, taking 38th overall thanks to a gutsy performance, and super-sophs Jean Jin and Aerin Lo rounded out the Deerfield varsity on the day.
The boys race followed an hour later, and the temperatures had only increased when they toed the line at 1:30 p.m. Trey Souder took his coaches’ instructions—“be aggressive!”—to heart, rocketing across the first quarter mile of the course in second place before settling into a great opening position. Junior teammates Charlie Lewis and Thomas Lyons weren’t far behind, pacing their ninth grade comrade Hudson McGuinness through a speedy first mile. When the racers emerged, red-faced and drenched in sweat, from the woods, the order had flipped with McGuinness leading the way in 13th place with a half-mile to go and Lewis, Lyons, and Souder chasing. McGuinness found some extra reserves of speed and guts to close quickly, capturing 11th overall, followed by his three teammates in 16th, 19th, and 25th overall. Quinn Hampson ran a smart race, building speed over the second half of the race, to complete Deerfield’s scoring five for the day in 37th place, and co-captains Jake Meier and Chris Thagard worked hard to lead their teammates through a daunting day, crossing the line in 44th and 48th place.
With a number of runners sidelined or limited by a brutal head cold that struck campus earlier in the week, Deerfield is hoping to get the full squad back to health this week for some rigorous training. The Westminster Invitational is next on the schedule, which provides all runners a chance to get their first competitive 5K experience of the season, followed by a series of dual meets beginning with St. Paul’s School on the first Saturday in October. Go Big Green!