On a cold, drizzly day that saw wisps of cloud range across the slopes of the still-colorful Pocumtuck Ridge, Deerfield hosted Andover’s runners for a scintillating competition around the new course. The course itself held up well to the elements, and the Deerfield harriers managed to post very fast times on their way to defeating the Blue Gorillas in the varsity race (25-33). Individual performances of note included Robbie Hua’s magnificent romp to a new personal best (17:48), Carson Bynum’s gritty run to defeat the Andover number 2, Trey Souder’s glorious return to sub-18 form (17:57), Chase Cherewatti’s lifetime best (18:48), Chas Arnold’s continued push towards 19 flat, Finn Broder’s continued march towards faster and faster times, and Isaiah Ruffin’s excellent 19:53 effort, which brings the team total of sub-20 minute 5ks to fourteen. The junior varsity squad struggled against the depth of the Big Blue, but they held their own and competed with pride becoming of Deerfield running (41-18). The Deerfield runners will continue to prepare for the New England championship this week and will look forward to hosting neighbors to the north, the Hoggers from Northfield Mount Hermon, this coming Saturday.