Live race results found here.
For the first time in a decade, Deerfield’s Boys Track & Field team headed into the NEPSTA Championship as defending champions. Nevertheless, they entered as underdogs to a very strong Exeter team given a pair of late injuries that made the path to victory much narrower.
Deerfield competed well in the early portion of the meet, scoring points in the Long Jump, Discus, Shot Put and High Jump before track events began. Deerfield boasted individual wins from Chandler Dicks in the Long Jump and Chigozie Oge-Evans in both the Shot Put and Discus. Later, they would add an individual win in the 300 Meter Hurdles, where Brady Stahelski narrowly edged his teammate, Dicks, for the win. It would not be enough to defeat Exeter, but Deerfield scored 93 points on the day to take 2nd Place in a field of 14 teams.
Weather defined the meet. Heavy rains began in the middle of the Discus and lasted for the last 5 hours of competition. As a result, several performances were muted or interrupted, including Oge-Evans’ progression towards a school record in the Discus. His best throw of 161’ 6” was enough to place him second in school history. Meanwhile, Chandler Dicks took a huge jump before rain began, clearing 23 feet in the long jump. While a series of officiating miscues nearly knocked his mark back, in the end it stood, setting a new school record in the event for the first time since 1940.
Every team came home wet, but Deerfield came home happier than most, with some excellent performances in adverse conditions under their belt and a second trophy in as many years to show for their efforts.