Girls' Cross Country Falls to Deerfield
Big Red Girls Cross-Country traveled to Deerfield Academy on Saturday after rousing victories against Northfield Mount Hermon and the Brooks School in which Big Red prevailed by margins of 19-44 and 19-42, respectively.
“We were up against tough competition. The first girl from deerfield got a sub-18 5k time, so it was difficult for us to get up there and compete against that.”
Big Red’s season began with three invitational races: the Choate Invitational, the Codfish Bowl and the Coe-Brown Black Bear Invitational. Exeter’s girls crushed the competition at these races with a 6th place finish at the Codfish Bowl and Big Red runners finishing in the top two places of the Choate Invitational.
The team’s third head-to-head duel of the year went vastly different than the first two as Deerfield’s team handily defeated Big Red 18-38. The girls’ loss was partly due to the ridiculous running speed of the Deerfield time, with their top runner clocking in under eighteen minutes for the five kilometer course.
Upper Alexandra van Djikum felt that the team had a peculiar performance at the meet compared to usual. “The meet at Deerfield was kind of weird. A lot of people on the team PR’d for the season despite feeling tired,” she said.
Senior and captain Sara Kopunova expressed pride in the team’s efforts but conceded that their opponents had some great talent. “We were up against tough competition. The first girl from deerfield got a sub-18 5k time, so it was difficult for us to get up there and compete against that,” she said. Kopunova also noted that the Deerfield runner clearly held an advantage on their home course.
Van Djikum also respected the skill of Deerfield’s team. “They have a few really fast girls and their strategy personally threw me off a little bit in the beginning,” she said.
Some of the senior runners on the team felt that they have been cursed on the Deerfield course. Senior Anna Clark explained that since the senior class’s first time competing there, the course has plagued Exeter runners with bad luck, “which is how we’re explaining our loss to them this weekend,” she said.
Clark continued, explaining the team’s persistence throughout the race. “Despite our loss, I’m incredibly proud of our team working together and packing up to push each other through the finish line, no matter how much we might be suffering,” Clark said.
The team will host the St. Paul’s School this Saturday at 4:10 PM for their last home meet of the year season.
Van Djikum expressed excitement as well for the team’s next meet. “St. Paul’s will be really fun! It’s at home and there are no Saturday classes which will both work in our favor,” she said.
The older members of the team have already begun to look forward to the team’s last meet at Choate for Interschols to find revenge. “Our determination [is] to beat them at interschols at Choate,” Clark said.
Kopunova shared that sentiment. “They [Deerfield] are really fast on flat surfaces, but since interschols is at Choate which is a very hilly course, I have all faith on our team,” Kopunova said.