Deir Wins Title with Final Sprint
By Christopher HuntYou want to see a race like this when you show up to a cross country meet. It’s when the first three miles don’t matter because two runners decided not to give each other even an inch and the finish line is closing fast.
Alex Deir of Honeoye Falls-Lima (Section 5) and Chris Stogsdill of Marcellus (Section 3) made the first race of the NYSPHSAA championships the most dramatic one. They emerged from the woods for the final 1,000 meters of the race, challenging each other for every stride. They tried to break each other at the risk of breaking themselves.
And every time one switched gears, the other did too, until both were firing down the last 200 meters at full throttle.
“It was going back and forth,” Deir said. “I wanted to quit. I was tired. But there were just so many people there and everyone is screaming. It keeps you going.”
The difference in the final stage was that Deir never tighten up. He never forced it, and suddenly he began to surge ahead. Stogsdill even pulled ahead slightly on a small incline before the finish but Deir took two hard strides and pulled away. The sophomore won his first state title in Class B in 16 minutes, 5.5 seconds, his cousin, Liz Deir, a freshman at Princeton, won the Class B girls title last year. Stogsdill finished second in 16:06.2.
“This has been great,” Deir said. “It was a surprise to me so I’m sure it was a surprise to some other people too so it was fun.”
Honeoye Falls-Lima, the defending champs, finished third with 86 points. Shoreham-Wading River won the Class B state championship with 55 points. Warwick Valley won the Class AA race over Shenendehowa, 41-61. Warwick Valley plans to skip the federation meet next week and with the win, the team proved they can be considered the favorite at the Nike Team National New York Region qualifier at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls, Nov. 24.
Senior Pat Dupont of Fairport (Section 5) won the individual championship in 15:35.5, the fastest time of the day. Dupont talked about how nervous he was before the race started, how crowded the starting line was. He settled in to the back end of the lead pack through the first mile and went through the mile-marker at 5:20.
By then he was up with the leaders and couldn’t get over how strong he felt.
“I got excited,” he said. “The whole second mile I just felt great.”
Dupont made another surge at Stinger Hill, with about 1,200 meters left and put the race away before he even emerged from the trails. He said he didn’t plan the race out that way but the way he was feeling that just felt like the best time to make a move. And even though he had virtually put the race away, he could her his coach screaming at him to push harder on the last straight.
“I got nervous because the way he was screaming I thought someone was coming so I knew I had to go,” said Dupont, who being recruited by Syracuse, George Mason and Ithaca.
Kyle Merber of Half Hollow Hills West had the same plan. He won the Class A race in 15:45.1. while Queensbury won their 3rd straight team title. He had already run the course in September at the Section 10 Invitational and knew he wanted to break away at Stinger Hill. Merber, senior who has committed to Columbia, remember sitting in the stands after the race at the state meet, watching the award ceremony. All the memories were still there when he won this time.
“I watched the video and I saw that I looked back and I just smiled,” he said. “I couldn’t hold it in.”
Quotes of the Day
Senior Colby DelBene of Pawling, who is considering by Arizona State, Iona and Syracuse, won Class C in 15:54.8.
On his race:
“I basically wanted to go out there and win. My main focus is Foot Locker (Regionals).
On winning his first state title:
“It’s definitely a really big step. Last year, it would have been a really big deal for me. But the competition isn’t the same. I kind of thought I should win today.”
Senior Lee Berube of Ticonderoga, who is being recruited by Iona, Providence and Syracuse, won the boys Class D title in 16:14.5.
On his race:
“It was a race I’ve been looking forward to since last year when I finished second to Christian Thompson (Candor). That’s really motivated me all year and made me work harder because I really wanted to win.”
On winning:
“I remember when I was a freshman looking at the people on the medal standing saying, ‘One day I want to be able to do that. One day I want to be able to stand up there.’ “
Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com
Photos T. Fulton