Standouts have photo finish at Norwalk Invite

NORWALK — "He's a different breed." Nothing felt different for two-plus miles on Saturday for St. Paul senior standout Ian Deeter. The two-time Division III state qualifier was out in front at the Norwalk Trucker Invitational course, and he was preparing for his usual strong finish when he noticed something unusual. He had company. In the most memorable finish in the six years of the Invitational at Norwalk High School, Deeter and Norwalk freshman standout Casey Kromer went stride-for-stride over the final 100-plus meters. It was a photo finish, with Kromer finishing about a step-and-a-half ahead of Deeter to win the thrilling race in 16:31. The anchor for the state-ranked Flyers — who again dominated the field as a team — had just cut almost five seconds off his PR, but lost by a couple steps. And once he recovered, the senior had nothing but praise for the Norwalk freshman. "I didn't know where the finish was right out of the gate, but still, he just outworked me," Deeter said of Kromer. "I thought I had him. I usually save up enough where people can't out-kick me. When I went past him, I thought I had him beat. He's just a workhorse, man. "He's a different breed. He came up and we were neck-and-neck and it was a photo finish. I mean I'm frustrated, but I can't be upset about it. He just had a really smart race. He sat behind me for two miles and then decided it was his race in the last one." And how did Kromer drop eight-plus seconds off his personal-best on Saturday? "It was Ian," Kromer said. "He's obviously a great runner. It was that stride out at the end, me and him. That's what got my time lower. That was great competition. I wish we could race again somewhere down the line." Kromer knew when he crossed he had won by a couple steps. Two years ago, he lost a race to a Fremont Ross runner in the exact same fashion. "This time, I beat someone I was striding out with," Kromer said. Deeter also has had a couple races that came down to the final steps. "But I didn't lose those," he said with a laugh. "It was a great race. Casey is a good kid. He's just a different breed, I don't know. He's crazy. I'm excited to see what he does these next four years." As for the team standings, it was another no contest for the cross-town Flyers. Ranked No. 7 in the most recent Div. III state coaches poll, St. Paul had all seven scored runners among the first 17 finishers on Saturday at NHS. Isaac Thimke was third overall behind Kromer and Deeter in 17:07. Then, coming in as a pack, Nick Centa (17:38) was eighth, followed by David Forrest (17:40) in 10th, Gavin Ross (17:52) in 12th, Owen Thimke (17:53) in 13th and Seth Ridge (18:12) in 17th. "This was a great day for our team," Deeter said. "This was a crazy good day for all of us. We had a kid break the 19s, and he's our ninth guy. And that would have been first or second for us about four years ago. "Our team had four in the top ten and a freshman run in the 17s," he added. "Just a great day for all of us. We'll definitely move up in the rankings. I'm proud of our team today. We all performed very well." The Flyers totaled 35 points to finish ahead of Perkins (57), Huron (92), Norwalk (95), Clyde (117), Willard (144) and St. Mary Central Catholic (213). For Norwalk, Max Bores (17:39) was ninth and Alex Christophel was 20th in 18;31. The scoring was rounded out by Landen Knoll (18:57) in 27th, Kynan Sparks (19:38) in 38th, Joseph Lyons (19:42) in 39th and Anthony Hall (20:00) in 44th. "Our team is really improving right now," Kromer said. "Max had a nice time. The rest of our team is finishing really well right now. Our workouts are great. This was just a good team experience today." For Willard, Kevin Hernandez (17:36) finished in seventh. Mason Carnahan (18:59) placed 28th, followed by Sixto Gonzalez (19:20) in 32nd, Taylor Biddinger (19:35) in 37th, Jorge Uriarte (19:44) in 40th, Isaias Cuevas (19:58) in 42nd and Cullen Hill (19:59) in 43rd.