Silas Derfel ’18, a member of the Ithaca Boys Cross Country team, recently won the New York State Class A Cross Country State Championship. I talked with him about the season that he just had, and about his recent commitment to run at Syracuse University next year.
Vaynu Kadiyali ’19: How did the cross country season go this year, for you personally and for your team?
Silas Derfel: I’d say the season started off really well, especially for the team. At our second meet of the season, we were six or eight points away from beating the top team in the state at that time, and we got ranked twenty-fifth in the nation because of that effort—that was really rewarding. Individually, I started off with two wins, but I didn’t do as well at the third race. I did manage to get sixth, which was okay considering that there was competition from as far away as Canada. The postseason went pretty well for me. I didn’t manage to do all that I would have liked, and our team didn’t do as well as I was hoping. However, I think I learned a lot from that experience as a leader, and I think the other members of the team will be better prepared for the future as the result of it.
VK: What were some highlights of the season for you?
SD: Winning a state championship was the highlight of my season. It really became my goal to win a state championship after last year, and competing at that level was something I had wanted since freshman year. I had seen Dan Dracup ‘15 get fifth at States a few years ago, and being the top return from last year, I wanted to make sure that I did well. Besides that, I won the McQuaid Invitational with the twelfth best time there ever, and the fastest Ithaca time ever. Actually, we had a time trial at Ithaca College over summer, and I got the course record there too, though I didn’t find out until November.
VK: What are the prospects for the cross country team going forward without the current seniors?
SD: We’re losing some good guys, including myself and Noah Mattice ’18, who has been our third guy and a leader for us all season. However, we have some really good young guys, including Ben Supron ’21, Cade Eells ’21, and Alec Simpson ’20. As long as they take care of their stuff, focus, and have fun, they will be really good in a couple of years.
VK: As a student athlete, how do you stay on top of your schoolwork during the cross country season?
SD: That’s an interesting question. I have realized that success is self-feeding; when I am really working hard on my homework, I don’t have time to worry about running, and I end up racing better because I can focus on the task at hand. At the same time, when I return from hard workouts and runs, I often want to sit down and watch TV or sleep. It’s tough, but if I manage to sit down and do homework, I find that my running excels. It works the other way too—when I have a really good race and I’m able to do my homework, I find that I’m also able to better in school.
VK: Not many people understand the recruitment process. What was your experience like, and what were some observations you had going through it?
SD: I had the chance to see Dan Dracup, a great runner, get recruited by Columbia, and I also saw my good friend Jake Avery’s ’17 recruitment process at Cornell. I think that the reason why I was able to get better offers was that I made bigger jumps year to year. As juniors, both Jake and Dan had similar times, but mine were 10 or 15 seconds faster. That made a huge difference because while they were getting Ivy League offers including Cornell, Columbia, Dartmouth and Princeton, I was getting recruited by teams like Syracuse, Stanford, and Wisconsin that were contending for podium finishes at the NCAA tournament. I think that was because of my slightly higher finishes at races. I found that I was attracted to coaches who were more invested in me, and I narrowed down my choices to Syracuse, Columbia, and Cornell, programs in which I had great relationships with coaches before I even made my official visits.
VK: What made you ultimately select Syracuse, and what academic and athletic goals do you have for your time there?
SD: Syracuse excited me the most. I had the opportunity to go to an Ivy League school, or to be a part of a top-tier program. I realized that I wanted to try running at the highest level, and after talking to team members, I realized that they were super excited about the opportunity to run with me. A good friend of mine who won the Class B race at States, Nathan Lawler ’18, texted me to announce that he was going to commit to Syracuse, and that really pushed me out the door. I thought, “Why aren’t I doing this too?”, and once I announced my decision, my future teammates and coaches all reached out to me about our potential going forward. Academically, I went into my visits not really expecting a whole lot. I’m interested in studying physiology and exercise science. However, I was surprised to find that they had state of the art equipment that I didn’t see at either Cornell or Columbia, and they exceeded my expectations and gave me the opportunity to study what I really wanted.