McCoy powers C-G to FVC Meet victory

By JOE STEVENSON – jstevenson@nwherald.com

Cary-Grove junior Kelly McCoy (center) competes in a 100-meter hurdle semifinal heat Thursday during the Fox Valley Conference Girls Track and Field Meet in Cary. McCoy later went on the win in the finals with a time of 15.22 seconds to help the Trojans capture the team title with 119 points. (Justin Edmonds - jedmonds@nwherald.com)

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CARY – Cary-Grove junior Kelly McCoy didn’t lean across the finish line at the 100-meter high hurdles – she sprawled over it.

McCoy burst into tears, thinking the fall had cost her a Fox Valley Conference title in a tight race with Huntley’s Amy Fanella.

“I was bawling my eyes out, and one of the guys came up to me and said, ‘Would it make you feel any better if I said you won?’ ” McCoy said. “I felt a lot better. I felt like I had a real good race … until the end.”

The Trojans kept receiving good news the rest of the FVC Girls Track and Field Meet on Thursday at their own Al Bohrer Field. After winning the McHenry County Meet two weeks ago by three-quarters of a point, they rolled to the team championship with 119 points, ahead of second-place Huntley’s 92.

“The season’s been leading up to this, and we really put things together,” C-G senior Molly Mac-Innes said. “Everyone played off everyone else. When someone did something, then someone else wanted to do something too. Everything we did made us stronger.”

Like at the county meet, C-G’s only FVC title was McCoy’s high hurdles triumph. Fanella thought she had won that race when she crossed the finish line, which would have given her four FVC titles. She won the 300 low hurdles in meet-record time (45.29 seconds), the triple jump (36-feed 6-inches) and anchored the Red Raiders’ winning 4x400 relay (4:05.39).

McCoy was given a 15.97, while Fanella finished in 16.12.

“I’ve fallen before and it stinks to fall,” Fanella said. “I thought I won, but the picture doesn’t lie. I’ve never gotten that time before.”

McCoy had scrapes on both knees, her left shoulder and her left hip after the race. She came back and ran legs on C-G’s 4x200 (third) and 4x400 (second) relay teams.

“I thought I’d lost, and that would have made it all for nothing,” McCoy said. “I got over the last hurdle and my legs were moving too fast.”

C-G coach Mark Anderson was relieved, but not shocked that the Trojans delivered such a performance.

“I’m very proud of them, but I can’t say I’m surprised,” Anderson said. “We have kids with talent who are mentally tough. They’re gamers.”

C-G put distance on the field in the 100, where Sarah Ryan and Carly Loeffel finished second and third, and again in the 800, where Lindsay Young and MacInnes went 2-3.

Crystal Lake South took third with 72 points on the strength of two individual double champions. Alexis Wells swept the 100 and 200, while sophomore Marianne Collard won the 800 and 1,600.

Collard’s race with Woodstock’s Kayla Beattie in the 1,600 was the best of the meet. Beattie, who won the 3,200, had led for 3 1/2 laps when Collard made her move. Collard edged out Beattie in a photo finish – 5:08.30 to 5:08.32. Both runners beat the meet record of Crystal Lake Central’s Haley Staples (5:08.81), set in 2006.

“My strategy was to stay with [Beattie] and sprint her out at the end,” said Collard, who played youth soccer with Beattie when they were younger. “I was surprised how well I recovered from the 800 to 1,600. I was dead for the 4x400. I told our coaches earlier to switch me from fourth to third because I didn’t think I’d be the best choice to anchor that.”

Collard made a strong move with about 50 meters remaining, but Beattie didn’t lose touch. They ran practically the last 200 meters shoulder-to-shoulder.

“She started to make a move and I responded,” Beattie said. “I got stuck a little on the inside, but it was a good learning experience.”

The meet’s other double individual champion was McHenry sophomore Ashley Conway, who won the high and long jumps. Conway took her first attempt in the long jump finals, then checked out to finish the high jump, which she won at 5-3.

She returned to the long jump, trailing C-G’s Asia Bowman, and won on her final attempt at 17-2 1/2.

“It was hectic [between the two events],” Conway said. “I was kind of nervous [in the long jump] because my preliminary jumps weren’t the best, but after the high jump I felt ready. I felt great. I was happy [after the last jump].”