Inside Cross Country

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Boys Athlete
of the Week

Phil Fairleigh

Cary-Grove, sr.

Fairleigh won the McHenry County Cross Country Meet on Tuesday at Veteran Acres Park in 16:57.8, five seconds ahead of Crystal Lake Central’s Ryan Alvarez.

Fairleigh, a two-time Northwest Herald Boys Runner of the Year, ran with C-G’s pack for most of the race then took off in the final half-mile and caught Alvarez and McHenry’s Jeff Sabatka, who finished third.

It was Fairleigh’s second county title.

Girls Athlete
of the Week

Kayla Beattie

Woodstock, jr.

Beattie won her first title in the McHenry County Cross Country Meet on Tuesday in 19:22.3. She finished 17 seconds ahead of her sister, senior Elise.

The Beatties added some distance from the other leaders in the second half of the race. Kayla finished sixth in the Class 3A 3,200-meter run at the IHSA Girls State Track and Field meet out of the slow heat, then came back and took seventh in the 1,600.

She was 43rd in the Class 3A State Cross Country Meet last fall.

Noteworthy

Outstanding debut: Maren-
go’s Katie Adams made quite an impression in her first varsity race Tuesday at the McHenry County Cross Country Meet. Adams took third place behind Woodstock’s Kayla and Elise Beattie in 19:57.2.

The bump in distance from junior high races to varsity – 2.2 miles to 3.1 – didn’t bother Adams one bit.

“I was pretty excited for it,” Adams said. “I kind of wanted to run my race, going fast at the beginning, hold my pace and get in my zone and keep a steady pace.”

Adams was right behind the Beatties for the first half of the race when the sisters padded their lead. Adams was five seconds ahead of Johnsburg sophomore Kelly McNelly in fourth place.

Adams ran at Zion Lutheran in Marengo and won four Lutheran School Association state titles. She said the competition wasn’t always keen, which is another reason she looks forward to running against high school girls.

“I’ve seen the Beatties before when I watched [Marengo graduate] Sarah Sprague last year,” Adams said. Adams will get a chance to run against the Beatties and most of the county field again Saturday at the Crystal Lake South Invitational, which will be at Veteran Acres.

This Week’s
Top Meets

CL South Invitational

9 a.m. Saturday
at Veteran Acres Park

South, Cary-Grove, Harvard, Huntley, Johnsburg, Marengo, Marian Central, McHenry and Woodstock will run on the course that was the site of Tuesday’s McHenry County Cross Country Meet. Junior varsity races start at 9 a.m.

St. Charles East
Invitational

9 a.m. Saturday
LeRoy Oaks Forest Preserve

Jacobs and Prairie Ridge are the two local teams competing in the meet.