Inside cross country

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Boys Athlete

of the Week

ANTHONY MANFRIN

Dundee-Crown, Junior

Manfrin sat out the first weekend as a precaution with a strained calf, but came back strong last weekend at Peoria Woodruff Invitational. He took third place in the Class 3A race at Detweiller Park, the course on which the state meet will be run, in 14:59.

Manfrin’s last race at Detweiller was the 2008 Class 3A State Cross Country Meet. Manfrin was among the top 20 runners when he collapsed 800 meters from the finish. He was unable to complete the race.

Manfrin led the Chargers to a 10th-place team finish out of 38 teams Saturday.

Girls Athlete

of the Week

MARIANNE COLLARD

Crystal Lake South, Junior

Collard notched her first varsity win in a big race when she won the Wauconda Invitational on Saturday at Lakewood Forest Preserve.

Collard won the race in 18:27.80, 21 seconds ahead of Johnsburg’s Kelly McNeely. Although Collard has been one of the top area runners the past two seasons, she had not won an invitational.

South also won the meet with 131 points, nine ahead of Glenbard East. It was the first time South won the Wauconda meet.

Noteworthy

Liking the change: Prairie Ridge’s and Woodstock’s boys teams should benefit from dropping to Class 2A this season. The Wolves won the St. Charles East Leavey Invitational two weeks ago, and Woodstock was fourth at the Peoria Woodruff Invitational Class 2A race Saturday.

Prairie Ridge finished third in the Fox Valley Conference last season and has most of its top runners returning, led by Mitch Wilkins, Matt Neubauer and Marc DiVerde. Those three have been packed together near the top 10 in every race this season.

Woodstock is led by Phil Meyer and J.D. Fuller, who were 11th and 13th, respectively, Saturday in Peoria.

Remembering Byrne: The Woodstock-Ryan Byrne Festival will be at Saturday at Emricson Park. The race offers a little different format for teams as runners are flighted and run against only those runners from similar spots on their teams.

For example, No. 7 runners all run against each other and are scored accordingly, so all runners’ scores count the same. There also is an overall trophy given for the school that scores the best in boys and girls, varsity and junior varsity.

Byrne was 23 when he died after a bout with cancer in 1999. He covered cross country for several years for the Northwest Herald and was beloved by coaches and runners for his enthusiasm. A few months after his death, Woodstock coach Marty Sobczak and former Marian Central coach Tom VanDaele conferred and Sobczak attached Byrne’s name to the meet.

This Week’s
Top Meets

Warren Invitational

9 a.m. Saturday, in Gurnee

Cary-Grove, Crystal Lake South, Marengo and Johnsburg are the local teams competing.

Woodstock-Ryan
Byrne Festival

9 a.m. Saturday,
at Emricson Park

The meet features flighted races with each runner competing against their corresponding runner from other teams (No. 7s run against other No. 7s). Each flight counts the same toward team scores. McHenry, Harvard, Huntley, Prairie Ridge, Marian Central, Richmond-Burton, Woodstock and Woodstock North will compete.

Kaneland Invitational

9 a.m. Saturday, at Maple Park

Crystal Lake Central, Dundee-Crown and Jacobs are the local teams running.