Inside Cross Country

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Boys Athlete

of the Week

RYAN ALVAREZ

Crystal Lake Central, sr.

Alvarez took second at the Kaneland Eddington Invitational at Elburn Woods on Saturday to lead the Tigers to the team title.

Alvarez finished in 15:47 as the Tigers placed their five scoring runners among the top 40 to win the 16-team event. Central scored 92 points, one ahead of Geneva and five in front of Dundee-Crown.

Girls Athlete

of the Week

ELISE BEATTIE

Woodstock, sr.

Beattie set the Emricson Park course record in 18:19 to win Flight 2 at the Woodstock-Ryan Byrne Festival on Saturday.

Beattie beat the record set by her junior sister, Kayla, who won Flight 1 at 18:40.

Elise Beattie is drawing interest from NCAA Division I schools and spoke with a DePaul coach after the meet.

Noteworthy

Missing at Warren: Two of the area’s top Class 2A girls runners did not compete at the Warren Invitational on Saturday.

Marengo’s Katie Adams and Johnsburg’s Kelly McNeely both missed the race with injuries.

Adams’ outlook seems more favorable for the rest of the season, and McNeely might miss significant time.

Adams said her left foot was sore and Indians coach R.J. Meyer suggested she take a few days off.

“It was hurting a little, so we took a precaution,” said Adams, a freshman. “I ran again [Tuesday] and it felt pretty good. I kind of took it easy.”

McNeely has a stress fracture in her left foot and is using crutches and a boot to take pressure off the joint. McNeely was one of the top five runners in several early meets.

“It’s definitely heartbreaking,” McNeely said. “I was quite emotional Saturday during the awards ceremony because I knew where I should have been. It was hard to watch.”

Crystal Lake South’s Marianne Collard won that race, and McNeely had run against Collard four times this season, with each runner beating the other twice.

McNeely said she would train by aqua-jogging at Healthbridge in Crystal Lake to try to maintain her cardio fitness. After three weeks, she will have a checkup with her doctor, although she’s not supposed to run for four weeks.

That timetable likely means McNeely’s best scenario would be to return for the IHSA postseason series.

“I don’t want to rush back too fast,” McNeely said. “The good news is that they caught it pretty early.”

This Week’s

Top Meets

PALATINE INVITATIONAL

9 a.m. Saturday, Deer Grove Forest Preserve

This is considered one of the top meets in the Chicago suburbs with several of the state’s best teams. Cary-Grove, Crystal Lake Central, Dundee-Crown, McHenry and Prairie Ridge will compete at the meet.

BARTLETT INVITATIONAL

9 a.m. Saturday

Sunrise Park

Crystal Lake South, Huntley, Jacobs and Woodstock are the local teams competing.