D-C's Manfrin hurt in Palatine race

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PALATINE – Dundee-Crown junior Anthony Manfrin was thoroughly enjoying the boys varsity race at the Palatine Cross Country Invitational on Saturday.

“We were hauling,” Manfrin told a friend on his cell phone. “It was ridiculous.”

Manfrin was running with Loyola’s Nico Composto and Jack Seeberg, and York’s Andrew Smith and Jack Driggs in the lead group with about one-half mile remaining on the course at Deer Grove Forest Preserve.

But Manfrin planted his right foot to make a turn and felt pain shoot through the calf muscle he strained earlier in the season. He sat down, kneaded the leg for a few moments, and tried to finish. Eventually, Manfrin dropped out of the race to avoid further injury.

Composto held off Smith and Driggs in the final stretch to win the 3-mile race in 14:12.7. Loyola also won the battle of the two state Class 3A powerhouses with 47 points to York’s 56.

Crystal Lake Central’s Ryan Alvarez took 11th in 14:44.0, making him the top area runner and the first Class 2A runner to finish. Cary-Grove’s Phil Fairleigh battled through an illness that kept him out of last week’s Warren Invitational to finish 17th in 14:49.0. McHenry’s Jeff Sabatka was 21st in 14:54.5.

Prairie Ridge was the top area team, finishing 11th.

The Wolves also were the top Class 2A boys team, with Matt Neubauer leading the way at 31st.

In the girls race, Crystal Lake Central took 13th, led by sophomore Molly Flood’s 27th-place finish.

Manfrin said his doctor told him the injury was a result of overuse and lack of flexibility.

“My right ankle doesn’t bend well,” Manfrin said. “It felt fine for most of the race and I wanted to be competing with those kids. It’s frustrating that it happened.”

Manfrin hobbled around after the race with an ice bag on his right leg. He said he would get an MRI on Monday, take a few days off and hope the muscle feels better.

Alvarez felt he ran a good race, but was a bit too conservative.

“I should have gone out faster and stayed with the top five,” Alvarez said. “Last year, running [cross country] was still new and I just went out. This time I was a little more precautionary, tactically I changed it. That’s one thing I’m going to change next time.”

Fairleigh had a 103-degree temperature a week ago and skipped a planned visit to William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va.

“It was all right,” Fairleigh said. “Monday and Tuesday I didn’t feel well. That’s fine. What matters is at the end of the season.”

C-G’s Eddy Gibbons and Matt Klein also were ill and missed Saturday’s race.
Sabatka was pleased with his race against some of the state’s top competition.

“Last year I didn’t run well here, so I wanted to make this a good race,” Sabatka said.

“Overall, I’m ecstatic with how I did.”

Palatine’s girls won with 51 points, far ahead of second-place Prospect (100). Flood just missed her goal.

“I wanted to get top 25 and I missed it by two,” Flood said. “I’m happy with my time.”

 We’re a 2A team, so it was nice to run against so many better runners.”