Inside cross country

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Boys athlete
of the week

WILLIAM HENNESSY

Jacobs, sr.

Hennessy finished second and the Golden Eagles won the IHSA Class 3A Guilford Regional team title with 47 points. Harlem was second with 59.

Hennessy finished the 3-mile course at Rock Valley College in 15:00 and was second behind Harlem’s Nick Miller.

Hennessy and teammates Ryan Ross (fifth) and Matt Goldby (ninth) led the way for the Eagles, who now will run at the Wheaton North Sectional.

Girls athlete
of the week

ALLIE SPRAGUE

Marengo, so.

Sprague continued her strong season with a second-place finish in the IHSA Class 2A Sterling Regional on Saturday, 9 seconds behind teammate Katie Adams. Sprague ran the 3-mile course at Hoover Park in 18:03 as the Indians put their top five runners in the first 11 places.

While Adams has won most of her races this season, Sprague usually is close behind. The Indians won their second Big Northern Conference title and are trying to reach the Class 2A State Meet as a team for the second consecutive year.

Noteworthy

Good racin’: The Class 2A Belvidere Sectional on Saturday might be the best in the state with the lineup of runners and teams.

According to Dyestat Illinois’ rankings last week (they were last updated Wednesday), Belvidere will have five of the top 15 teams and nine of the top 25 runners in Class 2A. And that does not include DeKalb’s Kelsey Schrader, who won the Kaneland Regional on Saturday, ahead of Yorkville’s Ali Hester and Crystal Lake Central’s Sami Staples, who were Nos. 1 and 3 respectively last week. Schrader won in 18:14.9, Staples was second in 18:25.5 and Hester was third in 18:48.

Central’s Kelly McNeely, Marengo’s Katie Adams and Allie Sprague and Hampshire’s Cassie Kruse are all local runners ranked in that top 25. Yorkville and Dixon also have runners ranked that high.

Yorkville was the top-ranked team and beat Central, 39-49, for the Kaneland Regional championship. Dixon was ranked No. 6, but No. 15 Marengo won the Sterling Regional with 31 points to the Duchesses’ 49. No. 8 Lakes won the Antioch Regional and also will compete at Belvidere.

This week’s meets

Class 1A Oregon Sectional

Saturday at 10 a.m. girls, 10:45 boys

Local runners competing: Harvard, Marian Central.

Class 2A Belvidere Sectional

Saturday at 10 a.m. girls, 11 a.m. boys

Local runners competing: Crystal Lake Central, Hampshire, Johnsburg, Marengo, Richmond-Burton, Woodstock, Woodstock North

Class 3A Wheaton North Sectional

Saturday at 10 a.m. girls, 11 a.m. boys

Local runners competing: Dundee-Crown, Huntley, Jacobs

Class 3A Schaumburg

Sectional

Saturday at 10:30 a.m. girls, 11:30 boys

Local runners competing: Cary-Grove, Crystal Lake South, McHenry, Prairie Ridge

– Joe Stevenson

joestevenson@shawmedia.com