Runners connect on way to Duke

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The story of Phil Fairleigh and Clint McKelvey qualifies as one of those “small world” tales.

Six years ago, they were sixth-graders at Barrington’s Prairie Middle School, but did not know one another. Last summer, at the Nike Outdoor National Track and Field Meet in Greensboro, N.C., they wound up talking while recovering in sweltering heat after their 2-mile race.

Fairleigh, a senior at Cary-Grove, told McKel-vey, from Maryville, Tenn., where he was from. They hardly could believe they had attended the same school in sixth and seventh grade. They exchanged phone numbers and texted back and forth to keep in touch.

But it doesn’t end there. During the fall season, both runners wound up on Duke’s recruiting list, and both signed with the school in Durham, N.C., in February. Fairleigh and McKelvey will be roommates next year when they run cross country and track as Blue Devils.

“We didn’t even know each other, but realized we’d both been at Barring-ton,” Fairleigh said.

“I went back and found him in a yearbook,” Fairleigh said.

Fairleigh finished 12th in the IHSA Class 3A State Cross Country Meet in November. McKelvey missed his season with a stress fracture, but has come back strong in the indoor track season and recently ran a 9:06 in the 3,200 meters at the Nike Indoor National Meet.

Last month, Fairleigh and McKelvey were among a group of Duke recruits who visited the campus for a weekend.

“We all went to the Duke-Virginia Tech [men’s basketball] game and hung out with all the guys on the team,” Fairleigh said. “It was pretty cool.”

Helping hand: Besides preparing for his final track and field season, Fairleigh has been helping some of the state’s top junior runners with their recruiting. One in particular is Dundee-Crown’s Anthony Manfrin, who will miss this season with a leg injury.

Fairleigh said Ed Gibbons, the father of C-G teammate Eddy Gibbons, ran for William & Mary and offered some counsel for him. Fairleigh now is paying it back to others.

“I’m just trying to pass along some of my knowledge about contacting schools,” he said.

The funny thing is, one of Manfrin’s top schools is North Carolina, Duke’s rival.

“We could be conference rivals again,” Fairleigh said. “Anthony will have a lot of options. He’s performed really well, and he’ll have no problem landing with a really good school.”

Harvard’s Gratz honored: Harvard senior wrestler Jerry Gratz, who competed at 145 pounds, received the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association Academic All-State award.

To be selected for that honor, a wrestler must be a senior with a grade-point average of 3.7 on a 4.0 scale and be nominated by his coach. Gratz was 28-15 and qualified for the Class 1A sectional. He is a four-year varsity wrestler and a three-year letterwinner.

• Joe Stevenson covers high school sports for the Northwest Herald. He can be reached at 815-526-4513. He also can be reached by fax at 815-459-5640 or by e-mail at jstevenson@nwherald.com.