McHenry County runners show up strong at state meet

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Hampshire’s Cassie Kruse required a few seconds to add up all the state medals she has accumulated.

Kruse’s fourth-place finish in the Class 2A girls race at the IHSA Cross Country State Meet was the seventh of her career (five in track, two in cross country). The Whip-Purs’ senior led for the first part of the race and stayed strong, finishing in 17:21, 14 seconds behind state champion Sami Staples from Crystal Lake Central.

“It went really well,” Kruse said. “My goal was to stay with the leaders and try to win. I held on the last half-mile and passed three or four runners there. I tried to use my speed from track to kick at the end.”

The McHenry County area again was well-represented in the Class 2A girls race with Staples, Kruse, Marengo’s Katie Adams (seventh) and Central’s Kelly McNeely (12th) and Mary Fleming (17th) earning All-State honors (a top-25 finish).

Kruse was eighth last year and Adams was ninth.

“It was a strong start and a strong finish,” Adams said. “That’s all I could ask for. I’m just sad the season’s over, it went by way too fast. I gave it all I had today.”

McNeely earned All-State for the third consecutive year.

“Before the race I couldn’t contain myself,” said McNeely, a senior. “Afterward, I broke down. It’s definitely an accomplishment, a lot of people would like to be in my shoes. There were some ups and downs this season, but the last week I really felt like I had my legs back.”

Fleming, a freshman, thought her first state meet race at Detweiller Park was quite successful.

“My goal was to try to be All-State,” Fleming said. “Today felt really good. It’s a whole different experience. It’s real exciting. Once the gun went off, all the nerves went away and it was a great time.”

New tradition: Harvard’s boys team hoped it started a trend with its first state appearance. The Hornets were a respectable 12th place out of the 25 teams with 300 points in Class 1A.

“It was a great experience,” said sophomore Jorge Pichardo, who was 74th. “Everyone did a great job. We all improved on our times today.”

Junior Timmy Wiltshire was the Hornets’ top finisher at 67th.

“This year we set a new standard for Harvard cross country,” Wiltshire said. “The new goal is for this to be more of the norm for us.”

Unsatisfying finish: Prairie Ridge senior Mitch Wilkins did not finish his career at state in the manner he hoped. Wilkins took 33rd in the Class 3A boys race in 15:06. He was shooting for a top-10 finish.

“I was about where I wanted to be in the first mile, but my legs just didn’t have it today,” Wilkins said. “I’m not sure what was wrong to be honest. I was tapering and everything, but my legs just weren’t there. I’ve had a great season, this is a minor setback.”

Wilkins won the McHenry County and Fox Valley Conference meets and was in the top 10 in most weekend invitationals.

• Joe Stevenson is a senior sports writer for the Northwest Herald. He can be reached by email at joestevenson@shawmedia.com. You also can follow him on twitter@nwh_JoePrepZone.