Jocelyn Long led wire to wore in winning her second consecutive Wheeling Invite crown (Itai Epstein photo)
Unranked Barrington has spent most of the season trying to find themselves as a team. Other than junior Jocelyn Long there has not been a tremendous amount to speak of. But perhaps after Saturday the Fillies will show signs of the team that many had expected of them in the pre-season. Long won the race with ease in 17:29. Barrington put all five scorers inside the top 15 to score 43 points.
3A #21 Evanston was touted as the team to beat but the Wildkits were without #1 runner junior Enyeava Michelin. They would fall to third. Then Libertyville slipped into the runner up spot on the strength of junior Melissa Manetech's second place finish. The Cats scoring split was large as in 2:27 but somehow they were able to squeeze their scorers inside the top 30.
2A #6 Lakes had somewhat of a down showing despite freshman Olivia Schmitt's fifth place finish. The Eagles #5 runner placed 60th.
| top 5 TEAM SCORES | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLACE | TEAM | POINTS | SCORERS | TIMES | ||
| 1 | Barrington High School | 43 | 1+7+9+12+14 (31+45) | 2:15 1-5 Split | 19:01 Avg | ||
| 2 | Libertyville High School | 87 | 2+13+17+25+30 (37+41) | 2:27 1-5 Split | 19:36 Avg | ||
| 3 | Evanston Township High School | 94 | 10+11+16+18+39 (66+68) | 1:23 1-5 Split | 19:48 Avg | ||
| 4 | Lakes High School | 123 | 5+15+21+22+60 (76+90) | 2:30 1-5 Split | 19:59 Avg | ||
| 5 | Lake Zurich High School | 145 | 8+20+28+35+54 (65+73) | 2:04 1-5 Split | 20:14 Avg | ||
It was a one-woman show with Long leading wire to wire with splits mile and two mile splits of 5:34 and 11:25. She went up much as 30+ seconds before cruising to victory in 17:29. The only challenge was the big hill on the second circuit. She indicated her performance was a good tune up for the big time MSL meet next weekend.