Girls cross country: Barrington wraps up MSL West triumph

The Barrington girls cross country team certain has had a big week.

The Fillies narrowly won a big Mid-Suburban League West dual meet at Palatine 27-28 last Tuesday, and they followed it up by taking second at the Palatine Invitational on Saturday.

But the Fillies had little time to exhale entering Tuesday's key MSL West triangular meet hosted by Fremd at the challenging Harper College course in Palatine.

But Barrington once again rose to the challenge, earning a pair of victories in securing the MSL West Division title, its second in three years.

Barrington held off a feisty Fremd team 22-33 and also added a 15-50 victory over Conant.

Senior Jocelyn Long (18:10) and freshman Molly Fitzpatrick (18:14) jumped out to an early advantage in cruising to first and second place.

Barrington received a huge lift from freshman Katherine Shein (19:21), who held off a trio of hard-charging Vikings to take a pivotal third place.

"I'm really happy for the kids," said Barrington coach Deb Revolta. "They worked really hard and deserve this.

"They came up against a really good team in Fremd and were able to run - that is what we came here to do."

Long and Fitzpatrick raced out to a big lead, making separation from the pack and cruising into the finish.

"It's incredible," said Long who was also part of the Fillies' title run in 2015. "Especially with a division as tough as ours, to be able to win twice in my career is really special."

Shein played a big part by finishing ahead of Fremd sophomore Rebecca Markham (19:25), senior Nupur Pokharkar (19:27) and sophomore Marissa Ban (19:30).

"Barrington's third runner (Shein) went out great today," said Fremd coach Joe Marcin. "Last 2 miles it was really close - we were hoping to close the gap on their No. 3."

Barrington sophomore Alyssa Norris (19:38) then nipped Fremd senior Fiona Jordan (19:38) for seventh place, and Barrington junior Shelby Petersen (19:39) used one final burst to edge Fremd senior Clare Oehler-Sullivan (19:40) at the line for ninth place in aiding the Fillies' victory.

"We knew it was going to be tough," said Long. "No team in our conference is going to go down without a fight, but we were ready."

Fremd secured a 15-50 victory over Conant.

Junior Jessica Meister (21:11) was the Cougars' top runner.