No raining on impressive debuts from BG
Not even a steady rain could dampen the debuts of Buffalo Grove head coach Sara Cleveland and freshman runner Olivia Jones.
Jones battled Barrington senior Rebecca Tracy splash for splash in taking second and leading host Buffalo Grove to a surprising 25-31 Mid Suburban League crossover dual meet girls cross country victory at Willow Stream Park.
Tracy, who took fifth at last year's MSL meet, pulled away in the stretch to secure the victory in 19:05.7. But Jones shadowed the senior the entire 3 miles in an impressive debut and took second with a time of 19:07.9.
"She wanted to know Barrington's number one runner and her time so she could be up there with her," said Cleveland, "She's been with us all summer so we knew the talent she had."
Jones led a trio of Bison across the finish line with Cari Geyer (20:06.5) and Erin McGrath (20:10.8) taking third and fourth.
"It was good to be out here for our first meet," Jones said. "All the girls have worked really hard and it paid off."
Erin Cleary made the difference by sneaking in front of two Fillies at the finish line to secure seventh place (20:30.5).
"That was huge," said Cleveland, whose team finished 10th in the MSL last season.
"We knew Barrington was going to be tough, but I told them what they needed to do and they executed it perfectly."
Sarah Peluse (20:35.9) took 10th place to round out the Bison scoring.
Barrington lost three of its top seven runners to graduation, but the Fillies still have Tracy and the senior came through.
"We lost some seniors," said Tracy of her team that finished ninth in Class 3A last season. "But we still have a good core and it will get us through the year."
Elizabeth Tracy (20:13.5) and Colleen Shandley (20:30.1) captured fifth and sixth for the Fillies. Anne Marie Kerchberger (20:30.9) and Ariel Schwartz (20:33) took eighth and ninth.
"These kids are learning what it's all about," said Barrington coach Debbie Revolta. "They're working hard and we're going to get better and better."