Flanagan runs off by herself

At this stage of the girls cross country season, there is no debating Lake Park's Lindsay Flanagan is the clear-cut favorite to win the Class 3A individual title.

And the senior's showing on Saturday at the Wheeling Invite only enhanced that feeling.

Flanagan took the 3-mile race at Heritage Park out hard and never let up in cruising to the title in 17:00.44.

Last year Flanagan won the race in 18:28; this year the senior shaved 1:28 off that time.

"She is one standout runner," said Buffalo Grove's freshman Olivia Jones, who finished second 43 seconds behind Flanagan.

"She just took it out and it was like, wow," added Barrington senior Rebecca Tracy, who finished 52 seconds behind Flanagan.

Flanagan has won all of her races this season and now has her sights firmly on the Class 3A meet in Peoria on Nov. 8.

"I know what I want to do at state," said Flanagan, who finished 10th in Class 3A last season. "I always have it right there and I just keep working for it. I want the to get the state record."

"I think she is ready to handle it," said Lake Park coach Harvey Braus of Flanagan's quest for the state title. "She's a terrific runner obviously, once in a career for me as coach."

While Flanagan was torching the course, Buffalo Grove set off a few alarms by capturing the team title with 59 points. The Bison had four runners finish in the top 17.

Barrington (84 points) took second, followed by Libertyville (96), Lake Park (105) and Huntley (131).

"That was our goal," said Buffalo Grove coach Sarah Cleveland of winning the title. "Our ultimate goal is to make it to state as a team. We've been focusing on that since the beginning. Each meet it's a little closer, we can taste it now."

Jones led the charge for the Bisons, but was followed closely by junior Cari Geyer and sophomore Sara Peluse, who took fourth place and eighth place, respectively.

Senior Juliet Vogel and junior Ashley Prochazka finished seventh and 13th and combined with Flanagan to lead Lake Park to fourth place.

"It was a good performance," added Braus, who was pleased with the improvement of his fourth through seventh runners. "I think we're right where we want to be."