Now healthy, Cary-Grove's Farleigh looks for strong finish

Cary-Grove senior Phil Fairleigh finished third at this year's Fox Valley Conference meet and was none too pleased about it.

A year earlier, Fairleigh had administered a rear-end kicking to the tune of a league victory by a significant margin.

"Last year I won the conference meet by 25-30 seconds," said Fairleigh, who has committed to run at Duke University next season. "This year was really disappointing."

But there is an underlying reason that fully explains Fairleigh's FVC finish - Fairleigh has been dogged by illness this season.

"I had (mononucleosis) at the beginning of the season," said Fairleigh. "I was getting my strength back the whole season and started to pull it together at the end of the season."

After the FVC meet, Fairleigh most certainly started to pull it together. He won both regional and sectional titles (7-second triumph at regionals and 5.5-second win at sectionals), helping his Cary-Grove team qualify for Saturday's Class 3A state finals at Peoria's Detweiller Park.

"It's nice to run good races in September, but it's even better to run great races at the end of the season when it really counts," said Fairleigh of his slow start due to recovering from illness. "It was hard to get in any good, solid races and good workouts (earlier in the year). I tried to run through it, but it was tough. It was better it happened then than now."

Fairleigh knew he had some catching up to do.

"Once I started coming back I was a little behind," said Fairleigh. "I was not as strong as I wanted to be. When I got back into training, I slowly started to get my strength back."

Fairleigh, a 3-time state qualifier (108th in 2007 and 78th in 2008), admits his conference finish put some questions into his head.

"I wasn't sure how the rest of the season was going to play out," said Fairleigh. "I was nervous what would go on at regionals. Regionals really helped get my confidence back. I'm really excited now for state and the Midwest regionals (Nike)."

Fairleigh points to two factors that have led to him being one of the top runners in the area over the last several years.

"It's been a combination of being able to get in solid training - doing 60-70 miles some weeks - and not having too many injury problems," he said.

Being a 4-year varsity veteran doesn't hurt either.

"My experience plays a pretty big role," said Fairleigh. "Sophomore year I didn't have much experience and didn't know what to do. I'm a senior now. I approach races differently and have a plan for them. If it doesn't go according to plan, I make adjustments based on past years experiences."

Cary-Grove coach Layne Holter, whose team is making its third-straight state finals appearance, isn't surprised in the least bit at Fairleigh's success.

"He trains like a son-of-a-gun," said Holter. "He sets goals and follows his goals and works hard to achieve his goals. He understands what it takes to be successful. It's been very neat and exciting to watch his development. He has developed tremendously even in the last 12 months from where he was last year to where he's at this year. He continues to fill in around the edges and continues to become a more well-rounded and competitive runner."

Fairleigh started to put his interest in the sport into overdrive freshman year.

"Freshman year I dropped some good times. That's when I first got real excited about the sport and then focused on training," said Fairleigh. "Freshman year I got into the top seven and then the last few meets I got to be one of the scoring runners. It was really exciting."

Fairleigh, who scored an impressive 33 on his ACT, said his choice of Duke for the next phase of his academic and running careers boiled down to all of his requirements falling into place.

"I'm really happy with the decision," said Fairleigh, who would like to study political science. "On my official visit after the conference meet I really liked the coach and really connected with the guys on the team. It's an up-and-coming program, which is exciting. Academics were pretty important in the decision. It's the perfect fit."

Fairleigh's high school cross country career won't come to a close after Saturday's race in Peoria. He's planning on running in the Nike Midwest regional in Terre Haute, Ind., a senior cross country meet in Ohio and the Foot Locker Midwest regional in Kenosha, Wis.

"One of the things that is pretty exciting is I'm getting my strength back and running well and getting in shape so I can run in these meets at the end of the season," said Fairleigh.

But before he packs his travel bag for those meets, he and his Trojan teammates have some work to do this weekend in Peoria.

"I'm really excited about the state meet. I'm really pumped up," said Fairleigh. "You're able to see all the guys you see throughout the course of the season in one meet. It should be a really good meet. We're going in to do the best we can."

Holter hesitated at making any specific predictions about Saturday's get-together. But he knows his squad will be ready to get after it at Detweiller Park.

"The team has goals and Phil has goals," said Holter. "Everybody is running great right now. We're all excited about the potential this weekend."