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Barrington record-setter Sirois runs to Gatorade state award

A state record wasn’t on her radar — until Barrington runner Mia Sirois realized she was on the cusp.

Just a sophomore, at the 2024 Class 3A Hoffman Estates cross country sectional Sirois ran more than a minute faster than her previous best, in a sixth-place finish at the 2023 state final.

Having won the sectional in 16 minutes, 3.9 seconds — Sirois’ eighth victory in 10 races over the standard 3 miles in 2024 — veteran reporter Mike Newman reminded her she was only seconds away from the 15:54 Naperville North’s Judy Pendergast ran at Detweiller Park in the 2015 state meet.

Still, Sirois didn’t pressure herself before the Class 3A final.

“Going into it I definitely had my eyes set on the record, but I still have two more years, so I wasn’t going to be too heartbroken if I didn’t get it,” Sirois said in a break from e-learning Tuesday as the bitter cold kept Barrington students home.

Instead her heart rejoiced. On a wet course in Peoria, Sirois set the new mark at 15:53.4, a first-place finish that led the Fillies to the 3A team title.

Nationally, Sirois went on to place second over 5,000 meters at the Nike Cross Regionals in Terre Haute, Indiana, (after placing 27th in 2023), and sixth at the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Oregon.

Sirois’ record-breaking season was capped Jan. 16 when she was named the 2024-25 Gatorade Illinois Girls Cross Country Player of the Year.

“I’m so honored that I could receive this award,” said Sirois, who as a freshman won the Class 3A 3,200-meter run in girls track.

“It was a really fun season, I’m super grateful to everyone who helped me get to this point. I definitely couldn’t have done it without my coach (Debbie Revolta) and my parents, my teammates,” she said.

The Gatorade award also reflects performance off the course. Sirois has a weighted grade-point average of 4.06, participates in outreach efforts at Thrive Vineyard Church in Palatine, and has volunteered for the Barrington Dance Marathon, which raises thousands of dollars for Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago.

“I think that’s really awesome,” Sirois said of Gatorade’s standards, “because we are student-athletes. The student part comes first — but we spend a lot of time on athletics, of course.”

Sirois, who over a year as a student at Barrington Middle School’s Prairie Campus improved to second from 39th at the Illinois Elementary School Association cross country championships, has pedigree.

Her mother, the former Mary Velotta, ran cross country at Libertyville and attended Purdue University on an athletic scholarship. Mia’s aunt, Molly, was seventh in cross country in 1990 and sixth in the 1,600 in 1991 at the Class AA level for Libertyville.

Mia Sirois’ track season is underway. On Saturday in Chicago she set personal records in a 2-mile win and a fourth-place mile run. She is considering premier indoor events in Boston and New York, and the Arcadia event outdoors in California in April.

Sirois hopes to qualify downstate this spring in both the 1,600 and the 3,200, a brave plan. She said Revolta has never forced Sirois to “hammer it” but to ease into training and slowly progress.

Obviously, it’s working.

“I have a really good support system, I’ve never been pressured into this sport,” Sirois said. “I go into races because I love it and because I have this God-given talent I want to use. I’ve never gone into a race thinking I need to win, I ‘need to do this.’ I just go out and see what I can do.”

Matt the mogul

About a year ago at this time, former NFL tight end Matt LaCosse, a Naperville North and University of Illinois graduate, was set to open the first Illinois franchise of Alloy Personal Training, 1504 N. Naper Blvd., Naperville.

He’s already on site No. 2. His second Alloy, 111th Street and Route 59 in Naperville, is scheduled to complete construction on Feb. 10. A grand opening is scheduled for April 1 with training starting March 10.

“It was a very, very good first year. Our members really enjoyed it, and we’ve enjoyed our members even more. We’re at capacity, we’re able to help a bunch of people,” LaCosse said.

Alloy uses free weights, bands, kettle bells and cables to enhance functional strength, in small groups with a trainer.

A goal is to help clients “age gracefully,” a strategy LaCosse embraces after seven surgeries and a 2022 concussion had him retire from football in favor of spending quality time with his wife, Jessica, a Rosary graduate, and their two young children.

“Our first location is really awesome, we built a really strong community there, and we look forward to wrapping our arms around south Naperville and building the same kind of community down there,” LaCosse said.

doberhelman@dailyherald.com

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