Tracy sisters pace Fillies to fifth at Palatine

Barrington senior Rebecca Tracy will be remembered for a lot of her cross country and track accomplishments after she graduates.

But what she did Saturday at Palatine's invite at Deer Grove East deserved extended rounds of applause -- and it had nothing do with where she placed (4th) or her time (17:25.9).

It had everything to do with her shouts.

"Elaine!" Tracy yelled to Hinsdale Central junior Elaine Kuckertz with about a half mile left in the three-mile course.

Kuckertz was in second place at the time, with Tracy in third. The Red Devil, competing at DGE for the first time, had inadvertently veered off the course, prompting Tracy, Miss Sportsmanship, to expend valuable energy in order to get Kuckertz's attention.

"I shouted four times, I think," Tracy recalled after helping her Fillies place fifth (163 points).

Kuckertz eventually returned to the course's right path and wound up eighth (17:33.2) for runner-up HC (95).

"I'm proud of Rebecca; that certainly was a good thing for her to do," Fillies coach Deb Revolta said.

Tracy's game plan before her considerate deed was to find a group in front and let it pull her. It was a departure from her approaches during the first month of the season.

"I'd been taking races out too hard," she said. "(Saturday), I held back a little.

"I had something left after two miles."

Tracy's sister, freshman Elizabeth Tracy, took 18th (18:04.6) as the team's No. 2 on Saturday. She was the third-fastest freshman in the field.

"That was outstanding for her, that place," Revolta said. "A place like that will help her gain confidence."

Colleen Shandley finished third (42nd, 18:32.9) among Fillies, followed by AnneMarie Kerchberger (43rd, 18:33.3) and Arielle Schwartz (56th, 18:45.5).

BOYS: Ty Gorman wasn't pleased after Saturday's Palatine meet.

But Barrington's boys cross country coach changed his tune after recognizing the split between his No. 1 and No. 5 finishers: a healthy, tight 29 seconds.

"Seeing that, I like that," Gorman said. "Under a minute is respectable; under 30 seconds is very good."

Gorman was initially upset about his Broncos' 14th-place showing (399 points). Halloween had arrived about a month too early.

"We ran scared," Gorman said. "We've been up and down. We run well on Thursday (duals) and not so well on Saturdays (invites)."

Senior Jeff Robinson (57th, 15:36.6) was the first Bronco to finish on Saturday, ahead of mates Chris Cogswell (58th, 15:37.1), Kyle Dockery (83rd), Scott Kimes (100th) and Micah Koenig (101st).