Crystal Lake Central’s Hadley Ferrero helps opponent finish at IHSA state meet

When Crystal Lake Central senior Hadley Ferrero entered the final stretch of Saturday’s Class 2A girls cross country state meet at Detweiller Park in Peoria, something other than the finish line caught her attention.

She saw St. Ignatius sophomore Elle Sheaffer standing bent over with roughly 100 meters left in the 3-mile race. After Ferrero realized Sheaffer needed more than a few words of encouragement to finish the race in Peoria, she decided to act on instinct.

Ferrero helped carry Sheaffer to the finish line.

“I basically just saw she needed some help and I thought that I could always give her a helping hand,” Ferrero said. “It didn’t matter what place I was trying to get because I’ll always choose to help someone in need over reaching my personal success.”

Ferrero brought Sheaffer’s arm around her shoulder and the two started to go toward the end of the race as runners ran by the duo. She continued to voice support for Sheaffer as they made their way through, fighting through urges to stop.

Once the two came closer to the finish line, IHSA officials said the runners needed to cross through by themselves. So Ferrero and Sheaffer separated to finish the race. Ferrero took 93rd overall with a time of 19 minutes, 2.20 seconds, while Sheaffer placed 214th at 20:43.57. Sheaffer and the Wolfpack won the 2A state title.

Both Sheaffer and St. Ignatius assistant coach Ray Lewis approached Ferrero after the race and were grateful for her support.

“Hadley showed incredible sportsmanship when she gave up her state race for me,” Sheaffer said in a statement. “She exemplifies the true spirit and purpose of cross country, and sports in general. I am so grateful for her help and I hope our paths cross again this year.”

Ferrero didn’t regret her decision to stop and help. Many wouldn’t have blamed her for wanting to place as high as she could in her last high school race.

But that wasn’t important to Ferrero.

“I haven’t really thought twice about my decision in that race,” Ferrero said. “I don’t regret doing what I did. And at that point, the places didn’t really matter to me. I just wanted to help her get to the finish and just finish for herself.”

Central coach Brett Willhoit was concerned near the finish line when he didn’t see Ferrero finishing where he expected. He had tracked her to place somewhere around 40th based on how she paced earlier in the race, but runners passed by and he didn’t see Ferrero anywhere.

“I basically just saw she needed some help and I thought that I could always give her a helping hand. It didn’t matter what place I was trying to get because I’ll always choose to help someone in need over reaching my personal success.”

—  Hadley Ferrero, Crystal Lake Central senior

Willhoit assumed maybe a lingering injury had aggravated her during the race, forcing her to slow down. When he realized what had happened, he wasn’t surprised.

Ferrero has shown growth since her freshman season when she placed fourth at the state meet and was named the Northwest Herald Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year. According to Willhoit, she decided to focus on others instead of herself, becoming a strong leader along the way.

“Somebody who’s achieved such high, tremendous honors, she’s now in this different place with running and that was something that kind of showed true, that it’s much more than just her,” Willhoit said. “It’s now focused on others. It’s helped her be a great leader on our team and that focus on others extends to people and other teams as well.”

Ferrero believes she would’ve made the same decision to help had she been presented with an opportunity during her freshman season. She’s hopeful others will do the same if ever presented with a similar opportunity.

“I really just hope to inspire people to do the right thing when they’re making a decision and to keep others in mind,” Ferrero said. “It’s just made me realize that the cross country community is so strong and that we’re all just one big family, encouraging each other. It doesn’t matter what place you get, it just matters if you’re being a good teammate and a good part of the community.”