Kane County Chronicle Girls Cross County Athlete of the Year: Marley Andelman, St. Charles East

ST. CHARLES – To paint a picture of what excellence looks like, Marley Andelman is the artist with the paintbrush in her hand.

“If I had to give descriptors: She is a driven, intrinsically motivated individual. She is one of the hardest working athletes I’ve ever had,” St. Charles East coach Brad Kaplan said.

Andelman, a St. Charles East senior, won the Kane County Meet this season, was fifth in both the DuKane Conference meet and regionals, seventh at sectionals and 42nd at the Class 3A state meet.

Her personal race results, however, were just the beginning of all the brushstrokes.

It’s the race where her own success isn’t the end game that fills the canvas with vibrant colors and everything else that makes a picture glimmer.

“I ran into her at a race [last Sunday],” Kaplan said. “She was pacing an athlete with special needs to achieve his goals in a 5K race. That’s the type of person she is.”

Andelman, a future Texas Christian University triathlete, finished the cross country portion of her career as a four-time all-DuKane Conference selection, three-time all-regional selection and four-time state qualifier.

Considering her resume, Andelman is the 2023 Kane County Chronicle Girls Cross Country Athlete of the Year.

“I’m so thankful and grateful I’ve been able to work with an athlete like her. I couldn’t be more proud of her,” Kaplan said. “I’m looking forward [to her] having a great senior track season. Her and I have been discussing goals. They’re lofty and I think she’s going to be able to achieve a lot of them being the person she is and how she goes about things.”

Similar to past Saints running athletes Alice Abbott and Morgan Sandlund, Andelman showcased high-level consistency and motivation.

“There’s no secrets. She puts in the work running-wise and she puts in the work with the proactive maintaining your body,” Kaplan said. “She is a pro athlete that eats right, sleeps right, does all the drills, all the things that keep you healthy. ... She’s always maintaining her body at tip-top shape, which is easier said than done. We can say ‘Do all the little things.’ She’s the example of what happens when talent, motivation and drive and do all the little things go together. Then you have what she does.

“The drivenness. When Marley wants to accomplish something, she will do everything in her power to do all the things to achieve those goals she has for herself. She’s got a very high standard of herself. I continue to be amazed at what she does.”

The final time crossing the finish line in Peoria was emotional, but also a culmination of her efforts and goals that trace to middle school.

“Cross country has been such a big part of my life,” Andelman said. “I’ve been doing it for seven years now. It’s taken up a lot of my time. It’s taken up a lot of effort. So to have it end – I knew that the end was coming and I knew when I was going to finish that was it – just having that feeling as I finished was super emotional for me just to look back at all the years and see what I worked for.”

Andelman once was the middle schooler watching all the big kids run their races. Now it’s her turn to pass the torch to the next young lady looking to follow in the footsteps she left.

The message to that young lady is dream big.

“I had so many goals going into my freshman year and high school in general for cross country,” Andelman said. “A lot of them seemed really lofty, but at the end of the day, when you dream big, you’re going to have things to work toward. You’re not going to be static. You’ll be able to progress. So just keep working at it and dream big.”

All Area List

Sofia Borter (Geneva), Abigal Burke (Burlington Central), Madeline Cassidy (Batavia), Gwen Hobson (St. Charles North), Amalia Im (St. Charles East), Gwen Krodel (Batavia), Camille Sabau (St. Charles North), Chiara Surtz (Rosary), Vivian Wyller (Rosary)