Most students at WEGO enjoy participating or watching sports as a way to feel relaxed or to distract themselves from their personal problems. Some just enjoy the adrenaline that comes with not knowing whether the team will win or not. State qualifier Judah McLean is one of those people: a natural athlete who runs for relaxation and competition.

Judah was the first state qualifier from WEGO’s cross country team since 2011. His excitement to be a part of the IHSA state tournament could hardly be contained.

“I just don’t think I was mentally prepared for how many people would be there, or how fast it would be – like how fast we would start out. But it was a good experience. And I’m excited to try and get there next year,” Judah said.

He placed 169th out 239 runners, which was an accomplishment considering this was Judah’s first time at the state competition.

“My mom was very excited and I think she started crying when she saw like where I was in the race. And everybody was just very happy for me, very excited, very proud,” Judah said

 The journey to state was a long-time coming. 

“He knew he was going to state back in early June, so we just had working on it throughout the season. At the end, he just had to deliver, and I was very proud of him. But, after sectionals I did have to take few days to let the emotions to soak in,” Coach Yassine Yakhoub said. 

Prior to state, Judah placed within the top ten at both Regionals and Sectionals, which he admitted was one of his goals for this season.

As a junior at West Chicago Community High School, Judah has participated in Cross Country and track for the past three years. While the season wrapped up in the fall, he is looking forward to participating in track in the spring. 

This year, the boys’ cross country team consisted mostly of sophomores; there were no seniors who joined this year, and so Judah, as a junior, was one of the oldest athletes on the team.

In addition to running at state, another goal Judah had this past season was to run three miles under 15:30,which he surely accomplished: his fastest time this year was 15:27.

Off-season, Judah likes to keep training; he does not join any sports in the alternative seasons because he is focused on resting and preparing for next year.

“We practice three days a week of the summer until like, middle of August when the season starts,” Judah said.

And while he might be resting, there is no doubt Judah works hard throughout the year.

“He doesn’t like to waste time and he really cares about the sport. He’s very chill and outgoing athlete always has small conversations with all his teammates, but he’s also very competitive with himself and running partners,” Yakhoub said.

Judah started running when he was 11-12; he participated in cross country and track during his middle school, but he admits that in middle school he was not very good as he would have liked to be.

“No, in middle school, I was pretty slow, so I didn’t get any awards then,” Judah said.

Judah’s two older brothers also ran at WEGO and were part of the cross country team.

“I don’t know what my older brothers did when they were like, when they got to middle school, they started running sideways. I just wanted to be like my older brothers,” Judah said.

Older brothers Micah (‘23) and Josiah (‘21) set a precedent for the McLean family of runners.

“[Josiah] was one of the captains of the cross country team. And my other brother who graduated last year, he probably could have been as good, but he didn’t really like running,” Judah said.

His brothers are an inspiration for Judah, and he looks up to them.

“He’s very competitive with sisters and brothers. But, that doesn’t change his caring personality always looks out for the best for people around him and he makes sure that competition doesn’t get too far,” Yakhaub said.

When Judah is not out on the tracks, he enjoys reading, particularly the “Lord of the Rings” and “Rangers Apprentice” series, and watching football.

“Obviously my favorite football team is the Chicago Bears, but I also like the Houston Texans,” Judah said.

He also likes playing video games like Minecraft, Assassins Creed, and Skyrim with his brothers and friends, which is not surprising considering his competitive nature.

“My favorite memory of Judah would be whenever we would play video games together and with the rest of the siblings he would get very giggly when he would be winning. When he would be losing though he would become very loud about how things were going. It would be the most fun to watch when we are purposely messing with Judah because his reactions are priceless,” brother Micah said.