Posted Saturday, May 20, 2006, The OG, sports

An extraordinary season came to an end today for the 3,200-meter relay team of sophomore Ruthie Welch, freshman Laura Hazlett, sophomore Shivani Khanna, and senior Josie Chambers.

The girls placed http://www.ihsa.org/guest/pub/track/a-8-fin.html >12th in the 4x800 Class A state finals this afternoon at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.

Although their time of slightly more than 10 minutes (10:00.01) was about four seconds slower than their qualifiying time on Friday (9:56.38), it was 16 seconds faster than their previous record, 10:16.00 at last week's sectional in Gibson City.

The girls competed Friday against 37 other teams in preliminary heats for the right to advance to today's race. Only 12 teams could qualify. The Illineks turned in the ninth-fastest time.

So what kind of season was it for the 4x800 team? A state final appearance, a sectional championship, a best-in-Class A performance at the News-Gazette Honor Roll Meet, a Lady Spartan Classic title, and multiple personal records — yeah, it was a good year for Welch, Hazlett, Khanna, Chambers, and sophomore Samantha Nguyen, who ran in Hazlett's place most of the spring as the freshman recovered from an injury.

Today's race capped off an exciting two-day period for Uni track. Besides the events in Charleston, the boys Class A sectional in Tolono took place Friday. The 4x800 relay team of seniors Cameron Cropek and Kangway Chuang, freshman Malcolm Taylor, and sophomore Austin Rundus won the sectional title with a dominating time of 8:15.42. The boys will compete in state prelims Friday in Charleston.

The girls 4x800 team, including Nguyen, the squad's alternate, was on hand to encourage Cropek & Co. The photo below was taken shortly after the boys won their title.

photo by David Porreca