By Carl Zielinski
Gargoyle staff reporter
Posted Saturday, Oct. 21, 2006, The OG, sports

KICKAPOO STATE PARK — As the Uni boys went into this morning's St. Joseph Class A regional at Kickapoo State Park, not everyone outside of the team was convinced they would continue on through the state series.

However, the team — led by sophomore Malcolm Taylor's third-place finish — proved all doubters wrong, as they emerged fifth, allowing them to continue to the Stanford Olympia sectional next Saturday. Uni edged Oakwood by five points for the final qualifying spot.

Taylor ran the three-mile course in 16 minutes, 40.38 seconds, a major improvement over the 17:34 he ran in the Kickapoo Kickoff Classic on Aug. 29, when he placed fourth. Taylor's best time in a three-mile race was 16:14 at the Mahomet-Seymour Invitational on Oct. 7.

Junior Austin Rundus continued his comeback from an Achilles injury by finishing 16th (18:06.57). Prior to his injury, he ran this year's Kickapoo Kickoff Classic in 17:30, placing third.

Runners from 10 schools competed in today's race. The five sectional-qualifying teams were:

— Paxton-Buckley-Loda, 1st, 41 pts
— Georgetown-Ridge Farm/Chrisman, 2nd, 46 pts
— St. Joseph-Ogden, 3rd, 77 pts
— St. Thomas More, 4th, 111 pts
— Uni, 5th, 123 pts

If the Illineks place among the top five at Stanford Olympia next week, they will advance to the state finals in Peoria on Nov. 4.

But even if the team doesn't make it to state, Taylor would qualify individually if he finishes among the top seven runners who are not members of the sectional's state-qualifying teams. Taylor is currently ranked as the No. 20 runner in Class A by Illinois Prep Top Times. His performance today was the highest placing for a Uni runner at a boys regional since David Slichter finished third in 2001 with a time of 17:13.

Going into today's meet, Taylor had a very set agenda.

“I wanted to beat Felix Cardosa from PBL,” he said. “I also wanted to get in the top five.”

Taylor accomplished both goals, beating the PBL junior by 35 seconds. In fact, he finished ahead of the entire PBL team. Only Nathan Warstler of GRF/C (16:23.60) and David Restad of STM (16:32.89) outran Taylor.

While pleased with the results, Taylor was not satisfied with the finish.

“I reached my goals, but I still wish I had done better,” he said.

Uni's top seven runners were a bit out of their typical order for this race, other than Taylor and Rundus finishing first and second. The rest of the Uni results were:

— Nathan Smith, freshman, 18:53.26, 28th (27th among runners with a scoring team)
— Cheng Luo, sophomore, 20:16.15, 40th (38th)
— Andrew Weatherhead, freshman, 20:27.35, 41st (39th)
— Jack Snyder, freshman, 20:41.50, 44th (42nd)
— Marquis Wang, senior, 21:16.71, 48th (46th)

Last year at Kickapoo, the Uni boys won the St. Joseph regional, totaling 50 points. Cameron Cropek placed fourth (17:23) and Kangway Chuang fifth (17:24). Both Cropek and Chuang were seniors. Rundus placed sixth (17:29) and Taylor eighth (17:35). That team finished eighth at the PBL sectional, with no individual state qualifiers.

The last Uni male runner to qualify for state was Drew Hauffe in 2003. Then a junior, he placed ninth at the St. Joseph regional (16:50), 23rd at the PBL sectional (15:50.4), and 81st (16:21) at state (out of 208 runners).

2006 VARSITY RESULTS
(Meets at the U of I Illini Meadows in bold; courses are three miles unless otherwise indicated)

Aug. 29: Kickapoo Kickoff Classic, 6th (points to be posted)
Top Uni runner: Austin Rundus, 3rd overall (17:30)

Sept. 2: Chrisman Cowchip Classic, 8th (50 pts)
Top Uni runner: Malcolm Taylor, 1st in No. 2 flight (17:11)

Sept. 5: Twin City Championship, 5th (87 pts)
Top Uni runner: Malcolm Taylor, 4th overall (17:41)

Sept. 9: Peoria Woodruff Invitational, 19th (points to be posted)
Top Uni runner: Malcolm Taylor, 23rd overall (16:44)

Sept. 12: Home Meet, 2nd (39 points)
Top Uni runner: Malcolm Taylor, 1st overall (17:29)

Sept. 16: Tuscola Invitational, 12th (279 pts)
Top Uni runner: Malcolm Taylor, 6th overall (16:39)

Sept. 19: Clinton Quad Meet, 4th (72 pts)
Top Uni runner: Malcolm Taylor, 3rd overall (17:32)

Sept. 23: St. Joseph-Ogden Spartan Classic, 19th (441 pts)
Top Uni runner: Malcolm Taylor, 15th overall (16:12, 2.95-mile course)

Oct. 7: Mahomet-Seymour Invitational, 10th (295 pts)
Top Uni runner: Malcolm Taylor, 9th overall (16:14)

Oct. 9: Amboy Invitational, 23rd (604 pts)
Top Uni runner: Malcolm Taylor, 16th overall (15:43, 2.9-mile course)

Oct. 21: St. Joseph Class A Regional Meet, 5th (123 pts)
Top Uni runner: Malcolm Taylor, 3rd overall (16:40.38)