By Gargoyle sports staff
Posted Saturday, Nov. 4, 2006, The OG, sports

PEORIA — Michelle Mehnert now stands atop Uni's record books as the highest-placing girls cross country runner in school history. The junior, only in her first year of the sport, finished seventh at the IHSA Class A state finals this morning at Detweiller Park in Peoria.

Mehnert led the Illineks to a fourth-place finish, the best performance by the Uni girls since the 1992 team also placed fourth at state.

As remarkable as that accomplishment was, however, the girls came excruciatingly close to matching the best finish ever by a Uni cross country team. The Illineks scored 176 points, only three points away from third-place Rockford Lutheran (173). Had the Illineks claimed the third spot, they would have taken home a trophy and joined the 1988 and 1991 girls and 1995 boys as the most successful Uni squads ever.

As it was, the girls turned in tremendous times. Each of Uni's five scoring runners set personal bests.

Mehnert blew away her own personal record by 49 seconds. She ran the three-mile course in 18 minutes, 6 seconds, easily eclipsing her previous best of 18:55, set at last week's Stanford Olympia sectional meet, where she finished second.

Before today, the highest placing by a Uni girl came in 1991 and 1993, when Laurel Herendeen finished 15th both times. Mehnert became only the third Uni runner to place in the top 10 at state. Adam Reynolds finished fifth in 1997, and Joshua Folk placed ninth in 1990.

Besides coming in seventh overall, Mehnert finished fifth among runners on a scoring team. (The race included 35 runners who qualified as individuals and were not part of a team. Two of those runners finished ahead of Mehnert.)

Junior Shivani Khanna broke the 19-minute barrier for the first time in her career, placing 30th overall (16th among runners on a scoring team), with a time of 18:50. Last year, when Uni placed 20th at state, Khanna ran 19:24 and came in 65th (35th).

Freshman Elizabeth Russell, who placed 50th (32nd), set a personal record of 19:14, some 26 seconds faster than her previous best, which she ran Oct. 7 at the Mahomet-Seymour Invitational.

Sophomore Elaine Gu also PR-ed, running 19:20 and finishing 59th (39th). Gu's time was 29 seconds faster than the record she set last week at sectionals. Last year at state, Gu ran 20:05 and came in 113th (78th).

Junior Jennifer Roloff, Uni's final scorer, also set a record. Her time of 20:25 was 25 seconds faster than the PR she set at last year's state meet, when she placed 148th (113th). This year she came in 117th (84th).

Rounding out the race for Uni were junior Samantha Nguyen, who turned in a seasonal-best time of 20:50 to finish 134th (101st), and freshman Isaure Hostetter, who placed 156th (121st) and ran a personal best 21:21 — 65 seconds better than her previous record of 22:26.

Winnebago won the Class A title with 131 points. Elmwood/Brimfield was second (134). Twenty-six teams and 216 runners competed. (Decatur St. Teresa and Stanford Olympia tied for the final qualifying spot at last week's S-O sectional; both were allowed to advance, even though St. Teresa was originally announced as the qualifying team.) Here is the top 10:

1. Winnebago, 131
2. Elmwood/Brimfield, 134
3. Rockford Lutheran, 173
4. UNI HIGH, 176
5. Petersburg PORTA, 189
6. Aurora Christian, 215
7. Beecher, 252
8. Monmouth-Roseville, 263
9. Tri-Valley, 316
10. Central A&M, 336

Here are the top 10 individuals:

1. Katelyn Bastert, sr, Carthage, 16:49 (5:37 pace per mile)
2. Olivia Klaus, jr, Eureka, 17:39 (5:53)
3. Stephanie Brown, so, Tri-Valley, 17:46 (5:56)
4. Ann Schuette, jr, Aurora Christian, 17:50 (5:57)
5. Alexandria Palm, fr, Winnebago, 17:54 (5:58)
6. Ryan Eichelberger, sr, Braidwood Reed-Custer, 17:55 (5:59)
7. MICHELLE MEHNERT, jr, Uni High, 18:06 (6:02)
8. Megan Hoelscher, sr, Effingham St. Anthony, 18:10 (6:04)
9. Teneal Pinkston, jr, Robinson, 18:12 (6:04)
10. Raven Pettry, sr, Henry-Senachwine, 18:13 (6:05)

Click here for the complete IHSA results.

This was the 15th time in 23 years that the Uni girls have competed in the state finals. The last seven of those appearances have come with Doug Mynatt as head coach.

While happy with their performances, the girls were also understandably upset with how close they came to bringing home a trophy.

“We all did really well personally,” said Gu, “but it also really sucks because we only lost [out on a trophy for third place] by three points.”

Despite the disappointment, all parties involved are optimistic about next year. As Mynatt pointed out, “We won't lose any of our top seven runners to graduation.”

The girls agree with their coach.

“We plan on coming back even stronger next year,” said Khanna.

COMPLETE RESULTS FOR UNI RUNNERS AT STATE

— Michelle Mehnert, jr, 18:06 (6:02 pace per mile), 7th (5th among scoring runners)*
— Shivani Khanna, jr, 18:50 (6:17), 30th (16th)
— Elizabeth Russell, fr, 19:14 (6:25), 50th (32nd)
— Elaine Gu, so, 19:20 (6:27), 59th (39th)
— Jennifer Roloff, jr, 20:25 (6:49), 117th (84th)
— Samantha Nguyen, jr, 20:50 (6:57), 134th (101st)
— Isaure Hostetter, fr, 21:21 (7:07), 156th (121st)

*Runners who compete as individuals are excluded by the IHSA when calculating team results. The placings of the first five runners on each team are added up to determine team scores. In the case of Uni: 5+16+32+39+84=176.

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, 1st (27 pts)
Top Uni runner: Elizabeth Russell, 1st overall (20:34)

Sept. 2: Chrisman Cowchip Classic, 2nd (18 pts)
Top Uni runner: Michelle Mehnert, 2nd in No. 2 flight (19:57)

Sept. 5: Twin City Championship, 1st (32 pts)
Top Uni runner: Michelle Mehnert, 1st overall (20:29)

Sept. 9: Peoria Woodruff Invitational, 3rd (122 pts)
Top Uni runner: Michelle Mehnert, 8th overall (19:34)

Sept. 12: Home Meet, 1st (16 pts)
Top Uni runner: Shivani Khanna, 1st overall (20:46)

Sept. 16: Tuscola Invitational, 1st (56 pts)
Top Uni runner: Michelle Mehnert, 4th overall (19:20)

Sept. 19: Clinton Quad Meet: 1st (22 pts)
Top Uni runner: Michelle Mehnert, 2nd overall (20:47)

Sept. 23: St. Joseph-Ogden Spartan Classic, 2nd (105 pts)
Top Uni runner: Michelle Mehnert, 6th overall (11:50, 1.97-mile course)

Oct. 7: Mahomet-Seymour Invitational, 2nd (76 pts)
Top Uni runner: Michelle Mehnert, 6th overall (19:23)

Oct. 9: Amboy Invitational, 5th (196 pts)
Top Uni runner: Shivani Khanna, 17th (18:49, 2.9-mile course)

Oct. 21: St. Joseph Class A Regional Meet, 1st (24 pts)
Top Uni runner: Michelle Mehnert, 1st (19:18.99)

Oct. 28: Stanford Olympia Class A Sectional Meet, 1st (64 pts)
Top Uni runner: Michelle Mehnert, 2nd (18:55.2)

Nov. 4: Class A State Final Meet (Peoria), 4th (176 pts)
Top Uni runner: Michelle Mehnert, 7th (18:06)