By Gargoyle sports staff

Posted Tuesday, May 1, 2007, The OG, girls track & sports

Junior Ruthie Welch runs the 4x800 relay

at Unity High on April 24. (Gargoyle photo)

(click to enlarge)

MONTICELLO — Don't let the overall team standings fool you.

The Uni girls may have placed 14th out of 21 teams at the Lady Sages Invitational Friday night at Monticello High School, finishing with 18 points, well behind first-place Central A&M's 92.

But look closer, and the meet was tremendously encouraging for the Illineks as they continued to prepare themselves for the IHSA posteason, now less than two weeks away.

“We all ran so well, it was really an excellent meet,” said junior Shivani Khanna.

In the events in which the Illineks have a good chance to qualify for state, they turned in some of their best performances of the year.

To reach the IHSA state finals, athletes must finish in the top two of their events at sectionals or meet the automatic state qualifying standards, also at sectionals.

At Friday's meet, Illinek athletes exceeded the qualifying standards in two events: the pole vault and the 3,200-meter relay.

Senior Paige Martin vaulted 9 feet, 0 inches to place second behind Clinton's Lisa Livingston (10-6). Martin's vault surpassed the state qualifying mark by 6 inches.

After a busy late winter and early spring in which she rehearsed daily for her starring role in Uni's spring musical, “Anything Goes,” Martin is finally able to compete regularly in the pole vault and other events, such as the triple jump and the 300 low hurdles.

At Monticello, she placed seventh in the triple jump (30-0) and 14th in the 300 hurdles (55.60 seconds).

But it's in the pole vault that Martin will almost certainly qualify for the state finals, to be held May 18-19 at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.

The other near-certain qualifier is the 4x800 team. The members have changed several times this season as head coach Doug Mynatt has experimented with different lineups. At Monticello, the squad consisted of sophomore Lizzy Warner, junior Shivani Khanna, sophomore Elaine Gu, and junior Ruthie Welch.

That group ran Uni's fastest 4x800 time of the year, covering the eight laps in 10 minutes, 15.50 seconds — a remarkable 8.24 seconds faster than the automatic qualifying standard of 10:23.74. (It was also faster than Uni's 2006 sectional championship time of 10:16.00.)

Two other relay squads actually finished ahead of Uni: Bloomington Central Catholic placed second (10:12.40) and Central A&M first (9:58.20). But both teams rank among the state's elite and won't compete in Uni's sectional, which will be held May 11 at Sidell (Jamaica).

In Uni's top individual performances, Khanna took fifth place in the 800, running a 2:31.17, the best time recorded by an Illinek in that event this season. Welch placed seventh with 2:33.44, her second-best time this spring (her best was 2:32.51 at the Unity Invitational on April 13).

Freshman Elizabeth Russell placed fifth in the 1,600, recording a time of 5:49.10, just a few seconds behind her season best of 5:46.41 (at the Falcon Invitational in Gibson City on April 20). Gu came in seventh with a time of 5:51.76, more than 3 seconds faster than her previous season best of 5:55.02 (at Unity on April 13).

The girls will compete again Friday at the St. Joseph-Ogden Lady Spartan Classic.

Here are the Uni individuals and teams who placed in the top 15 of their events at Monticello:

— 200: Rachel Skoza, sophomore, 12th (semifinals heat), 29.79

— Winning time: 27.05, Macon Meridian

— Automatic state qualifying standard (fully automated timing): 27.04

— 400: Lizzy Warner, sophomore, 10th, 1:05.84; Aria Collopy, senior, 12th, 1:06.55

— Winning time: 1:01.82, Sullivan

— Automatic state qualifying standard (fully automated timing): 1:02.04

— 800: Shivani Khanna, junior, 5th, 2:31.17; Ruthie Welch, junior, 7th, 2:33.44

— Winning time: 2:22.91, Central A&M

— Automatic state qualifying standard (fully automated timing): 2:27.24

— 1,600: Elizabeth Russell, freshman, 5th, 5:49.10; Elaine Gu, sophomore, 7th, 5:51.76

— Winning time: 5:12.32, Bloomington Central Catholic

— Automatic state qualifying standard (fully automated timing): 5:36.24

— 300 low hurdles: Paige Martin, senior, 14th, 55.60

— Winning time: 47.57, Cissna Park

— Automatic state qualifying standard (fully automated timing): 48.84

— 4x200 relay: Skoza, freshmen Katherine Allen, Cheyenne Stewart, Rachel Harmon, 10th, 2:01.31

— Winning time: 153.18, Shelbyville

— Automatic state qualifying standard (fully automated timing): 1:51.74

— 4x400 relay: Welch, Khanna, Collopy, Warner, 7th, 4:26.79

— Winning time: 4:13.61, Bloomington Central Catholic

— Automatic state qualifying standard (fully automated timing): 4:17.74

— 4x800 relay: Warner, Khanna, Gu, Welch, 3rd, 10:15.50

— Winning time: 9:58.20, Central A&M

— Automatic state qualifying standard (fully automated timing): 10:23.74

— Pole vault: Martin, 2nd, 9-0

— Winning height: 10-6, Clinton

— Automatic state qualifying standard: 8-6

— Triple jump: Martin, 7th, 30-0; Russell, 11th, 28-10.5

— Winning distance: 34-4.5, Oakwood

— Automatic state qualifying standard: 33-5

2007 GIRLS VARSITY TRACK & FIELD RESULTS (OUTDOOR)

March 29: Gibson City Meet (at Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley H.S.)

• TEAM FINISH: 5th (out of 5 teams), 30 pts

• STORY: Relay teams run season bests at Indoor Classic (Outdoor results included in story)

• EVENT RESULTS (top 3 finishes):

— 100: Rachel Skoza (so), 2nd, 14.35

— 3,200: Elizabeth Russell (fr), 3rd, 13:56.7

— 4x200 relay: Skoza, Katherine Allen (fr), Angie Jin (jr), Lizzy Warner (so), 3rd, 2:03.08

— 4x400 relay: Skoza, Allen, Russell, Warner, 2nd, 4:41.6

— high jump: Russell, 3rd, 4-8

— triple jump: Russell, 1st, 30-0

March 31: Champaign County Meet (at Urbana H.S.)

• TEAM FINISH: No overall team standings were compiled

• STORY: Uni athletes take first in three events at county meet

• EVENT RESULTS (top 5 finishes):

— 400: Lizzy Warner (so), 4th, 1:09.8

— 3,200: Elizabeth Russell (fr), 5th, 14:01

— 4x200 relay: Rachel Skoza (so), Katherine Allen (fr), Cheyenne Stewart (fr), Warner, 4th, 2:00.1

— 4x400 relay: Skoza, Allen, Linda Ly (fr), Warner, 1st, 4:49

— 4x800 relay: Shivani Khanna (jr), Elaine Gu (so), Aria Collopy (sr), Ruthie Welch (jr), 1st, 10:48

— high jump: Russell, 3rd, 4-6

— long jump: Angie Jin (jr), 4th, 14-1

— triple jump: Russell, 1st, 29-11

April 10: Gibson City Tri-Meet (at Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley H.S.)

• TEAM FINISH: 2nd (out of 3 teams)

• STORY: Uni athletes win 11 events against GCMS, PBL

• EVENT RESULTS (top 3 finishes):

— 200: Cheyenne Stewart (fr), 2nd, 31.04

— 400: Aria Collopy (sr), 1st, 1:07.41; Ruthie Welch (jr), 2nd, 1:08.6

— 800: Shivani Khanna (jr), 1st, 2:40.1; Elizabeth Russell (fr), 2nd, 2:45.6

— 1,600: Katie Easley (sr), 2nd, 6:56.8

— 3,200: Elaine Gu (so), 2nd, 13:02.6

— 4x200 relay: Rachel Skoza (so), Katherine Allen (fr), Stewart, Lizzy Warner (so), 1st, 2:00.6

— 4x400 relay: Welch, Khanna, Skoza, Warner, 1st, 4:38.7

— 4x800 relay: Warner, Collopy, Welch, Khanna, 1st, 10:48.9

— long jump: Angela Jin (jr), 3rd, 12-1

— triple jump: Russell, 1st, 28-9

April 13: Unity Girls Invitational (at Unity H.S.)

• TEAM FINISH: 11th (out of 21 teams)

• STORY: Relay teams run seasonal bests at Unity Invite

• EVENT RESULTS (top 10 finishes):

— 400: Lizzy Warner (so), 8th, 1:04.87; Aria Collopy (sr), 9th, 1:06.17

— 800: Ruthie Welch (jr), 3rd, 2:32.51

— 1,600: Elaine Gu (so), 4th, 5:55.02

— 4x400 relay: Welch, Elizabeth Russell (fr), Collopy, Warner, 5th, 4:33.48

— 4x800 relay: Welch, Collopy, Russell, Gu, 2nd, 10:39.24

— long jump: Angie Jin (jr), 8th, 13-07.25

— triple jump: Russell, 8th, 29-07.50

April 20: Falcon Invitational (at Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley H.S.)

• TEAM FINISH: 11th (out of 16 teams)

• STORY: Illineks tune up for sectionals with Falcon Invitational

• EVENT RESULTS (out of top 5 finishes)

— 800: Ruthie Welch (jr), 5th, 2:35.77

— 1,600: Elizabeth Russell (fr), 3rd, 5:46.41; Shivani Khanna (jr), 5th, 5:47.14

— 4x400 relay: Welch, Khanna, Aria Collopy (sr), Rachel Skoza (so), 5th, 4:37.85

— 4x800 relay: Welch, Collopy, Khanna, Elaine Gu (so), 2nd, 10:31.07

— Distance medley relay: Skoza, Gu, Linda Ly (fr), Katherine Allen (fr), 3rd, 4:56.25

April 24: Unity Dual Meet (at Unity H.S.)

• TEAM FINISH: 2nd (out of 2 teams)

• STORY: none. In several of the events, Uni faced no competition; in others the competitors were overwhelmingly from Unity High. The meet gave both teams a chance to experiment with different lineups. “The best thing about the meet was we learned how to compete against ourselves — how to push ourselves,” said junior Shivani Khanna.

April 27: Monticello Lady Sages Invitational (at Monticello H.S)

• TEAM FINISH: 14th (out of 21 teams)

• STORY: see above

• EVENT RESULTS (out of top 15 finishes)

— 200: Rachel Skoza (so), 12th (semifinals heat), 29.79

— 400: Lizzy Warner (so), 10th, 1:05.84; Aria Collopy (sr), 12th, 1:06.55

— 800: Shivani Khanna (jr), 5th, 2:31.17; Ruthie Welch (jr), 7th, 2:33.44

— 1,600: Elizabeth Russell (fr), 5th, 5:49.10; Elaine Gu (so), 7th, 5:51.76

— 300 low hurdles: Paige Martin (sr), 14th, 55.60

— 4x200 relay: Skoza, Katherine Allen (fr), Cheyenne Stewart (fr), Rachel Harmon (fr), 10th, 2:01.31

— 4x400 relay: Welch, Khanna, Collopy, Warner, 7th, 4:26.79

— 4x800 relay: Warner, Khanna, Gu, Welch, 3rd, 10:15.50

— Pole vault: Martin, 2nd, 9-0

— Triple jump: Martin, 7th, 30-0; Russell, 11th, 28-10.5

Remaining meets: see schedule