Welcome, Guest!
Boys track: State finals in pictures
By Gargoyle sports staff
Posted Thursday, May 31, 2007, The OG, boys track & sports & photo galleries
CHARLESTON — Uni's 3,200-meter relay team of sophomore Isaac Chambers, junior Jacob Olshansky, junior Austin Rundus, and sophomore Malcolm Taylor made school history Saturday at the IHSA Class A state track finals. How? The photos and captions tell the story.
RELATED: 2007 BOYS TRACK POSTSEASON COVERAGE
— May 18 Class A sectional: Pratt, two relays qualify for state
— May 25 Class A state meet (prelims): See you on Saturday!
— May 26 Class A state meet (finals): 4x800 relay team makes school history
photos by David Porreca
Eastern Illinois University's O'Brien Stadium was packed last weekend as 180 Class A schools and 210 Class AA schools competed in the IHSA boys track state meet. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
A total of 2,314 athletes took part in the two-day competition — 997 in Class A and 1,317 in Class AA. To advance to Saturday's finals, athletes had to make the cut during Friday's prelims. Uni qualified as one of the top 12 Class A squads (out of 41) in the 3,200-meter relay. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Shortly before 12:15 p.m., Uni's 4x800 team and the other 11 squads enter O'Brien Stadium for the first running event of Saturday's finals. From left (in blue) are sophomore Isaac Chambers, junior Jacob Olshansky, junior Austin Rundus, and sophomore Malcolm Taylor. That's the order the Illineks would run in. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
The Illineks huddle before the race begins. Their goal: to become the first Uni boys relay team to win an IHSA state medal. To accomplish that, they would have to place in the top nine. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Isaac Chambers receives final instructions at the starting line. The closest any Uni boys relay team had come to winning a state medal under head coach Doug Mynatt was last year, when Rundus, Taylor, and then-seniors Cameron Cropek and Kangway Chuang placed 10th with a time of 8 minutes, 11.88 seconds, less than a tenth of a second behind ninth-place Newton (8:11.79). (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Chambers waits along with Winnebago's Sean Carmody. Even Uni's 1998 school-record-holding 4x800 team of Jeff Helfrich, Charles Terry, Paul Herendeen, and Adams Reynolds never won a state medal. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
The race begins with Chambers flanked by Carmody and Robinson's Chris Morris. The 1998 team set the Uni record while running in the state prelims that year, recording a time of 8:11.75 to finish fourth in its 12-team prelim heat and ninth out of 38 teams overall. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Chambers and Morris stay even early in the race. Uni's 1998 team placed 10th in the finals that year, missing a medal by 3.91 seconds. The team finished in 8:18.92; Winnebago placed ninth with a time of 8:15.01. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Still early in the first lap, Carmody, Chambers, and Morris set the pace. The last Uni male athlete to win a state track medal was Helfrich, who placed seventh in the 1,600 run in 1999, clocking in at 4:27.68. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Neither Winnebago (Carmody, to Chambers' right) nor Robinson (Morris, to his left) made it past sectionals last year in the 4x800. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
As the pack begins the second lap, Chambers positions himself to the outside, ready to move ahead. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Chambers passes Byron's Ben Vavra, a junior, and gains on Newton's Doug Brooks, a senior. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Jacob Olshansky, third from the right, gets ready for the handoff from Chambers as the first leg of the race concludes after two laps. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Handoffs almost always take place in tight conditions. Olshansky begins his move as Monticello's Alan Hollingsworth (to the right, in purple and gold) takes off. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Chambers passes the baton. The sophomore ended his split with a personal record time of 2:02.5. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Olshansky begins Uni's second leg. The Illineks are in sixth place at this point. To Olshansky's right, Robinson's Justin Montgomery, a sophomore, looks for a path to the inside lane. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Despite running at a record pace, Olshansky finds himself near the back of the pack after one lap. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Olshansky keeps up with Byron's Bill Clift and Walther Lutheran's Martin Avila. Bloomington Central Catholic's Austin Quinn stays a few steps ahead. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Clift, Olshansky, and Avila battle for position. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Olshansky and Clift begin their final lap. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Olshansky would finish his two laps in a personal record time of 2:07.5. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
It was the second straight day in which Olshansky set a PR. On Friday he ran his split in 2:07.9. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Austin Rundus, far left, waits for Olshansky at the start of the third leg. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Rundus takes the handoff. Uni is in 11th place at this stage. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Competing in his second state final in the 4x800, Rundus is ready to do what he does best: make up ground by hunting down one runner after another. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Rundus was Uni's anchor in 2006 when the team lost out on a medal by less than one-tenth of a second. By his expression, it's clear he doesn't want to repeat that ending this year. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
The junior was less than impressed with his own performance on Friday, and he's ready to improve on it in this race. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Rundus heads toward the pack. He needs to pick up at least two positions for Uni to get into medal contention. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Rundus begins his second lap with Walther Lutheran's Donte Davis in his sights. Trailing both juniors is Westmont's Fadi Bakhos, a senior. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
As Rundus gains ground, the crowd is already on its feet. At times, Saturday's meet sounded like a football game, so intense was the cheering. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Rundus moves to the outside as he begins to overtake Davis. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Malcolm Taylor puts his arms in the air to get Rundus' attention at the handoff line. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Taylor takes the baton. Rundus has made up five spots, putting Uni in sixth place at this point. Rundus recorded a personal-best time of 2:01.8. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Robinson's Kyle Shimer and Uni's Taylor begin the final leg of the race. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Like Rundus, Taylor competed in last year's 4x800 state final. In 2006 he ran the third leg. This year he's the anchor. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Taylor sat out Uni's 4x400 prelims on Friday because of a tight hamstring. He had a massage Friday night and entered Saturday's race feeling close to 100 percent. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
In his first lap, Taylor gets ready to pass Monticello's Josh Clark, a sophomore. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Now it's time for the finish as Taylor and his competition near the end of their second lap. At the front is Beecher's Garrett Nykaza, a senior. He's in fifth place at this point. Taylor needs to place no lower than ninth to secure a medal for Uni. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Taylor begins his final push. Westmont's Chris Habib is just ahead of him in sixth place, but Robinson's Shimer also has eyes for that spot. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Both Taylor and Shimer get ready to outflank Habib. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Taylor passes Habib, as does Shimer. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Now it's a battle for sixth place betwen Taylor and Shimer. Even fifth place is within reach if Nykaza runs out of gas. Nykaza realizes Taylor is getting closer and glances to his right. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
But Nykaza has enough left to maintain his fifth position. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Taylor and Shimer continue to fight for sixth place. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
The finish line is now within sight. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
With one step left, Taylor has already secured Uni's first-ever state medal for a boys relay team. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Less than one-tenth of a second separates Taylor from sixth place; two-tenths of a second keeps him from fifth. How close was the finish? Beecher placed fifth with a time of 8:11.10; Robinson placed sixth at 8:11.22; Uni was right behind at 8:11.30. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Now past the finish line, Taylor has set a personal record, clocking in at 1:59.3 — the first time he has broken the 2-minute barrier. As a team, the 2007 Illineks have broken the 1998 team's school record of 8:11.75 by more than four-tenths of a second. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Taylor takes a well-deserved break after his final lap. All four Uni runners set personal records in the race. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
The Illineks rest as they await the final results. They're confident they have won a medal, but they don't yet know that they have set a school record. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
All four of the Illineks will be back next year. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
They will be aiming for another visit to the awards stand. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
The nine medal-winning teams enjoy their moment in the spotlight. The final results: Rochester, first (8:01.24); Newton, second (8:03.19); Winnebago, third (8:05.91); Bloomington Central Catholic, fourth (8:08.44); Beecher, fifth (8:11.10); Robinson, sixth (8:11.22); Uni High, seventh (8:11.30); Elmwood, eighth (8:11.97); Westmont, ninth (8:12.27); Byron, 10th (8:13.08); Monticello, 11th (8:15.30); Walther Lutheran, 12th (8:15.43). (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Rundus and Taylor plan to be back in Charleston next spring — but first they have a cross country season to run this fall. (Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)
Comments
Isaac, Jacob, Austin, and Malcom congrats on such a great run!
Post new comment