Last season Malcolm Taylor narrowly missed out on qualifying for the IHSA Class A state finals. Today the junior served notice that he's ready for a run to Peoria with a strong performance at the Kickapoo Kickoff Classic. As a team, Uni showed major improvement under tough conditions.

Senior Michelle Mehnert showed that she's one of the top cross country runners in the state with a dominating first-place performance today at the Kickapoo Kickoff Classic. Overall, the Ilineks won the title for the second straight year, with five Uni runners placing in the top 10.

The Uni senior was one of only 11 students from throughout the state chosen this year to serve on the Student Advisory Council, sponsored by the Illinois State Board of Education. Ma joins Uni classmate Micah Berman, who was named to the council last year.