By Michael Belmont

Gargoyle sports editor

Posted Monday, April 23, 2007, The OG, boys track & sports

Freshman Nick Zukoski clears the final hurdle

in the 110 prelims Friday at the Unity Boys Invite.

He went on to place eighth overall in the event.

(Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)

TOLONO — Uni's 3,200-meter relay team narrowly missed setting a meet record Friday en route to winning its event at the Unity Boys Invitational.

The 4x800 squad of sophomore Isaac Chambers, junior Jacob Olshansky, junior Austin Rundus, and sophomore Malcolm Taylor recorded a season-best time of 8 minutes, 39.08 seconds to win the event by more than 13 seconds over second-place Shelbyville (8:52.23).

The squad fell just a fraction of a second short of breaking the meet record of 8:38.96, set last year by another Uni foursome — Rundus, Taylor, and then-seniors Cameron Cropek and Robbie Robinson. (Robinson was substituting for fellow senior Kangway Chuang, who was absent for that meet.)

Overall, Uni placed ninth out of 13 teams at the Unity Invite, the first major event the Illineks have competed in during the outdoor season.

After a successful indoor season, the 4x800 squad is quickly getting into qualifying shape for the Class A outdoor state finals, cutting more than 14 seconds off the 8:54.2 time it turned in at the Gibson City Tri-Meet on April 10.

At the Illinois Prep Top Times Indoor Classic on March 30, the unofficial indoor state finals, the 4x800 team ran a season-best 8:38.03 to place fifth.

“We lost a little bit of time going into outdoor season, as to be expected, but with Friday's meet at Unity, we're pretty much back up to around our fastest time this year,” Chambers said. “We're in pretty good shape to lose some time over the next few meets.”

To qualify for state, the team will need to finish in the top two at the Tuscola Class A sectional on May 18 or run the automatic qualifying time of 8:22.24, also at the sectional.

Last year's 4x800 team of Cropek, Chuang, Taylor, and Rundus won its sectional race and placed 10th at state.

Also at Friday's meet, the 4x400 relay of Chambers, Rundus, Olshansky, and senior Nick Pratt ran a seasonal best, finishing fourth with a time of 3:42.34.

Individually, the following Illineks placed in the top 10 in their events:

— 400: Nick Pratt (senior), fifth place, 54.51; Isaac Chambers (sophomore), 10th place, 56.31

— 1,600: Jacob Olshansky (junior), 10th place, 5:10.09; Sam Imlay (junior), 10th place, 5:10.09

— 3,200: Jack Snyder (freshman), 10th place, 11:46.42

— 110 hurdles: Nick Zukoski (freshman), eighth place, 21.19

— 300 hurdles: Carter Hutchens (sophomore), 10th place, 49.79

— high jump: Pratt, ninth place, 5-2

— long jump: Pratt, fourth place, 18-3

— triple jump: Kareem Sayegh (sophomore), ninth place, 34-0

— shot put: Frankie McFarland (junior), eighth place, 40-7

Uni finished with 28 points, five points behind eighth-place Clinton and 17 points ahead of 10th-place Hoopeston Area.

St. Joseph-Ogden won the meet with 108 points, followed by host Unity with 103. Third-place Pana recorded 86 points.

The boys will return to Unity High School to compete on Tuesday.

2007 BOYS VARSITY TRACK & FIELD RESULTS (OUTDOOR)

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

• TEAM FINISH: 5th (out of 5 teams), 17 pts

• EVENT RESULTS (top 3 finishes):

— 110 hurdles: Nick Zukoski (fr), 3rd, 21.1

— 300 hurdles: Zukoski, 3rd, 57.8

— shot put: Frankie McFarland (jr), 3rd, 41-11.5

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

• TEAM FINISH: 3rd (out of 3 teams)

• EVENT RESULTS (top 3 finishes):

— 400: Nick Pratt (sr), 1st, 54.06; Isaac Chambers (so), 3rd, 56.84

— 800: Malcolm Taylor (so), 1st, 2:10.1

— 3,200: Nathan Smith (fr), 3rd, 11:56.1

— 110 hurdles: Nick Zukoski (fr), 2nd, 21.4

— 4x200 relay: Carter Hutchens (so), Noel Knox (so), Cheng Luo (so), Kareem Sayegh (so), 1st, 1:46.0

— 4x400 relay: Pratt, Taylor, Jacob Olshansky (jr), Chambers, 1st, 3:53.2

— 4x800 relay: Taylor, Austin Rundus (jr), Chambers, Olshansky, 1st, 8:54.2

— long jump: Pratt, 3rd, 17-10

— shot put: Frankie McFarland (jr), 2nd, 41-3

April 20: Unity Boys Invitational (at Unity H.S.)

• TEAM FINISH: 9th (out of 13 teams)

• EVENT RESULTS (top 10 finishes):

— 400: Nick Pratt (sr), 5th, 54.51; Isaac Chambers (so), 10th, 56.31

— 1,600: Jacob Olshansky (jr), 10th, 5:10.09; Sam Imlay (jr), 10th place, 5:10.09

— 3,200: Jack Snyder (fr), 10th, 11:46.42

— 110 hurdles: Nick Zukoski (fr), 8th, 21.19

— 300 hurdles: Carter Hutchens (so), 10th, 49.79

— 4x400 relay: Chambers, Rundus, Olshansky, Pratt, 4th, 3:42.34

— 4x800 relay: Chambers, Olshansky, Austin Rundus (jr), Malcolm Taylor (so), 1st, 8:39.08

— high jump: Pratt, 9th, 5-2

— long jump: Pratt, 4th, 18-3

— triple jump: Kareem Sayegh (so), 9th, 34-0

— shot put: Frankie McFarland (jr), 8th, 40-7

Remaining meets: see schedule