Note: All times from Wednesday's Armory meet are hand times. To convert hand times to FAT (fully automatic timing) add .24 seconds for 55 meters to 300 meters and add .14 seconds for 400 meters and up.

CHAMPAIGN — The Uni High track team will once again be well represented at the annual Illinois Prep Top Times Indoor Classic.

The IPTT, which will take place March 28 for Class A schools, is the unofficial state final for indoor track and field. The meet will be held at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington.

Seven Uni runners qualified for the IPTT in a meet Wednesday at the University of Illinois Armory. Five other Illineks came close to qualifying, making the IPTT wait list in several events.

Uni's opponents in Wednesday's meet included St. Joseph-Ogden, Urbana, Tuscola, and Unity.

Unlike standard indoor meets, teams were not scored in Wednesday's contest, and not all possible events were held. This particular meet excluded events such as the 3,200-meter run and the 4x200 relay.

For some Uni runners this was their last chance to qualify for the IPTT. For those athletes who do not make the cutoff mark in their events, they can make the waiting list if their result matches that given by IPTT. Athletes who are on the waiting list have the possibility of competing at the indoor state meet if, for some reason, a qualifier is unable to attend.

Uni runners qualified for the IPTT in the following events at Wednesday's meet:

• Boys 4x800 relay
  With Sam Imlay filling in for fellow senior Jacob Olshansky, who was sick, the Illinek squad of junior Isaac Chambers (first leg), senior Austin Rundus (second), Imlay (third), and junior Malcolm Taylor (anchor) won the event with a time of approximately 8 minutes, 43 seconds. Taylor clinched the victory with a dramatic finish, running a split of about 2:02. The IPTT qualifying time was 8:48.5 (manual timing).
• Boys 4x400 relay
  Featuring a squad of Chambers, Rundus, sophomore Nathan Smith, and Taylor, the Illineks won this event as well, with Taylor turning in another star performance. He ran his split in approximately 50.5 seconds. The squad ran the race in about 3:41; the IPTT qualifying time was 3:43.0 (manual).
• Girls 55 dash
  Sophomore Tuli Bera, a newcomer to the team, took second place with a time of 7.6 seconds, a clear sign of the progress Uni's sprinters have made this season. The IPTT qualifying time was 7.7 (manual).
• Girls 800
  Senior Ruthie Welch qualified for this event for the second consecutive year. Remarkably, this was her first meet of the season (scheduling conflicts forced her to miss other contests). Her first-place time of 2:30.6 easily met the IPTT's 2:32.7 cutoff mark.

Also at Wednesday's meet, Uni athletes made the IPTT wait list in the following events:

• Boys shot put
  Senior Frankie McFarland placed fourth and satisfied the list requirement of 43 feet, 6 inches. He must reach 46-6 to qualify outright.
• Girls 200
  Providing another indication of the sprint team's strength, sophomore Rachel Harmon placed third in this event with a time of 28.9 seconds. She needed to finish in 27.6 to qualify and 29.04 to make the waiting list.
• Girls 800
  Junior Lizzy Warner — who, like Welch, was a member of Uni's 2007 outdoor state-qualifying 4x800 team — placed second with a time of 2:39.7. The list requirement was 2:41.7, but she needs to cut almost 7 seconds to qualify outright.
• Girls 4x400
  The Illinek squad of Welch, sophomore Katherine Allen, freshman Ashley Huddson, and Warner ran a first-place time of 4:28.0, beating its previous best of 4:33.46 from last weekend's Charleston Girls Indoor Invitational. For the second time in less than a week, the girls easily satisfied the list cutoff mark of 4:36.2. To make IPTT, they need to drop their time to 4:25.4.

Also on Wednesday, Smith won the boys 800 run with a time of 2:19. The IPTT manual qualifying time is 2:05.1; the list time is 2:07.6.

The final boys and girls indoor meet of the regular season — the Uni High Indoor Track Invitational — will begin 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Armory.