[UPDATED, audio included] Junior Kareem Sayegh chose an eclectic trio of poems to memorize and recite for the Poetry Out Loud state finals last week: a muscular tribute to a city on the rise, a flirtatious meditation on the cruelty of love, an unflinching look at the reality of war. The result? A top-five finish for Sayegh in Uni's first year of participating in Poetry Out Loud.

[AUDIO included] Junior Kareem Sayegh won first place in the Poetry Out Loud regional competition held Saturday at the Champaign Public Library. Sayegh will compete Thursday in the state finals at the Springfield Center for the Arts. The state winner will advance to the national finals, to be held April 29 in Washington, D.C. Check inside to listen to Sayegh perform the two poems he recited at the regional contest, Carl Sandburg's "Chicago" and Aphra Behn's "Love Armed."