By Carl Zielinski & Gargoyle sports staff
Posted Saturday, Oct. 21, 2006, The OG, sports

KICKAPOO STATE PARK — The Uni girls dominated the St. Joseph Class A regional this morning at Kickapoo State Park, sweeping the top three spots and placing four runners in the top five.

Junior Michelle Mehnert led the field by 32 seconds, finishing the three-mile course in 19 minutes, 18.99 seconds. Her time was a personal best for a three-mile race, beating by slightly more than one second her performance at the Tuscola Invitational on Sept. 16.

“Our workouts have been getting lighter this week,” said Mehnert. “So by the time we got here, we all felt really good.”

Junior Shivani Khanna took second place (19:51.6), with freshman Elizabeth Russell right behind in third (19:59.04). Sophomore Elaine Gu finished strong in fifth (20:18.98).

“I expected the team to win,” said Khanna. “But I wasn't expecting the one-two-three finish, and I didn't think I would get second.”

The performances by Mehnert, Khanna, and Russell put an end to Hannah Hogan's dominance of the St. Joseph regional. Hogan, a junior at St. Joseph-Ogden, won the regional handily as both a freshman and sophomore, ourunning the field by about a minute each year. She placed fourth today (20:11.99), some 53 seconds behind Mehnert.

Rounding out the Illineks' regional championship performance were:

— Samantha Nguyen, junior, 22:30.59, 15th (13th among runners with a scoring team)
— Jennifer Roloff, junior, 22:44.96, 18th (16th)
— Isaure Hostetter, freshman, 23:15.67, 23rd (18th)

The Illineks won the meet with 24 points. Runners from 10 schools competed in the race. St. Joseph-Ogden finished second (55 points), St. Thomas More third (96), Bismarck-Henning fourth (97), and Oakwood fifth (117). All five teams now advance to the Oct. 28 sectional at Stanford Olympia.

This is the second consecutive year and fourth time since 2001 that head coach Doug Mynatt's team has won the St. Joseph regional. If the Illineks finish among the top five teams at their sectional, they will advance to the state finals in Peoria on Nov. 4.

Last year at Kickapoo, without Mehnert and Russell, the Uni girls tied St. Joseph-Ogden for first with 41 points. The Illineks won the regional on a tie-breaker. Uni's top runners were Khanna in fifth (20:49), Nguyen in sixth (20:50), and Gu in ninth (21:19).

The 2005 Uni team went on to place fourth at the Paxton-Buckley-Loda sectional and 20th at state. Since 1998, the Uni girls have made it to state six times, missing out only in 2002 and 2004.

2006 VARSITY RESULTS
(Meets at the U of I Illini Meadows in bold; courses are three miles unless otherwise indicated)

Aug. 29: Kickapoo Kickoff Classic, 1st (27 pts)
Top Uni runner: Elizabeth Russell, 1st overall (20:34)

Sept. 2: Chrisman Cowchip Classic, 2nd (18 pts)
Top Uni runner: Michelle Mehnert, 2nd in No. 2 flight (19:57)

Sept. 5: Twin City Championship, 1st (32 pts)
Top Uni runner: Michelle Mehnert, 1st overall (20:29)

Sept. 9: Peoria Woodruff Invitational, 3rd (122 pts)
Top Uni runner: Michelle Mehnert, 8th overall (19:34)

Sept. 12: Home Meet, 1st (16 pts)
Top Uni runner: Shivani Khanna, 1st overall (20:46)

Sept. 16: Tuscola Invitational, 1st (56 pts)
Top Uni runner: Michelle Mehnert, 4th overall (19:20)

Sept. 19: Clinton Quad Meet: 1st (22 pts)
Top Uni runner: Michelle Mehnert, 2nd overall (20:47)

Sept. 23: St. Joseph-Ogden Spartan Classic, 2nd (105 pts)
Top Uni runner: Michelle Mehnert, 6th overall (11:50, 1.97-mile course)

Oct. 7: Mahomet-Seymour Invitational, 2nd (76 pts)
Top Uni runner: Michelle Mehnert, 6th overall (19:23)

Oct. 9: Amboy Invitational, 5th (196 pts)
Top Uni runner: Shivani Khanna, 17th (18:49, 2.9-mile course)

Oct. 21: St. Joseph Class A Regional Meet, 1st (24 pts)
Top Uni runner: Michelle Mehnert, 1st (19:18.99)