Senior Ruthie Welch might have been the only Uni athlete to qualify for state at Friday night's Class A sectional meet at PBL, but several other Illineks came close. Check inside for photos of the action. Welch will compete in the state finals Friday in Charleston. If she makes the first-day cut in the 800, she will advance to the championship race on Saturday.

Senior Ruthie Welch won the 800-meter run Friday night in the Class A sectional meet at Paxton-Buckley-Loda High School. She ran the event in a meet-record time of 2 minutes, 22.37 seconds, almost 4 seconds faster than runner-up Erika Ramos of Hoopeston Area, a state finalist last year. Welch was the only Uni athlete to qualify for next weekend's Class A state finals at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.

Isaac Radnitzer, Uni's award-winning varsity goalkeeper, will be recognized this summer for being named to the Chicago Fire's Boys Soccer All-State All-Academic Team. Radnitzer was one of only 86 student-athletes to be named to the team. He and his fellow honorees will be invited to a Fire match in late June or early July at Toyota Park, where they will receive special recognition at the game.

[AUDIO included] The Illineks played like a team ready to make some noise in the postseason as they overwhelmed conference opponent Judah Christian 7-0 Saturday, delivering 37 shots on goal against the visiting Tribe's zero. Four seniors scored on Senior Day, including Zoë Schein, who notched her first-ever Uni goal nine minutes into the game and added a second score (on a direct kick) with five minutes remaining.

Sophomore Michelle Wong and senior Suran Yoo each scored a goal in the first half to lead Uni to a 2-1 upset over visiting Warrensburg-Latham. The nonconference victory raises Uni's record to 8-4-2 overall (2-0 in the East Central Illinois Conference). The Illineks had lost three of their previous four matches, tying a fourth. All three losses were to Class AA schools (Mahomet-Seymour, Mattoon, and Danville). Warrensburg-Latham entered Thursday's game as the No. 2 seed in the Class A Williamsville sectional; Uni was No. 4.

The records keep falling for junior Malcolm Taylor. But this time he has company. Taylor set both a meet record and a school record Thursday at the Paxton-Buckley-Loda Boys Invitational as he ran the 400-meter dash in 49.50 seconds. The Uni 4x800 team, which Taylor anchors, also set a meet record (8:38.04), while senior Frankie McFarland set a school mark in the shot put (46-4).

The stellar outdoor season of Malcolm Taylor continued on Monday as he led the Illineks to an impressive sixth-place finish at the 16-team St. Joseph-Ogden Boys Spartan Classic. The junior won the 400-meter dash with a season-best time of 50.04 seconds and anchored the winning 4x800 relay team. In field events, senior Frankie McFarland broke his own school record in the discus three times on his way to a third-place finish.

After five straight victories, including four by shutout, the Illineks fell 3-0 to Class AA power Mahomet-Seymour on Tuesday. Uni played the visiting Bulldogs to a scoreless tie for more than 60 minutes and in fact outshot them 7-4 in the second half. But the visitors made the most of their few chances. Uni will travel to Mattoon for a nonconference game Thursday.

Junior Malcolm Taylor continued to have a brilliant outdoor season, beating Unity state finalist Zebo Zebe in the 800 and anchoring the 4x800 relay team's comfortable win over St. Joseph-Ogden at Friday's Unity Boys Invitational. Field star Frankie McFarland placed second in the shot put and fifth in the discus throw as Uni finished eighth out of 13 teams overall.

Junior Joy Shapley scored a pair of goals Saturday, including one on a penalty kick, as the Uni girls defeated Macon Meridian 4-0 in a nonconference road game. The victory was the Illineks' fifth straight, dating back to their 3-1 upset of Class AA Charleston on April 8. It was also their fourth consecutive shutout. With senior keeper Sarah Pfander leading the way, Uni has given up only six goals in nine games.

[AUDIO included] The Uni offense finally caught fire Thursday as the Illineks scored five goals in 15 minutes in a 6-0 conference victory over Decatur Christian. Erika Belmont scored twice, and Michelle Wong, Suran Yoo, Joy Shapley, and Sarah Pfander each added one goal. Uni improved to 6-1-1 overall, 2-0 in the East Central Illinois Conference. Today's victory was Uni's third straight shutout win.

Sophomore Michelle Wong notched her team-leading fourth goal of the season to give the Illineks the only score they needed as they shut out Decatur St. Teresa today 1-0. The victory raises Uni's varsity record to a stellar 5-1-1 as the girls get ready for a road game Thursday against conference opponent Decatur Christian. Kumars Salehi has the story.

With an assist from Erika Belmont, sophomore Michelle Wong broke up a scoreless tie 10 minutes into the second half as Uni defeated Normal Calvary Baptist Academy 1-0 on Saturday. It was the team's first conference match of the season. The Illineks are now 4-1-1 overall and 1-0 in the East Central Illinois Conference. The girls will be tested on Tuesday when they host Decatur St. Teresa.

[UPDATED with photos] Senior Ruthie Welch won the 1,600-meter run and placed second in the 800 as the Illineks finished seventh overall at the Unity Girls Invitational Friday evening in Tolono. Twenty-one teams competed in the meet, making it the biggest challenge of the outdoor season so far for the Uni girls.

Last week at St. Joseph-Ogden, senior Malcolm Taylor dazzled spectators with a state-caliber performance in the 400-meter dash. This week at Paxton-Buckley-Loda, he quadrupled the distance and still came out on top, eclipsing his old cross-country rival from PBL, Felix Cardoso, by almost 11 seconds to win the 3,200 run. Taylor's performance was one of several Uni highlights at Tuesday's PBL coed meet.