By Erin Hayes
Gargoyle staff reporter
Posted Monday, Sept. 25, 2006, The OG, sports

ST. JOSEPH — At this year's St. Joseph-Ogden Spartan Classic, Uni sophomore Malcolm Taylor finally realized his seasonlong goal of beating Monticello sophomore Josh Clark. Taylor and Clark have been running side by side in many meets this season, but Clark has consistently finished ahead of Taylor.

This all changed Saturday with what may have been Taylor's best race all season. The course was challenging, the competition running high, but Taylor thrived off the energy and recorded a time of 16 minutes, 12 seconds on the 2.95-mile course. Taylor placed 15th out of 187 runners, one spot ahead of Clark in a virtual photo finish. (In fact, click here for pictures of Taylor's down-to-the-wire duel with Clark.)

Taylor's time was 62 seconds faster than his performance at the 2005 Spartan Classic, when he finished 57th with a time of 17:14.62. Last year's top Uni runner was Cameron Cropek, then a senior, who placed 23rd and ran a 16:23.30.

In other good news for Uni, junior Austin Rundus came back from an injury to run at the SJO meet, finishing second among Illinek runners. He ran the course in a solid 18:22.85, a good showing after sitting out for the past three meets. He placed 87th.

The Uni team finished 19th out of 26 scoring teams, with 441 points, one point behind Tuscola. Paxton-Buckley-Loda, with 104 points, won the meet. Last year Uni placed 10th (305 points).

For the other Illinek runners, the order after Rundus was:

— Nathan Smith, freshman, 19:01.07, 114th
— Marquis Wang, senior, 19:05.99, 117th
— Jack Snyder, freshman, 19:25.32, 132nd
— Andrew Weatherhead, freshman, 19:48.94, 144th
— Carl Zielinski, junior, 19:50.49, 145th

The boys are now enjoying a small break, as they don't compete again until the Mahomet-Seymour Invitational on Oct. 7.

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, 6th (points to be posted)
Top Uni runner: Austin Rundus, 3rd overall (17:30)

Sept. 2: Chrisman Cowchip Classic, 8th (50 pts)
Top Uni runner: Malcolm Taylor, 1st in No. 2 flight (17:11)

Sept. 5: Twin City Championship, 5th (87 pts)
Top Uni runner: Malcolm Taylor, 4th overall (17:41)

Sept. 9: Peoria Woodruff Invitational, 19th (points to be posted)
Top Uni runner: Malcolm Taylor, 23rd overall (16:44)

Sept. 12: Home Meet, 2nd (39 points)
Top Uni runner: Malcolm Taylor, 1st overall (17:29)

Sept. 16: Tuscola Invitational, 12th (279 pts)
Top Uni runner: Malcolm Taylor, 6th overall (16:39)

Sept. 19: Clinton Quad Meet, 4th (72 pts)
Top Uni runner: Malcolm Taylor, 3rd overall (17:32)

Sept. 23: St. Joseph-Ogden Spartan Classic, 19th (441 pts)
Top Uni runner: Malcolm Taylor, 15th overall (16:12, 2.95-mile course)