By Erin Hayes
Gargoyle staff reporter
Posted Monday, Sept. 11, 2006, The OG, sports

PEORIA — Sophomore Malcolm Taylor finished 23rd in Saturday's Peoria Woodruff Class A Invitational, while junior Austin Rundus was forced to drop out of the race after a mile due to a foot injury.

Taylor, who placed fourth in the Twin City Championship on Tuesday, said his goal had been to medal at the Woodruff meet (the top 25 runners medal), so he was pleased with the outcome. He ran the three-mile course in 16 minutes, 44 seconds, almost a full minute faster than his time at the Twin City meet (17:41). Until Saturday, his fastest time this year had been 17:11, at the Chrisman Cowchip Classic on Sept. 2.

With sophomore Cheng Luo (146th, 21:32) filling out Uni's top five after Rundus dropped out, the Illineks placed 19th out of 24 teams. According to Rundus, the placing was somewhat expected.

“This year's a rebuilding year,” he said. “We only have one senior, and a lot of freshmen.”

While the Woodruff Invite is early in the season, it is a very competitive meet that draws some of the top teams in Illinois to Detweiller Park, the location of the IHSA cross country state meet.

Besides Taylor and Luo, the other Illinek varsity runners who finished the race were:

— Marquis Wang, senior, 19:41, 106th
— Nathan Smith, freshman, 19:56, 114th
— Jack Snyder, freshman, 20:09, 123rd
— Carl Zielinski, junior, 22:06, 151st

The boys will compete against Paxton-Buckley-Loda, Bismarck-Henning, and Arthur/Lovington this Tuesday in a home meet.

2006 VARSITY RESULTS
(Meets at the U of I 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)