By Erin Hayes & Gargoyle sports staff
Posted Saturday, Oct. 28, 2006, The OG, sports

Note: This story was updated Oct. 31 with quotes from head coach Doug Mynatt.

STANFORD — The Uni boys placed 14th out of 20 teams at the Stanford Olympia Class A sectional meet this afternoon, ending their season. Only the top five teams earned a spot in next Saturday's state final meet in Peoria.

Sophomore Malcolm Taylor, who finished third at last week's St. Joseph regional, did not advance to state individually. He needed to place among the top seven runners from teams that did not qualify for state.

Taylor came agonizingly close. He placed 11th overall and eighth among runners not on qualifying teams. Seven of the top 10 runners were individual qualifiers, an extremely rare occurrence. In fact, each of the other four sectionals today had at least three individual qualifiers who placed outside their top 10. (Click here for all sectional results.)

The Uni underclassman ran the three-mile course in 16 minutes, 21 seconds, less than two seconds behind 10th-place Justin Jones of Oakwood (16:19.9), who nabbed the final slot for state. Taylor finished just seven seconds behind his own personal-best time of 16:14, which he ran at the Mahomet-Seymour Invitational on Oct. 7.

“It was heartbreaking that he came so close to qualifying for the state meet, falling short by one individual spot, 1.5 seconds back,” said head coach Doug Mynatt, “but it was promising that he was so close to accomplishing that goal. He had a tremendous sophomore season and positioned himself as one of the top individual runners in the area and beyond. People who didn't know him before this season will certainly know him next year.”

Here is the list of the seven advancing individuals, with Taylor included for comparison:

— Matt Morse, senior, Peru St. Bede, 15:46.3, 1st overall
— Brian Peterson, junior, Minonk Fieldcrest, 15:55.1, 2nd
— Zach Bowling, senior, Heyworth, 16:05.9, 5th
— David Restad, senior, St. Thomas More, 16:06.6, 6th
— Mike Miroux, sophomore, Spring Valley Hall, 16:17.5, 7th
— Zach Switzer, senior, Heyworth, 16:18.4, 9th
— Justin Jones, junior, Oakwood, 16:19.9, 10th
— Malcolm Taylor, sophomore, Uni, 16:21, 11th

Drew Hauffe remains the last Uni boy to qualify for state, doing so in 2003 as a junior, when he placed 23rd at the Paxton-Buckley-Loda sectional with a time of 15:50.4.

The other Uni results were:

— Austin Rundus, junior, 17:39, 46th
— Nathan Smith, freshman, 18:36 (seasonal best), 95th

— Cheng Luo, sophomore, 19:46, 121st
— Jack Snyder, freshman, 19:51, 123rd

— Marquis Wang, senior, 20:31, 132nd
— Andrew Weatherhead, freshman, 20:44, 137th

PBL won the meet with 100 points. The other state qualifiers were Bloomington Central Catholic (103), Georgetown-Ridge Farm/Chrisman (120), Henry-Senachwine (160), and Eureka (162).

“It was a bit disappointing that the team did not do any better than it did in the standings, finishing 14th of 20 teams,” Mynatt said. “We weren't expecting to qualify for the state meet as a team. A top 10 finish was the team goal and would have been exceptional. For the sectional meet, you expect your team to be focused and ready to run their best races of the year. We had some individuals who didn't meet that expectation. Nathan Smith was the only one to come away with a seasonal-best/PR. This is a race that should have seen more efforts like his. Hopefully, some lessons were learned and this young team will come back next year a bit more prepared and willing to lay it on the line when it counts.”

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)

Oct. 7: Mahomet-Seymour Invitational, 10th (295 pts)
Top Uni runner: Malcolm Taylor, 9th overall (16:14)

Oct. 9: Amboy Invitational, 23rd (604 pts)
Top Uni runner: Malcolm Taylor, 16th overall (15:43, 2.9-mile course)

Oct. 21: St. Joseph Class A Regional Meet, 5th (123 pts)
Top Uni runner: Malcolm Taylor, 3rd overall (16:40.38)

Oct. 28: Stanford Olympia Class A Sectional Meet, 14th (335 pts)
Top Uni runner: Malcolm Taylor, 11th overall (16:21)