Note: For a photo essay of the Paxton sectional, click here.

PAXTON — Senior Ruthie Welch won the 800-meter run Friday night in the IHSA 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's time, a personal best, was the fourth fastest in the entire state among Class A runners, according to IHSA sectional results.

Welch was the only Uni athlete to qualify for next weekend's Class A state finals at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, but there were several close calls.

Uni scored 30 points to place ninth in the 17-team meet, just one point behind both Fisher and host PBL. St. Joseph-Ogden, with 87 points, won the sectional championship.

To qualify for state, athletes had to place in the top two of their respective events or meet the IHSA automatic qualifying standards.

Sophomore Tuli Bera placed third in the 100 dash. She ran the final heat in 13.085 seconds, but Alyssa Burgard of Monticello ran it in 13.084, good enough to defeat Bera for second place and a trip to state. The automatic qualifying time that Bera had to meet was 12.94 seconds.

Junior Lizzy Warner placed third in the 400 dash (1:03.00). Her time of 1:03.00 was just six-tenths of a second behind Bismarck-Henning's Jessica Brito (1:02.39). Warner was also shy of the automatic qualifying time of 1:02.04.

The 4x200 relay team of junior Rachel Skoza, Bera, freshman Ashley Huddson, and sophomore Rachel Harmon placed fourth (1:54.54).

The 4x400 relay team of Welch, Skoza, Huddson, and Warner also placed fourth, recording a season-best time of 4:20.26.

For Welch, this is the third consecutive year she has advanced to state, although this is the first time she is doing so as a solo act. During the previous two years, she competed in Charleston as a member of the 4x800 relay team.

This spring Uni didn't compete in the 4x800, since several likely candidates for the squad decided not to participate in track. So Welch was free to concentrate on individual events — such as the 800 and 1,600 — as well as the 4x400.

Although Welch had one of the fastest 1,600 times in the area this season, she chose to compete only in the 800 and the 4x400 at sectionals.

In the 800, she knew going in that Ramos would be her main competition. In fact, Welch had never defeated the Hoopeston junior.

As the race began, Ramos quickly built a substantial lead, trying to put Welch out of contention early. During the first 400 meters, only Welch and Westville's Andrea Martis were able to keep within striking distance of Ramos.

As the second half of the race began, Welch had left Martis behind, and it was now a two-person contest. Ramos continued to lead by at least 10 meters or so as the dueling pair entered the final stretch.

With about 100 meters left, Welch kicked into high gear and blew past Ramos. It was an impressive display of both speed and strategy, as Ramos simply didn't have enough energy left to match Welch's burst.

So among the Illineks, only Welch will compete in the state finals, which begin Friday in Charleston. If she makes the first-day cut in the 800, she will advance to the championship race on Saturday.

CLASS A PAXTON SECTIONAL AT A GLANCE

TEAM SCORES

1. St. Joseph-Ogden 87
2. Monticello 77
3. Bismarck-Henning 52
4. Oakwood 49
5. Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley 42
6. St. Thomas More 40
7. T Paxton-Buckley-Loda 31
7. T Fisher 31
9. UNI HIGH 30
10. Clinton 29
11. Watseka 22
12. Hoopeston Area 19
13. Blue Ridge 16
14. Judah Christian 14
15. Tri-Point 13
16. Westville 3
17. Danville Schlarman 0

CLASS A PAXTON SECTIONAL: UNI RESULTS

TO QUALIFY FOR THE CLASS A STATE FINALS

Athletes must finish in the top two of their respective events or meet the state-qualifying standards in their events to advance to the May 16-17 IHSA state finals at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. The qualifying standards are listed below with the events Uni athletes participated in.

TIMING

The Paxton-Buckley-Loda sectional used fully automatic timing (F.A.T.) for all running events.

UNI PLACINGS

4x100-Meter Relay
• 8th place (56.75 seconds) / 13 teams — Uni High (Linda Ly, Cheyenne Stewart, Angie Jin, Rachel Harmon)
• Class A qualifying standard: 52.0 manual timing / 52.24 fully automatic timing (F.A.T.)

Discus Throw
• 25th place (47 feet, 10 inches) / 25 athletes — Linda Song
• Class A qualifying standard: 107-6

100-Meter Dash
• 3rd place (13.084) / 23 runners — Tuli Bera
• 15th place (14.97) / 23 runners — Cheyenne Stewart
• Class A qualifying standard: 12.7 manual / 12.94 F.A.T.

800-Meter Run
• 1st place (2 minutes, 22.37 seconds) / 20 runners — Ruthie Welch *
• 19th place (3:04.89) / 20 runners — Deborah Ladd
• Class A qualifying standard: 2:27.0 manual timing / 2:27.24 F.A.T.
* IHSA Class A state qualifier

Long Jump
• 8th place (14-1.5) / 22 athletes — Angie Jin
• 20th place (11-10) / 22 athletes — Fiona Weingartner
• Class A qualifying standard: 16-4

4x200-Meter Relay
• 4th place (1:54.54) / 12 teams— Uni High (Rachel Skoza, Tuli Bera, Ashley Huddson, Rachel Harmon)
• Class A qualifying standard: 1:51.5 manual timing / 1:51.74 F.A.T.

400-Meter Dash
• 3rd place (1:03.00) / 21 runners — Lizzy Warner
• 9th place (1:08.12) / 21 runners — Katherine Allen
• Class A qualifying standard: 1:01.8 manual / 1:02.04 F.A.T.

300-Meter Low Hurdles
• 17th place (57.81) / 21 runners — Fiona Weingartner
• Class A qualifying standard: 48.6 manual timing / 48:84 F.A.T.

Shot Put
• 23rd place (19-10) / 23 athletes — Linda Song
• Class A qualifying standard: 35-6

200-Meter Dash
• 10th place (29.78) / 24 runners — Rachel Harmon
• 16th place (31.58) / 24 runners — Linda Ly
• Class A qualifying standard: 26.8 manual timing / 27.04 F.A.T.

4x400-Meter Relay
• 4th place (4:20.26) / 12 teams — Uni High (Ruthie Welch, Rachel Skoza, Ashley Huddson, Lizzy Warner)
• Class A qualifying standard: 4:16.5 manual timing / 4:16.74 F.A.T