Beginning in August, Katherine Allen and her cross country teammates ran day after day with one goal in mind: placing as high as they could in the IHSA state meet in Peoria, where Uni had come in fourth the year before. In this first-person account, Katherine writes about what it was like to compete in the biggest race of the year.

If you noticed a crowd in the first-floor hallway during lunch today, it wasn't because of a pizza sale. This time the congestion was caused by senior Michelle Mehnert and her cross country treammates, who had an appointment with coach Doug Mynatt. Check inside to see what all the commotion was about.

When senior Michelle Mehnert finished third overall at the Class 1A girls cross country state meet on Saturday, she did more than set a school record for highest finish by a Uni runner in the IHSA finals. She also won a challenge with coach Doug Mynatt: If she placed in the top five, he would allow her to shave his head. Today he pays up.

Senior Michelle Mehnert placed third at the Class 1A state finals in Peoria this morning, the best individual finish by a Uni cross country runner — male or female — in school history. As a team, the Uni girls placed ninth overall. On the boys side, junior Malcolm Taylor finished 29th out of 165 runners. He missed earning all-state honors by just four places. Both Taylor and Mehnert ran personal bests today.

[UPDATED] Senior Michelle Mehnert ran her fastest 3-mile race of the year as she led her teammates to a state-qualifying third-place finish at Saturday's Class 1A Paxton-Buckley-Loda sectional. Mehnert herself placed second overall out of 130 runners.

Senior Michelle Mehnert won first place at Saturday morning's Class 1A St. Joseph regional meet at Kickapoo State Park, but she and her teammates finished second overall to host school St. Joseph-Ogden. Heading into the meet, Uni was ranked No. 7 in Class 1A while SJO was No. 6. Uni will advance to next Saturday's sectional meet at Paxton-Buckley-Loda High School.

The cross country teams concluded their regular season today with the Amboy Invitational. Two days earlier they competed in the Mahomet-Seymour Invitational. The teams will now prepare for the IHSA postseason, which begins with regionals on Oct. 20. Both squads will compete in the St. Joseph regional. The Paxton-Buckley-Loda sectional will follow on Oct. 27. The state finals are scheduled for Nov. 3 at Detweiller Park in Peoria. The girls placed fourth at state last year and have been ranked as high as third this year. The boys are hoping to qualify for state for the first time since 1997.

The girls narrowly missed winning the St. Joseph-Ogden Spartan Classic on Saturday. Senior Michelle Mehnert placed fifth out of 156 runners as the Illineks, ranked No. 4 in Class 1A, finished second behind No. 3-ranked Eureka. Running without senior Shivani Khanna, Uni fell short of the title by only 6 points. Twenty-two scoring teams competed.

The Uni girls cross country team, now ranked fourth in Class 1A by Illinois Prep Top Times, won the Tuscola Invitational on Saturday. It was the second straight year the girls claimed the title, but they improved over last year's finish by 17 points. The boys, meanwhile, were missing three of their top runners but still managed to outdo their 2006 performance by 81 points. Check inside for a video story about the girls' repeat victory.

It was another busy day for Uni sports teams. The girls cross country squad, currently ranked No. 3 in Class 1A by Illinois Prep Top Times, easily won a home meet Tuesday afternoon. The boys, meanwhile, placed a strong second behind state powerhouse PBL. The boys soccer team lost to Oakwood, and the girls volleyball team, playing its first home match of the season, lost to Normal Calvary Baptist.

All of Uni's varsity sports teams played on Saturday, and the results were impressive. The girls cross country team turned in a solid fourth-place performance against some of the best teams in the state at the Peoria Woodruff Invitational. The boys cross country team placed eighth, a significant improvement over last year's 19th-place finish. The girls volleyball team won second place at the highly competitive Westville Invitational, losing only to tourney champ Georgetown-Ridge Farm. The boys soccer team won its third straight game, shutting out Sullivan in a contest shortened because of lightning. And the girls swim team downed U-High Chicago, the second time in two years the girls have defeated their lab-school rivals.

The Illineks won the Twin City Championship Meet today, continuing the streak that began in 2004 when Uni first claimed the title as best girls cross country team in Champaign-Urbana. Senior Michelle Mehnert continued a streak of her own, finishing as the meet's top runner for the second straight year. Junior Elaine Gu followed in second place, while sophomore Elizabeth Russell came in a close third.

Michelle Mehnert won the award for top senior and Elizabeth Russell was named top sophomore at Saturday's 26th annual Chrisman Cow Chip Classic. The Uni girls finished the day second overall, but only Class 2A powerhouse Mahomet-Seymour outran them on the 3-mile course. With the performance, the Illineks established themselves as the team to beat among small schools in East Central Illinois. Next up: The girls will defend their Twin Cities title Tuesday afternoon at Illini Meadows.

Senior Michelle Mehnert showed that she's one of the top cross country runners in the state with a dominating first-place performance today at the Kickapoo Kickoff Classic. Overall, the Ilineks won the title for the second straight year, with five Uni runners placing in the top 10.

Michelle Mehnert, Shivani Khanna, Elizabeth Russell, and Elaine Gu led this ground-breaking team to Uni's first-ever girls sectional title and a fourth-place finish at state, tied for second best in school history. Better yet, all of the top seven runners will return next year. Posted Monday, Nov. 27, 2006, The OG.