The Illineks came up big at the Class A state indoor meet Friday in Bloomington, led by the second-place boys 4x800-meter relay team. Ruthie Welch finished third in the 800 run, and sprinter Tuli Bera took sixth in the 55 dash. Friday's meet was open only to the top track and field athletes in Class A.

Uni's school-record 4x800-meter relay team is already ahead of schedule, winning the Charleston Indoor Invitational on Saturday after placing fourth at the same meet last year. The squad of Isaac Chambers, Jacob Olshansky, Austin Rundus, and Malcolm Taylor cut almost eight seconds off its time from the 2007 Charleston meet. Next up: the Illinois Prep Top Times Indoor Classic, the unofficial indoor state finals.

The Uni High track team will once again be well represented at the annual Illinois Prep Top Times Indoor Classic. The IPTT, which will take place March 28 for Class A schools, is the unofficial state meet for indoor track and field. Uni runners qualified for the IPTT in four events Wednesday at the University of Illinois Armory.

As the Uni girls made their way through the biggest indoor meet of the season, the Charleston Invitational, many runners recorded personal best times, while the 4x200 and 4x400 relay teams earned medals as well.