Uni runners qualified for the March 28 Illinois Prep Top Times Indoor Classic in the following events at Wednesday's meet:

• Boys 4x800 relay
  With Sam Imlay filling in for fellow senior Jacob Olshansky, who was sick, the Illinek squad of junior Isaac Chambers, senior Austin Rundus, Imlay, and junior Malcolm Taylor won the event with a time of approximately 8 minutes, 43 seconds. Taylor clinched the victory with a dramatic finish, running a split of approximately 2:02. The IPTT qualifying time was 8:48.5 (manual timing).
• Boys 4x400 relay
  Featuring a squad of Chambers, Rundus, sophomore Nathan Smith, and Taylor, the Illineks won this event as well, with Taylor turning in another star performance. He ran his split in approximately 50.5 seconds. The squad ran the race in about 3:41; the IPTT qualifying time was 3:43.0 (manual).
• Girls 55 dash
  Sophomore Tuli Bera, a newcomer to the team, took second place in 7.6 seconds, a clear sign of the progress Uni's sprinters have made this season. The IPTT qualifying time was 7.7 (manual).
• Girls 800
  Senior Ruthie Welch qualified for this event for the second consecutive year. Remarkably, this was her first meet of the season (scheduling conflicts forced her to miss other contests). Her first-place time of 2:30.6 easily met the IPTT's 2:32.7 cutoff mark.

Also at Wednesday's meet, Uni athletes made the IPTT wait list in the following events:

• Boys shot put
  Senior Frankie McFarland placed fourth and satisfied the list requirement of 43 feet, 6 inches. He must reach 46-6 to qualify outright.
• Girls 200
  Providing another indication of the sprint team's strength, sophomore Rachel Harmon placed third in this event with a time of 28.9 seconds. She needed to finish in 27.6 to qualify and 29.04 to make the waiting list.
• Girls 800
  Junior Lizzy Warner — who, like Welch, was a member of Uni's 2007 outdoor state-qualifying 4x800 team — placed second with a time of 2:39.7. The list requirement was 2:41.7, but she needs to cut almost 7 seconds to qualify outright.
• Girls 4x400
  The Illinek squad of Welch, sophomore Katherine Allen, freshman Ashley Huddson, and Warner ran a first-place time of 4:28.0, beating its previous best of 4:33.46 from last weekend's Charleston Girls Indoor Invitational. The girls easily satisfied the list cutoff of 4:36.2. To make IPTT, they need to drop their time to 4:25.4.

Also on Wednesday, Smith won the boys 800 run in a time of 2:18.8. The IPTT manual qualifying time is 2:05.1; the list time is 2:07.6.