By Gargoyle sports staff


Posted Monday, April 2, 2007, The OG, girls track & sports

URBANA — One day after finishing seventh in the state at the Illinois Prep Top Times Class A Indoor Classic in Bloomington, the Uni girls 3,200-meter relay team went outdoors and placed first at the Champaign County Meet, held Saturday at Urbana High School.

The 4x800 squad, consisting of junior Shivani Khanna, sophomore Elaine Gu, senior Aria Collopy, and junior Ruthie Welch, won with a time of 10:48, beating second-place Centennial by a remarkable 38 seconds (11:26).

On Friday night, the Illinek team ran 10:18.65 at the IPTT meet, the unofficial indoor state finals.

“I think we ran well considering everybody had run hard at indoor state the night before, and it was our first outdoor meet, and times generally get slower from indoor to outdoor,” said Khanna. “It was a good way to start off the outdoor season.”

The 4x800 squad was joined in the winners circle Saturday by another Uni relay team, the 4x400.

Sophomore Rachel Skoza, freshman Katherine Allen, freshman Linda Ly, and sophomore Lizzy Warner recorded a time of 4:49, edging second-place St. Joseph-Ogden by just 1 second.

In the individual events, freshman Elizabeth Russell won the triple jump with a distance of 29 feet, 11 inches.

According to head coach Doug Mynatt, the meet did not compile overall scores or placings for the seven schools that competed: Uni, Centennial, East Central (Broadlands), Rantoul, St. Joseph-Ogden, St. Thomas More, and Urbana.

Also on Saturday, the following Uni athletes placed in the top five of their events:

— 400: Lizzy Warner (sophomore), fourth place, 1:09.8

— 3,200: Elizabeth Russell (freshman), fifth place, 14:01

— 4x200 relay: Rachel Skoza (sophomore), Katherine Allen (freshman), Cheyenne Stewart (freshman), Lizzy Warner (sophomore), fourth place, 2:00.1

— high jump: Elizabeth Russell (freshman), third place, 4-6

— long jump: Angie Jin (junior), fourth place, 14-1

Senior Paige Martin, who placed sixth in the state in the pole vault Friday night, did not compete in the county meet because she was on a college visit.

Next up: The girls and boys varsity will compete 4:30 p.m. Thursday at St. Joseph-Ogden against SJO and Tuscola.

2007 GIRLS VARSITY TRACK & FIELD RESULTS (OUTDOOR)

March 29: Gibson City Meet (at Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley H.S.)

• TEAM FINISH: 5th (out of 5 teams), 30 pts

• INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (top 3 finishes)

— 100: Rachel Skoza (sophomore), 2nd, 14.35

— 3,200: Elizabeth Russell (freshman), 3rd, 13:56.7

— 4x200 relay: Skoza, Katherine Allen (freshman), Angie Jin (junior), Lizzy Warner (sophomore), 3rd, 2:03.08

— 4x400 relay: Skoza, Allen, Russell, Warner, 2nd, 4:41.6

— high jump: Russell, 3rd, 4-8

— triple jump: Russell, 1st, 30-0

March 31: Champaign County Meet (at Urbana H.S.)

• TEAM FINISH: No overall team standings were compiled

• INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (top 5 finishes)

— 400: Lizzy Warner (sophomore), 4th, 1:09.8

— 3,200: Elizabeth Russell (freshman), 5th, 14:01

— 4x200 relay: Rachel Skoza (sophomore), Katherine Allen (freshman), Cheyenne Stewart (freshman), Warner, 4th, 2:00.1

— 4x400 relay: Skoza, Allen, Linda Ly (freshman), Warner, 1st, 4:49

— 4x800 relay: Shivani Khanna (junior), Elaine Gu (sophomore), Aria Collopy (senior), Ruthie Welch (junior), 1st, 10:48

— high jump: Russell, 3rd, 4-6

— long jump: Angie Jin (junior), 4th, 14-1

— triple jump: Russell, 1st, 29-11

Remaining meets: see schedule.