By Gargoyle sports staff
Posted Saturday, May 26, 2007, The OG, boys track & sports

The 4x800 squad displays the first state medals
ever won by a Uni boys relay team. Clockwise
from bottom left: Jacob Olshansky, Austin
Rundus, Malcolm Taylor, Isaac Chambers.
(Gargoyle photo) (click to enlarge)

[Note: For a photo essay covering the 4x800 team's record-breaking medal performance, click here. For complete coverage of Friday's state track prelims, click here.]

CHARLESTON — The 3,200-meter relay team of sophomore Isaac Chambers, junior Jacob Olshansky, junior Austin Rundus, and sophomore Malcolm Taylor set a school record on the way to winning a medal today in the IHSA Class A state track finals at Eastern Illinois University.

With a raucous crowd filling the seats of O'Brien Stadium, the Illineks recorded a school-best time of 8 minutes, 11.30 seconds to place seventh in the 12-team race. The top nine teams won medals.

The previous school record was held by the 1998 team of Jeff Helfrich, Charles Terry, Paul Herendeen, and Adam Reynolds, who ran a time of 8:11.75 while competing in the state prelims that year.

“For a race like this, there's not much strategy involved,” said head coach Doug Mynatt shortly after today's results were announced. “You've got 12 teams out there, and you know there are nine spots, nine medals, and you want one of them. So whatever you have to do to get one of those spots, that's the strategy.”

The Uni squad missed fifth place by only two-tenths of a second. Beecher finished in the No. 5 spot with a time of 8:11.10. Robinson clocked in at 8:11.22 for sixth place.

Rochester won the state title, running the event in 8:01.24.

The Illineks cut almost 6 seconds off their Friday prelim time of 8:17.05. That mark was a season record for the team.

As good as Friday's performance was — and it included personal bests by Chambers and Olshansky — Mynatt went into today's race believing there was room for improvement.

“Looking back at what they ran yesterday, and seeing how Austin ran, seeing how Malcolm ran, I knew that wasn't their best relay,” Mynatt said. “I knew they had some more in there. So the key was seeing Isaac stay at least where he was, if not improve, and then with Jacob, we definitely needed a big race out of him again. He came through.”

In fact, all four Uni runners set personal records in their splits today, according to Mynatt.

Chambers ran 2:02.5, Olshansky 2:07.5, Rundus 2:01.8, and Taylor 1:59.3.

“That's the way you've got to do it in a relay,” Mynatt said. “Everyone has to have their best on the same day.”

Rundus agreed with Mynatt's assessment of Friday's prelim — and he knew how to improve his performance.

“Yesterday I thought I didn't do enough to chase people down, so I really tried to put the hammer down early and hunt people,” Rundus said after today's race. “I ran a faster first lap than I think I've ever run. I paid for it in the second lap, but I knew I had to get up if we wanted to compete for a place.”

Despite entering today's race with hamstring problems, Taylor recorded his first-ever time under 2 minutes. Mynatt described Taylor's performance in one word: “spectacular.”

After running the 4x800 prelim Friday morning, the sophomore sat out Uni's 4x400 heat later that afternoon because of a tight hamstring. But rest alone wasn't the only treatment he sought.

“Last night I went and got a massage to fix that,” he said. “I felt almost as close to 100 percent as I think I could. So I don't think it affected me very much today.”

Taylor had been disappointed in his prelim and sectional times, but he liked how he handled things today.

“I think I ran a smarter race,” he said. “I was more confident than I usually am. I put it all out there — we wanted a medal. That's good. It's part of Uni history.”

Speaking of history, this is the first time that a Uni boys relay team of any kind has won an IHSA state medal.

“I've brought a lot of 4x8 relays here, and I've never had one of them medal,” said Mynatt, who took over as head coach in 1996. “The closest we got was last year.”

Last year's 4x800 squad of Taylor, Rundus, and then-seniors Cameron Cropek and Kangway Chuang barely missed winning a medal, placing 10th with a time of 8:11.88.

A check of the IHSA record book confirms that no other Uni boys relay team medaled before Mynatt arrived. (Uni girls have medaled eight times in various relays, the most recent in 1992.)

The last time Uni won a medal at the boys state meet was 1999, when Jeff Helfrich placed seventh in the 1,600 run.

Until today, only five Uni boys had medaled in track: Helfrich; Damian Marshall (1996, third place, 1,600 run); Tim Rauschenberger (1994, sixth place, 400 dash); Peter Hanratty (1982, seventh place, 1,600 run); and Warren Goodell (1941, second place, 880-yard run). Goodell won his medal when there was only one state meet for all Illinois schools regardless of enrollment size.

Here is the complete rundown of today's Class A 4x800 final:

1. Rochester, 8:01.24
   
2. Newton, 8:03.19
   
3. Winnebago, 8:05.91
   
4. Bloomington Central Catholic, 8:08.44
   
5. Beecher, 8:11.10
   
6. Robinson, 8:11.22
   
7. UNI HIGH, 8:11.30
   
8. Elmwood (Coop), 8:11.97
   
9. Westmont, 8:12.27
   
10. Byron, 8:13.08
    
11. Monticello, 8:15.30
    
12. Walther Lutheran, 8:15.43
    

The atmosphere at times resembled a football game, with the near-capacity crowd cheering loudly as the teams maneuvered for position during the relay's eight laps.

Leadoff runner Chambers got things going for the Illineks, establishing himself in the sixth position by the time he handed off the baton to Olshansky.

Despite running a PR, Olshansky dropped to 11th by the time he finished his two laps. At that point Rundus took over and made it clear that Uni would be in serious contention for a medal.

“He showed he wanted it,” Mynatt said of Rundus. “He got us into fifth place at one point. And with the two of them [Rundus and Taylor] running three-four, I knew we had a chance.”

When Taylor took the baton with two laps remaining, Uni was in sixth place. As the sophomore ran his best 4x800 ever, the Illineks finally achieved their goal of bringing home a medal.

“Up until the very finish, we had a shot at the top five,” Mynatt said. “So it was a really tight finish with three or four teams there.”

Coaches aren't allowed on the field during the state meet, so Mynatt wasn't able to communicate to his runners as he usually does during a competition.

“There's nothing you can do up there,” he said. “You're sitting in the stands. If you yell, they can't hear you. It's all on their shoulders. They took the load today, and they did what they had to do.”

After competing in last year's finals, both Rundus and Taylor were in familiar surroundings. The one big difference was that the two had switched positions: Rundus was now the No. 3 runner, while Taylor anchored the team.

“There's a lot more pressure being anchor,” Taylor said. “You can tell the difference between the third leg and the anchor leg. They're much, much faster. I think I handled it pretty well.”

Added Rundus: “It was less nerve-wracking for me [this year]. First off, I wasn't anchor, and second, we've been here and we knew what we had to do. We knew the competition better. We're older, smarter, and faster.”

Perhaps the most exciting thing to come out of today's race is the realization that Uni's four medalists will return next year. The 4x800 squad isn't losing anyone to graduation, as opposed to last year, when standouts Cropek and Chuang departed.

“Another year,” said Mynatt, smiling. “A lot of things will come into play, but the potential's there as long as they put in the work, put in the hard effort that it's going to take. They could do bigger things.”

2007 BOYS VARSITY TRACK & FIELD RESULTS (OUTDOOR)

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

• TEAM FINISH: 5th (out of 5 teams), 17 pts

• STORY: Relay teams run season bests at Indoor Classic (Outdoor results included in story)

• EVENT RESULTS (top 3 finishes):

— 110 hurdles: Nick Zukoski (fr), 3rd, 21.1

— 300 hurdles: Zukoski, 3rd, 57.8

— shot put: Frankie McFarland (jr), 3rd, 41-11.5

April 10: Gibson City Tri-Meet (at Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley H.S.)

• TEAM FINISH: 3rd (out of 3 teams)

• STORY: Uni athletes win 11 events against GCMS, PBL

• EVENT RESULTS (top 3 finishes):

— 400: Nick Pratt (sr), 1st, 54.06; Isaac Chambers (so), 3rd, 56.84

— 800: Malcolm Taylor (so), 1st, 2:10.1

— 3,200: Nathan Smith (fr), 3rd, 11:56.1

— 110 hurdles: Nick Zukoski (fr), 2nd, 21.4

— 4x200 relay: Carter Hutchens (so), Noel Knox (so), Cheng Luo (so), Kareem Sayegh (so), 1st, 1:46.0

— 4x400 relay: Pratt, Taylor, Jacob Olshansky (jr), Chambers, 1st, 3:53.2

— 4x800 relay: Taylor, Austin Rundus (jr), Chambers, Olshansky, 1st, 8:54.2

— long jump: Pratt, 3rd, 17-10

— shot put: Frankie McFarland (jr), 2nd, 41-3

April 20: Unity Boys Invitational (at Unity H.S.)

• TEAM FINISH: 9th (out of 13 teams)

• STORY: 4x800 team wins at Unity Invite, on pace for state

• EVENT RESULTS (top 10 finishes):

— 400: Nick Pratt (sr), 5th, 54.51; Isaac Chambers (so), 10th, 56.31

— 1,600: Jacob Olshansky (jr), 10th, 5:10.09; Sam Imlay (jr), 10th place, 5:10.09

— 3,200: Jack Snyder (fr), 10th, 11:46.42

— 110 hurdles: Nick Zukoski (fr), 8th, 21.19

— 300 hurdles: Carter Hutchens (so), 10th, 49.79

— 4x400 relay: Chambers, Rundus, Olshansky, Pratt, 4th, 3:42.34

— 4x800 relay: Chambers, Olshansky, Austin Rundus (jr), Malcolm Taylor (so), 1st, 8:39.08

— high jump: Pratt, 9th, 5-2

— long jump: Pratt, 4th, 18-3

— triple jump: Kareem Sayegh (so), 9th, 34-0

— shot put: Frankie McFarland (jr), 8th, 40-7

April 24: Unity Dual Meet (at Unity H.S.)

• TEAM FINISH: 2nd (out of 2 teams)

• STORY: none. In several of the events, Uni faced no competition; in others the competitors were overwhelmingly from Unity High. The meet gave both teams a chance to experiment with different lineups.

April 27: St. Joseph-Ogden Spartan Classic (at SJO H.S.)

• TEAM FINISH: 7th (out of 17 teams)

• STORY: 4x800 places first, 4x400 makes school history

• EVENT RESULTS (top 5 finishes):

— 400: Malcolm Taylor (so), 3rd, 52.55; Nick Pratt (sr), 4th, 52.72

— fresh/soph 400: Isaac Chambers (so), 3rd 55.00

— 4x400 relay: Chambers, Austin Rundus (jr), Taylor, Pratt (sr), 3rd, 3:34.49 (school record)

— 4x800 relay: Chambers, Jacob Olshansky (jr), Rundus, Taylor, 1st, 8:25.72

May 10: Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Invitational (at GCMS High School)

• TEAM FINISH: 4th (out of 5 teams)

• STORY: Pratt leads Illineks at GCMS Invitational

• EVENT RESULTS (top 3 finishes):

— 300 hurdles: Kareen Sayegh (so), 3rd, 54.1

— 4x200 relay (members to be posted): 3rd, 1:47.2

— 4x800 relay (members to be posted): 3rd, 9:51.2

— high jump: Nick Pratt (sr), 1st, 5-10

— shot put: Frankie McFarland (jr), 3rd, 40-2

May 12: Mahomet-Seymour Invite (at Mahomet-Seymour H.S.)

• TEAM FINISH: 10th (out of 16 teams)

• STORY: May 12 boys meet: Taylor, Pratt dominate 400 run at Mahomet; 4x800 looks strong

• EVENT RESULTS (top 8 finishes):

— 400: Malcolm Taylor (so), 1st, 51.7; Nick Pratt (sr), 2nd, 51.9

— 4x400: Isaac Chambers (so), Austin Rundus (jr), Taylor, Pratt, 5th, 3:36.5

— 4x800: Chambers, Jacob Olshansky (jr), Rundus, Taylor, 2nd, 8:21.8

May 14: News-Gazette Honor Roll Meet (at U of I Track & Field Stadium)

• TEAM FINISH: not applicable

• STORY: Illineks impress at News-Gazette Honor Roll Meet

• EVENT RESULTS (all finishes)

— 400: Nick Pratt (sr), 3rd, 51.52

— 4x800 relay: Isaac Chambers (so), Jacob Olshansky (jr), Austin Rundus (jr), Malcolm Taylor (so), 1st, 8:23.5

May 18: Class A Sectional (at Tuscola H.S.)

• TEAM FINISH: 6th (out of 16 teams)

• STORY: Pratt, two relays qualify for state

• EVENT RESULTS (top 6 finishes):

— 400: Nicolas Pratt (sr), 3rd, 51.64 (state qualifier)

— 4x400 relay: Isaac Chambers (so), Austin Rundus (jr), Malcolm Taylor (so), Pratt, 3rd, 3:30.31 (state qualifiers)

— 4x800 relay: Chambers, Jacob Olshansky (jr), Rundus, Taylor, 1st, 8:27.53 (state qualifiers)

— long jump: Pratt, 4th, 20-1/4 (personal record)

— high jump: Pratt, 6th, 5-6

— discus: Frankie McFarland, 132-2 1/4 (did not place in top 6 but set Uni record)

May 25: Class A State Meet (at Eastern Illlinois University)

• TEAM FINISH: not applicable

• STORY: See you on Saturday!

• EVENT RESULTS (all finishes):

— 400: Nicolas Pratt (sr), 6th in prelim heat, 18th out of 35 overall, 52.12

— 4x400 relay: Isaac Chambers (so), Sam Imlay (jr), Austin Rundus (jr), Nicolas Pratt (sr), 8th in prelim heat, 38th out of 38 overall, 3:47.24

— 4x800 relay: Chambers, Jacob Olshansky (jr), Rundus, Malcolm Taylor (so), 5th in prelim heat, 8th out of 32 overall, 8:17.05 (Saturday state final qualifiers)

May 26: Class A State Meet (at Eastern Illlinois University)

• TEAM FINISH: not applicable

• STORY: see above

• EVENT RESULTS (IHSA state finals):

— 4x800 relay: Isaac Chambers (so), Jacob Olshansky (jr), Austin Rundus (jr), Malcolm Taylor (so), 7th, 8:11.30 (IHSA state medal winners)

Remaining meets: None. The season is over. See you next year.