Senior Malcolm Taylor won the 400-meter state indoor title in March and is the defending state runner-up in the outdoor 400. Illinois Prep Top Times photo (click to enlarge)

Sophomore Albert Anastasio, shown here competing for the cross country team last fall, won the News-Gazette Honor Roll Meet's 3,200 race Monday night. Gargoyle photo by David Porreca (click to enlarge)

MONTICELLO — The Uni boys track and field team heads to Monticello today to compete in the IHSA Class 1A sectionals.

The top two finishers in each sectional event will advance to the 1A state meet, which will be held May 28 and 30 in Charleston.

Other athletes whose performances match or exceed the IHSA's automatic qualifying standards will also advance regardless of their placing.

The sectional will take place at Monticello High School, with field prelims beginning at 5 p.m. and running prelims at 6.

Despite several injuries, the Illineks look to do well, with senior Malcolm Taylor (400-meter dash), sophomore Albert Anastasio (3,200 run), senior Isaac Chambers (400), and the 4x400 and 4x800 relay teams all having a shot at making state.

Though made up mostly of underclassmen, this year's exceptionally large team is led by seniority. Three seniors — Taylor, Chambers, and sprinter Kareem Sayegh — make up the Illineks' stellar core.

"It was great to have so many new faces on the boys team this season, and it was fun to see everyone improve as the season progressed," head coach Doug Mynatt said.

"Having more people on the team allowed coaches to fill some spots in events where we haven't had many people in the past and gave us greater depth in the events where we've had people in the past. I'm pleased with the season and hope we can improve on this year's growth."

As a team Uni has been competitive, almost all thanks to the success of the distance squad. During the indoor season, the 4x400 won the Illinois Prep Top Times Indoor Classic state meet.

On Monday, Anastasio won the 3,200 at the News-Gazette Honor Roll Meet, clocking in at 10 minutes, 25.31 seconds. His best time this spring was 10:16.44 at Saturday's Mahomet-Seymour Invitational, good enough for a second-place finish against some of the top athletes in the area.

He is ready for a tough race at sectionals, confident that he has prepared himself well.

"Before an important race, it's crucial to focus on the task ahead," he said. "I'll be thinking about the hundreds of miles I've strained to get to this point. I will try to boost my confidence by telling myself that I am stronger, faster, and tougher than my opponents."

Winning the sectional won't be easy, though, as seven runners at the Monticello meet have seasonal bests within a five-second range of each other, from 10:16 to 10:21. That doesn't leave much margin for error.

"It will be a scrappy and rough race where we are fighting for those two slots," Anastasio said. "Hopefully, I have more fight in me then my opponents."

Taylor, the defending state runner-up in the 400 and the undisputed star of the team, is recuperating from a hamstring injury that prevented him from running at the Mahomet-Seymour and News-Gazette meets. Nevertheless, he will compete in the 400, at the very least.

"My hamstrings are still pretty tight but the worst of the pain is gone," said Taylor. "I've been going to physical therapy for the past week, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to run multiple events, and I will likely not be able to go 100 percent in the races I do run. But I think that we have trained the right way this season and everyone is in good shape to run well tonight."

A fully healthy Taylor would have increased the chances of Uni's relay teams qualifying for state. On May 7, the 4x800 squad of junior Eric Fritzsche, Taylor, junior Nathan Smith, and Chambers set a meet record of 8:34.99 at the Paxton-Buckley-Loda Invitational.

At the same meet, the 4x400 team of Chambers, Fritzsche, Smith, and Taylor placed a solid second (3:38.10). Only Fisher's squad, running a meet record 3:31.04, was faster.

Despite an array of injuries, Mynatt is still looking for success at sectionals.

"There are different levels of success to be attained," the coach said. "Everyone who is competing can come out of the meet with seasonal-best performances, PRs, so that would be a success for the athletes and coaches. For what may be the last meet of the season for most, I am certainly hoping for everyone to pour everything into their event."

Nevertheless, Mynatt remained cautious.

"I'm confident that I did the right things with training to give my athletes the best shot at doing just that. However, I don't think I've ever had as many athletes hurting or injured during this time of the season as I do this year."

Taylor echoed those sentiments.

"This year started out great," the University of Illinois-bound athlete said. "During indoor season I was running great 400 times, but early during outdoor season I had my Achilles injury, so that set me back. And as soon as that healed, I strained my hamstrings, so it has been quite frustrating this season. I will be most excited [at tonight's meet] if I can run without hurting myself worse."