Sophomore Nathan Smith, left, and junior Isaac Chambers press on during Tuesday's Twin City Championship Meet at Illini Meadows. Gargoyle photo (click to enlarge)

URBANA — After a fifth-place finish at last year's Twin City Championship Meet, the Uni boys moved up two spots this year and cut more than 30 points off their team score.

The Illineks finished third out of six Champaign-Urbana teams on Tuesday. Their 54 points represented a major improvement over last year's 87.

Only Class 2A Champaign Central and Centennial topped Uni — and even then not by much. Central won the meet with 45 points, followed by Centennial with 46.

Urbana, another Class 2A school, finished well behind Uni in fourth place, with 71 points. St. Thomas More was fifth (141) and Judah Christian sixth (172).

Junior Malcolm Taylor led the Illineks with a stellar performance on the arduous 3-mile course. After sitting out Saturday's Chrisman Cow Chip Classic with sore hamstrings, Taylor won the Twin City medal for third place with a time of 17 minutes, 32 seconds. Last year he finished fourth on the same Illini Meadows course in 17:41.

That Taylor improved both his placing and his time was remarkable, considering how much hotter the conditions were this year and the problems he's been having with his hamstrings.

"In the beginning of the race I felt happy with the way things were going," Taylor said. "On the second lap I began to tighten up. But I toughed through it."

In fact, Taylor could be seen grabbing the back of his right leg several times as he reached the top of one especially steep hill. But by the end of the meet he was feeling better, especially when he saw the next four Uni runners finish within 33 seconds of each other.

Sophomore Nathan Smith won the medal for 10 place, with a time of 18:51. The other Illineks who scored were junior Isaac Chambers (12th place, 19:04), senior Austin Rundus (14th, 19:19) and freshman Buck Walsh (15th, 19:24).

Rounding out the Illinek top seven were sophomore Jack Snyder (24th, 20:07) and senior Jacob Olshansky (27th, 20:19).

"We're definitely ahead of where we were last year," said coach Doug Mynatt.

He attributed the team's improvement in part to the addition of newcomers such as Walsh, Chambers, and Olshansky. Uni track fans know Chambers and Olshansky from their medal-winning performance in the 3,200-meter relay last May at the IHSA Class A state finals. Walsh, meanwhile, was an all-state runner as a subfreshman. He placed 22nd at the Illinois Elementary School Association's 2006 state cross country meet.

Mynatt also noted the emergence of Smith as the team's No. 2 runner.

And as long as Taylor remains healthy enough to compete, the Illineks now have the kind of depth they need to run deep into the IHSA postseason.

"Aside from his hamstring problem, Malcolm is looking strong," Mynatt said. "It's going to be one of those day-by-day, week-by-week things. I think he surpassed his expectations today. If we can work those knots out [from his hamstrings], I expect him to be really strong."

The boys will have a major test Saturday when they compete in the Peoria Woodruff Invitational at Detweiller Park, the site of the IHSA state finals in November.

Last year at the invitational, Uni finished 19th out of 24 teams. Competing against some of the top runners in the state, Taylor ran the course in 16:44 and earned a medal for 23rd place. Rundus suffered a foot injury during that race and missed three meets as a result.

Aug. 28: Kickapoo Kickoff Classic (3 miles)

• Story: Taylor places second at Kickoff Classic, Illineks finish third
• Team finish: 3rd place, 65 points (out of eight scoring teams)
• Top seven Uni runners: Malcolm Taylor, 2nd (17:28); Nathan Smith,
  8th (18:28); Austin Rundus, 14th (19:05); Buck Walsh, 20th (19:20);
  Isaac Chambers, 21st (19:21); Jacob Olshansky, 30th (20:14); Jack
  Snyder, 34th (20:40)

Sept. 1: Chrisman Cow Chip Classic (3 miles)

• Story: Improved depth pays off at Cow Chip Classic
• Team finish: 8th place, 49 points (out of 13 scoring teams)
• Flight No. 1: Nathan Smith, 14th, 18:49
• Flight No. 2: Austin Rundus, 9th,19:08
• Flight No. 3: Buck Walsh, 7th, 18:54
• Flight No. 4: Isaac Chambers, 6th, 18:54
• Flight No. 5: Jacob Olshansky, 5th,18:58
• Flight No. 6: Jack Snyder, 7th, 20:17
• Flight No. 7: Andrew Weatherhead, 3rd, 20:20

Sept. 4: Twin City Championship Meet (3 miles)

• Story: see above
• Team finish: 3rd place, 54 points (out of six scoring teams)
• Top seven Uni runners: Malcolm Taylor, 3rd (17:32); Nathan Smith, 10th (18:51); Isaac Chambers, 12th (19:04); Austin Rundus, 14th (19:19); Buck Walsh, 15th (19:24); Jack Snyder, 24th (20:07); Jacob Olshansky, 27th (20:19)

Next meet: Peoria Woodruff Invitational, Sept. 8, Detweiller Park (directions); first race to begin at 9 a.m.