[Note: This article has been updated with comments and statistics.]

CHRISMAN — Last year Malcolm Taylor won first place in his flight at the Chrisman Cowchip Classic, running the 3-mile course in 17 minutes, 11 seconds.

That was against the No. 2 runners at the meet. This year Taylor, now a junior, would have run in the No. 1 flight, testing himself against such standouts as Justin Jones of Oakwood and Matt Feldhake of Effingham St. Anthony.

But as the race approached, coach Doug Mynatt had other ideas.

"With Malcolm nursing some very sore hamstrings, I held him out," Mynatt said.

In a measure of how the Uni boys have improved since last year, the Taylorless Illineks finished the meet eighth out of 13 teams, earning 49 points — 1 point better than they did in 2006, when the team also finished eighth.

The Cowchip Classic is unusual not only for its setting (a well-used cow pasture) but for its system of flights. Instead of having entire teams run all at once, the meet pits No. 1 runners against each other in one flight, No. 2 runners in another flight, and so on.

With Taylor no longer in the No. 1 flight, Mynatt had to do some creative juggling with his lineup. He moved sophomore Andrew Weatherhead into the No. 7 flight and bumped everyone else up a spot. In other words, each Illinek competed in a higher flight than originally scheduled.

And the results were impressive.

"We had our top five runers (Nathan Smith, Buck Walsh, Isaac Chambers, Jacob Olshansky, Austin Rundus) run within 19 seconds of each other in their separate races," Mynatt said.

In the very competitive No. 1 flight, Smith, a sophomore, ran the course in 18:49 to finish 14th.

In the No. 2 spot, Rundus, a senior, placed ninth with a time of 19:08. Walsh, a freshman, ran 18:54 to finish seventh in the No. 3 flight. Chambers, a junior, ran 18:54 in the No. 4 flight to place sixth. Olshansky, a senior, placed fifth in the No. 5 flight with a time of 18:58.

Rounding out the Uni field:

• No. 6 flight: Jack Snyder, sophomore, seventh place (20:17)
• No. 7 flight: Weatherhead, third place (20:20)

"The fact that we were able to hold our position [from last year] despite not having our top runner in the race is a good sign," Chambers said.

Toledo Cumberland won the meet with 21 points. Uni finished just 3 points behind seventh-place Oakwood. St. Anthony's Feldhake ran the meet's fastest time (16:12), followed closely by Oakwood's Jones (16:16).

The addition of Chambers, Olshansky, and Walsh gives Uni a depth it didn't have last year. Chambers and Olshansky were members of the Uni 3,200-meter relay team that won seventh place at the IHSA Class A state track finals in May. (Taylor and Rundus were the other members.)

On Tuesday afternoon at the Twin Cities Meet, the boys will participate in the annual showdown of Champaign-Urbana schools. Last year Uni placed fifth with 87 points, led by Taylor's fourth-place finish. He ran the Illini Meadows course in 17:41.

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 Cowchip Classic (3 miles)

• Story: see above
• 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

Next meet: Twin Cities Meet, Sept. 4, Illini Meadows; girls race to begin at 4:45 p.m.