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Boys Cross Country

CHRISMAN — Competing against the area's top runners, junior Nathan Smith cut a full 90 seconds from his time to help lead Uni to a third-place finish out of 13 teams Saturday at the annual Chrisman Cowchip Classic.

Uni's total of 26 points was a dramatic improvement over last year's meet, when the boys finished eighth out of 13 teams and scored 49 points. (In cross country, the fewer points a team scores the better.)

Unlike most cross country meets, where races are divided into a varsity race and an open race, the Cowchip Classic has flighted races where the No. 7 runners from each team compete against each other, then the No. 6 runners compete, and so on.

Smith, running in Flight No. 1 against the fastest competition, covered the three-mile course in 17 minutes, 19 seconds for fifth place. A year ago, also running in Flight No. 1, Smith ran 18:49 and placed 14th.

Due to illness, senior Malcolm Taylor — who finished 29th at last year's Class 1A state finals — did not participate in the meet. It was the second year that Taylor didn't run in the Classic; in 2007 he was nursing a hamstring injury.

Even without Taylor, the Illineks came close to taking second place. Shelbyville was runner-up with 20 points, while St. Joseph-Ogden won convincingly with 11 points.

The Illineks showed major improvement in all seven flights. Three returning runners cut a combined 131 seconds from their 2007 times: senior Isaac Chambers cut 24 seconds, sophomore Buck Walsh 47, and junior Jack Snyder 60.

Three new runners reduced 174 seconds from their predecessors' times: sophomore Albert Anastasio 27, junior Langston Allston-Yeagle 36, and senior Andrew Lovdahl 111.

Uni's No. 2 through 6 varsity runners had a 23-second split.

Next up: The boys will see how they compare with their Champaign-Urbana peers when they compete Tuesday in the annual Twin City Championship Meet at Illini Meadows in Urbana.

Team Results

1. St. Joseph-Ogden – 11 points
2. Shelbyville – 20 points
3. University High – 26 points
4. Monticello – 35 points
5. Robinson – 40 points
6. Cumberland – 41 points
7. Chrisman/Georgetown-RF – 43 points
8. St. Thomas More – 55 points
9. Oakwood – 57 points
10. Effingham St. Anthony – 62
11. Dieterich – 77
12. Villa Grove – 84
13. Bismarck-Henning – 86

Uni High Flighted Results

• Flight No. 1 (fastest runners) – 5. Nathan Smith (jr) – 17:19
• Flight No. 2 – 7. Isaac Chambers (sr) – 18:30
• Flight No. 3 – 6. Albert Anastasio (so) – 18:27
• Flight No. 4 – 2. Buck Walsh (so) – 18:07
• Flight No. 5 – 3. Langston Allston-Yeagle (jr) – 18:22
• Flight No. 6 – 2. Andrew Lovdahl (sr) – 18:26
• Flight No. 7 – 3. Jack Snyder (jr) – 19:17

Top Uni High Boys Open Race Results

• 7. Kareem Sayegh (sr) – 19:46
• 10. Cheng Luo (sr) – 19:55

Girls Cross Country

CHRISMAN — After finishing in second place behind Mahomet-Seymour at last year's Cowchip Classic, the Uni girls squad did not have enough runners to qualify for a team placing at this year's meet.

Nevertheless, all four of the varsity runners placed in the top 10 spots of their flights.

Junior Elizabeth Russell led the way for Uni on the three-mile course, placing third in Flight No. 1 with a time of 20 minutes, 28 seconds. Competing against the meet's fastest runners, she cut 19 seconds off her 2007 time, when she ran 20:47 in Flight No. 4 and placed second.

In Flight 2, senior Elaine Gu ran 21:25 for sixth place. First-time Cowchip runners Maddy Levin and Brittany Scheid placed 10th in Flight 3 and ninth in flight 4, respectively. Freshman Shruti Vaidya was 19th in the open race.

The girls will compete Tuesday in the Twin City Championship Meet at Illini Meadows in Urbana.

Team Results

1. Mahomet-Seymour – 12 points
2. St. Joseph-Ogden – 15 points
3. Shelbyville – 23 points
4. Effingham St. Anthony – 30 points
5. Monticello – 38 points
6. Robinson – 39 points
7. St. Thomas More – 44 points
8. Oakwood/Armstrong-Potomac – 56 points
9. Judah Christian – 61 points
10. Dieterich – 67 points

Uni High Flighted Results

• Flight No. 1 (fastest runners) – 3. Elizabeth Russell (jr) – 20:28
• Flight No. 2 – 6. Elaine Gu (sr) – 21:25
• Flight No. 3 – 10. Maddy Levin (sr) – 25:05
• Flight No. 4 – 9. Brittany Scheid (jr) – 24:33
• Flight No. 5 – No Uni runner entered
• Flight No. 6 – No Uni runner entered
• Flight No. 7 – No Uni runner entered

Top Uni High Girls Open Race Results

• 19. Shruti Vaidya (fr) – 25:59

Boys Soccer

MONTICELLO — Uni’s boys soccer team ended its two-game winning streak Saturday, falling to the Monticello Sages 3-1.

The nonconference game started roughly for the Illineks. Monticello scored its first goal eight minutes into the game, and four minutes later, a yellow card was called for player jewelry. Junior goalkeeper Nile Hamer kept the game close for the Illineks in the first half, making six of his seven saves during the opening period.

The Sages pulled away in the second half, netting a pair of goals in the 47th and 54th minutes. Uni didn’t find the back of the net until the 74th minute, when senior Noel Knox brought the Illineks within two with his first goal of the season. Yet despite five shots on goal in the second half, the Illineks could not manage another score.

Uni’s record falls to 2-3 and remains 1-0 in the East Central Illinois Conference. Last season, Uni defeated Monticello in a 2-1 home victory.

The Illineks' next game is a home matchup Tuesday against Fisher/ GCMS, who defeated Uni 3-1 in the Soccer Shoot Out on Aug. 30.

Thursday’s matchup at Mahomet-Seymour was rained out and has yet to be rescheduled.

The Uni JV was shut out by the Monticello JV 2-0 despite six shots on goal. The JV falls to 0-2 overall and remains 0-1 in the conference.

Uni Scoring

• 74th minute: Knox (1st), unassisted

Uni Saves and Shots on Goals

• Saves: Nile Hamer 7 (first half: 6, second half: 1)
• Shots on goal: 8 (first half: 3, second half: 5)

Girls Swimming

STANFORD — The Uni High Killer Whales started their season with a solid win Saturday, beating host Stanford Olympia 132-40.

For the second year in a row Uni placed first in all 11 events, but improved its times in every event. Last year the girls beat Stanford Olympia 131-24.

Newcomers freshman Milee Nelson and junior Lisa Boyce along with team veteran junior Sian Best led the way with first-place finishes in each of their individual events.

Boyce, a nationally ranked swimmer who previously competed for the Champaign County Aquachiefs (now Heat), set a pool record in the 100 freestyle (0:52.14), beating the old record, from 1986, by four seconds.

The 200 medley relay of Boyce, junior Erika Belmont, Best, and senior Deborah Ladd (2:02.59) was one second short of breaking another pool record.

The girls travel to the University of Chicago on Saturday to take on their lab school rivals, the U-High Chicago Maroons.

Best Uni Times vs. Olympia

• 200 Medley Relay: Boyce/Belmont/Best/Ladd (2:02.59)
• 200 Freestyle: Milee Nelson (2:04.97)
• 200 Individual Medley: Deborah Ladd (2:42.45)
• 50 Freestyle: Erika Belmont (:28.11)
• 100 Butterfly: Sian Best (1:11.32)
• 100 Freestyle: Lisa Boyce (:52.14)
• 500 Freestyle: Milee Nelson (5:29.28)
• 200 Freestyle Relay: Belmont/Nelson/Allen/Boyce (1:54.70)
• 100 Backstroke: Sian Best (1:12.14)
• 100 Breaststroke: Lisa Boyce (1:13.01)
• 400 Freestyle Relay: Best/Ladd/Dolan/Nelson (4:24.27)

Girls Volleyball

DELAND — Overall it was a disappointing day for girls volleyball at the DeLand-Weldon Eagle Classic as the team lost several close matches. The Illineks went 2-3 in the tournament, placing seventh out of eight teams. Last year the girls also went 2-3 but finished fourth in the eight-team tourney.

Nearly all five of Saturday's matches went to three games. At the end of each loss, the girls just had trouble holding on to their lead.

Their first loss, against Bement, went 25-9, 13-25, 6-15. The second went 25-27, 17-25 against LeRoy, slightly closer.

The most disappointing loss was against the tournament's hosting team. In past years, Uni has beaten DeLand-Weldon easily. Uni lost to the Eagles in three games this time: 25-16, 25-27, 11-15.

Highlights from the day included victories over Morrisonville (19-25, 25-13, 15-7) and Paw Paw (27-25, 25-17).

Junior Michelle Wong was named to the all-tournament team. She led the Illineks with 33 assists on the day. Senior Annie Machesky racked up 44 digs. Both the girls led with 12 aces. Senior Rachel Skoza led with 36 kills and eight blocks.

The Illineks are now 3-4 overall, 0-0 in the East Central Illinois Conference. The girls will host Buckley Christ Lutheran on Tuesday at Kenney Gym.

Uni High Tournament Statistics

Kills

• Rachel Skoza 36
• Michelle Wong 12
• Jessi Sullivan 11
• Tuli Bera 9
• Rachel Harmon 6
• Sheri Grill 3

Assists

• Wong 33
• Grill 31
• Jasmine Alvarado 1

Blocks

• Skoza 8
• Harmon 2
• Bera 1
• Grill 1

Digs

• Annie Machesky 44
• Bera 31
• Wong 31
• Grill 12
• Sullivan 12
• Skoza 8
• Maria Gao 2

Service Aces

• Machesky 12
• Wong 11
• Bera 6
• Skoza 5
• Grill 4
• Sullivan 4