After wrapping up a 14-2 regular season, the Uni boys showed they were ready for postseason action, defeating Judah Christian 39-33 in this morning's regional quarterfinal. The Illineks will play St. Matthew in Tuesday's semifinal — a rematch of last year's regional final, which Uni lost 40-34.

The freshman pianist won $500 and top honors last weekend at the Danville Symphony Orchestra's annual contest for young musicians. Qiu will perform at the DSO's March 14 Classical Masterworks concert. Jennifer Roloff (Class of 2008) won the contest last year. Check inside to hear Qiu perform.

Looking for something to do over the weekend? United for Uganda has a solution. The student group will be hosting a lock-in from 9 p.m. Saturday to 7 a.m. Sunday. Tickets will be available at the door from 9 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday — but only for seniors, juniors, and sophs. All proceeds benefit grassroots organization Come, Let's Dance.

For the second straight year, Kareem Sayegh will represent Uni at the Poetry Out Loud Eastern Illinois regional competition. The senior will be joined by sophomore Claire Liu. Sayegh won Uni's poetry recitation contest this week, and Liu was runner-up. On Feb. 7 they will contend for a trip to the state finals.

Dear Mr. Blagojevich: You have been my source of entertainment in my most bored moments. You have kept me awake and even smiling a bit in the most boring moments of my day. For that I give you a meek smile, and owe you a minuscule amount of gratitude. Sincerely, Erika Belmont.

So many noteworthy things — most of them positive, some negative — happened at Uni High in 2008 that fitting them into a top 10 list was hard to do. But we gave it a try. When selecting our stories, we tried to get a good balance of all realms of Uni life— from sports to academics to student life. We're sure we've left some noteworthy things out of this list, so feel free to post comments, sharing what you think we've overlooked.

After three quarters of play Tuesday night, Judah and Uni were separated by only four points. Nearly six minutes later, that margin was 24. The Illineks outscored Judah Christian 25-2 in the fourth quarter, winning 65-38 against their crosstown rivals. Dan Lilly led Uni with 26 points, including a trio of three-pointers.

Every year Lauren Piester gets excited to find out who got nominated for the Oscars, and every year she's disappointed to find out that it's a list full of movies she didn't see and actors she doesn't care about. She ends up rooting just for the one or two movies she saw. So, on that note, here are the Academy's nominees along with Lauren's picks for the 2009 Oscars.

Conference rivals Uni and Judah Christian played to a 20-20 deadlock in the first half, but the host Tribe pulled ahead after the break. Judah's Uzuri Williams scored a game-high 28 points, while Uni's Jamie Blue and Rachel Skoza combined for 31. The Tribe's victory exacted a measure of revenge for Uni's 19-point win in December.

Some of the top student musicians in the state will spend several days in Peoria this week participating in the IMEA's annual All-State Conference. Three Uni students have been selected for the honor: Daniel Borup, Karen Han, and Elizabeth Russell. They will perform Saturday at the Peoria Civic Center's Carver Arena.

The Boss is back this week with a new album, and according to many critics, Bruce Springsteen hasn't sounded this good in years. Will Fernandez takes a look at that and other new releases in music. Meanwhile, "The Wrestler" finally opens in C-U, and plenty of new DVDs and video games will be vying for your time and money.

A vengeful masked miner is terrorizing the small town of Harmony, and whether you're looking for blood and horror, a few laughs, or some visual effects that truly come off the screen, Lizzy Warner thinks you'll find it all in "My Bloody Valentine 3D." Read on to see what she has to say about this Valentine's Day horror film.

The host Paxton-Buckley-Loda Panthers made eight three-pointers and 13 free throws on their way to doubling up Uni Saturday night. It was the Illineks' final varsity nonconference game of the regular season; they will now set their sights on getting back into the ECIC race.

Decatur Lutheran showed that it remains the undisputed leader of the East Central Illinois Conference, handily dispatching the Illineks despite freshman Jamie Blue's 16 points. The Lady Lions are heading toward their fourth straight undefeated conference record and fifth consecutive title.

[Update: Contest to continue Wednesday during lunch.] On Tuesday, the Uni English department will host a schoolwide recitation contest as part of this year's Poetry Out Loud competition. Last year, then-junior Kareem Sayegh advanced to the state finals, placing in the top five with his version of works by Sandburg, Behn, and Owen.