Junior Linda Ly takes off from the starting block in a relay event at the St. Joseph-Ogden Lady Spartan Classic on May 8. Gargoyle photo by David Porreca (click to enlarge)

Update: After several events, the sectional meet was suspended early Friday evening due to bad weather; the meet will resume at 9 a.m. Saturday.

TOLONO — Today the Uni High girls track and field team is heading out to Unity High School 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 21 and 23 in Charleston. Other athletes whose performances match or exceed the IHSA's automatic qualifying standards will also advance regardless of their placing.

The small but dedicated Uni team — consisting of seniors Lizzy Warner and Deborah Ladd, juniors Katherine Allen, Tuli Bera, Rachel Harmon, and Linda Ly, sophomore Ashley Huddson, and freshman Sarah Heffley — will be ready for the challenge in front of them.

"All the coaches are expecting best-of-season performances," head coach Doug Mynatt said. "That's what you should expect from your athletes with the season winding down. The hard and heavy work is done, and now is the time to focus on sectional races. We have athletes who could advance to the IHSA state meet, and we still have athletes who could be invited to the News-Gazette Honor Roll Meet [scheduled for Monday night at the University of Illinois]."

Based on their performances so far in the outdoor season, the Illineks have a legitimate shot at qualifying for state in at least three events: the 4x200-meter relay, the 100 dash (junior Tuli Bera, who missed making state last year by one-thousandth of a second), and the 300 low hurdles (senior Lizzy Warner).

Sophomore Ashley Huddson (foreground) runs the 400 at last week's Lady Spartan Classic in St. Joseph. Gargoyle photo by David Porreca (click to enlarge)

The 4x200 squad consists of senior Warner (first leg), Bera (second), Harmon (third), and Huddson (anchor).

Co-captain Warner is optimistic about the relay squad's chances if they can get the small things right.

"In recent meets our times as a team have not improved, but it has been due to fixable mistakes such as handoffs," said Warner, who as a sophomore made it to state in the 4x800 relay.

"How we do in the end will be about the little things. When running a sprinting event it comes down to a perfect combination of both speed and accuracy — coming off the blocks at exactly the right time, handing off in the exchange zone when the two people are both at their peak speeds, etc. Although this 'perfect combination' may, at times, seem virtually impossible, it comes down to practice and repetition, and sectionals is the place where we are striving to get both accuracy and speed."

Like many of her teammates, Bera has had to deal with injuries this season. She missed about a month due to a quadriceps injury, but she returned to competition in late April.

"It seems like it would be a lot more fulfilling if a group of girls went rather than just an individual," she said. "So I guess I'm mostly hoping that our relay goes, if I don't make it past sectionals in the 100."

Now that everyone seems reasonably healthy, Bera shares Warner's optimism about the 4x200.

"I feel like we really have worked hard this season, and there has been so much improvement since last year," she said. "Like our first outdoor meet — which I was lucky to have participated in — we got a better time than we did the end of last season. So that day we really got excited and were determined to work hard to qualify for state. Although I had my quad injury and Rachel [Harmon] is hurting a little now, we still have the determination and the preparation from the season to give it our best."

Individually, Bera is determined to improve her performance in the 100 dash from last year's sectional, when she placed third and barely missed advancing.

"When I run that 100, I'm going to think about last season and how I got beat out by .001 of a second," she said. "I'm going to make sure that it doesn't turn out like that. That incident is where I'm getting that determination to win that 100. I'm not too nervous about our 4x200; I think all of us just need to have some fun with it and do our best."

Bera's teammates are excited for her chances to do well in the 100 and will be cheering her on.

"Probably the most exciting race to watch will be Tuli's," said Warner. "Last week at the St. Joseph-Ogden Lady Spartan Classic she was able to beat Rachel Ballard, a freshman from St. Joe, which was a big accomplishment because their times have been consistently very close. Nonetheless, Ballard's fastest time for the season is faster than Tuli's because Tuli has been out with an injury so sectionals will be a battle to the end."

Bera's victory at the Lady Spartan Classic was her second in less than a week; she placed first in the 100 at a five-team meet at Tolono Unity on May 5. She also placed third at the Lady Sages Invitational in Monticello on May 1.

"To be honest, all I am expecting is that all the girls, including myself, just give it all we have for our races at sectionals," Bera said. "We all have gone through the season with injuries. For myself, it is hard to have high expectations for sectionals this season since I was out for almost a month. But the past two meets I've placed first, so there is some hope."

Also competing for an individual trip to state is Warner in the 300 low hurdles. She placed sixth in that event last week at the Lady Spartan Classic. Two of the people who finished ahead of her will be competing in a different sectional today, increasing her chances. But even if Warner doesn't advance, she will have no regrets as long as she's satisfied that she gave it her best effort.

"This is my last track season with Uni High," Warner said. "Next year I will be running for the Knox College track team, but I want to end this season well so that I feel prepared and competitive when taking that next step up.

"I would like everyone to give it their all. I expect to be nervous because this is it for the year: one last shot. At the same time, I hope that all the girls on the team can lay it all out on the table, because it is either go home or go all the way, and it would be a disappointment if we were left with even the slightest bit of doubt in our performances."

Senior Deborah Ladd runs the 800 at the Lady Spartan Classic. Gargoyle photos by David Porreca (click any photo to enlarge and to create your own slideshow)

Lizzy Warner rounds the final curve in the 300 hurdles.

Junior Tuli Bera (in orange) builds her lead in the 100 dash at last week's Lady Spartan Classic.

Bera crosses the finish line. She won the event in 13.37 seconds.