CHAMPAIGN  This is the time track athletes begin fine-tuning for upcoming conference, sectional and state meets. Rantoul junior Mitch Williams said improved block starts are a must for him after winning the 110-meter hurdles Saturday at the Gene Ward Invitational. Danville''s 3,200 winner Rey Alvarez is running a lot of 600s and 800s to improve his speed. Champaign Central''s Jeremy Kruidenier and Urbana''s Corey Mathis aren''t satisfied, either, despite setting personal bests in the 800 and pole vault, respectively. "I know I can run better than I did today," Williams said after posting a 14.8 to edge teammate T.J. Wright by three-tenths of a second. "I was one of the last guys out of the blocks. I''m stronger down the stretch than most runners if I can just start better. Wright really helps me. He''s always out of the blocks before me, and I have to catch him." Alvarez said his 9:27.9 was acceptable in that it was only his second competitive 3,200 of the season. "I feel I could have gone under 9:20 today if I had been pushed," the senior said after winning by almost 19 seconds. "I wait until after the first lap and then I go for it if no one sets a fast pace. I hit 9:27 last week as well. I''ve been running shorter races in meets to get more speed work." Kruidenier said he couldn''t have asked for anything better after beating Edwards-ville''s Steve Pifer with a meet-record clocking of 1:51 in the 800. "I let Pifer do all the work until I got him on the last turn," the Illinois recruit said. "I really wanted to beat him because he hadn''t lost a race this season. I''m real pleased, but I''m not done yet. I want to bring a state title home to Central." Central assistant Dike Stirrett would like nothing better than to have his star pupil win a state crown in Stirrett''s final year of coaching. "That''s definitely a goal," Stirrett said. "You just can''t go out and predict a win, though. Too many things can happen in a state meet. Jeremy''s definitely capable. He''s the best 400 to 800 runner I''ve ever coached. He''s very competitive, and he doesn''t like to lose. He also has great leg speed. "Another thing I like about him is that he races people rather than going for times. He doesn''t like to run races where he has to dictate the pace." Mathis said learning the nuances of a new pole was responsible for a vault of 14 feet, 3 inches that bettered his previous best of 13-6. "I''m finally getting back on the pole and waiting for it to throw me over the bar rather than into it," the senior said. "I felt real good in practice this week after finally getting used to the pole." Though Centennial had only one blue-ribbon effort, the Chargers finished sixth in the 16-team meet with 49 points. Central was seventh with 451Ú2 and Mahomet-Seymour eighth with 361Ú2. Urbana had 26, Rantoul 22 and Danville 181Ú2 in the meet won by Edwardsville with 125. Sophomore Chris Littleton, junior Jeremy Thorpe, senior Kai Karlstrom and sophomore Greg Broeren combined for a 3:27.5 in the 4x400 relay for the Chargers'' victory. Karlstrom also broke Rick Remmert''s 1982 school record with a 1:56.1 while finishing third behind Kruidenier and Pifer in the 800. Steve Rogers'' time of 4:20 while finishing second to Decatur Mac-Arthur''s William McCann in the 1,600 erased Britt Powell''s 1983 school record.