Isaac Chambers challenges for the lead in the first leg of the 4x800 relay Friday at the Unity Boys Invitational. Gargoyle photo (click to enlarge)

TOLONO — Junior Malcolm Taylor defeated hometown star Zebo Zebe to win the 800-meter run at Friday's Unity Boys Invitational in Tolono.

Taylor ran the event in 2 minutes, 4.36 seconds — more than 1.5 seconds ahead of Unity's Zebe (2:05.96).

How good is Zebe? At last year's Class A outdoor state finals, he finished fifth overall in the 800 (1:58.16).

Taylor also anchored Uni's 4x800 relay team, which defeated runner-up St. Joseph-Ogden by 5.0 seconds.

The squad of sophomore Isaac Chambers, senior Sam Imlay, senior Jacob Olshansky, and Taylor ran a 8:36.55, finishing comfortably ahead of the Spartans (8:41.55).

Also contributing major points for Uni was senior Frankie McFarland, who won second place in the shot put (49 feet, 0 inches) and fifth in the discus throw (121-11).

In all, the Uni boys scored 30 points, good for eighth place out of 13 teams. The host Unity Rockets won the meet with 134 points, followed closely by SJO (130.5).

Uni Results: Unity Boys Invitational

Uni Team Finish: 8th Place (out of 13 teams)

Teams Competing
• 1st: Unity (134 pts)
• 2nd: St. Joseph-Ogden (130.5 pts)
• 3rd: Bloomington Central Catholic (77 pts)
• 4th: St. Thomas More (68 pts)
• 5th: Pana (63.5 pts)
• 6th: Shelbyville (44 pts)
• 7th: Paxton-Buckley-Loda (43 pts)
• 8th: Uni (30 pts)
• 8th: Watseka (30 pts)
• 10th: Hoopeston Area (22 pts)
• 10th: LeRoy (22 pts)
• 12th: Macon Meridian (9 pts)
• 13th: Bismarck-Henning (6 pts)

Timing: Fully Automatic

Note: In the results below, the IHSA automatic qualifying standards for the Class A state finals are given for each event. To reach the state finals, athletes must qualify at sectionals by either placing in the top two of their events or meeting these standards.

4x800-Meter Relay
1st Place (8:36.55) — Uni High (Isaac Chambers, Sam Imlay, Jacob Olshansky, Malcolm Taylor)
2nd Place (8:41.55) — St. Joseph-Ogden
Class A qualifying standard: 8:22.0 manual timing / 8:22.24 fully automatic timing (F.A.T.)

4x100-Meter Relay
12th Place (50.50) — Uni High (team members to be posted)
Class A qualifying standard: 44.5 manual timing / 44.74 fully automatic timing (F.A.T.)

Discus
5th Place (121-11) — Frankie McFarland (Uni High)
Class A qualifying standard: 143-0

3,200-Meter Run
11th Place (12:04.92) — Jack Snyder (Uni High)
18th Place (12:55.03) — Buck Walsh (Uni High)
Class A qualifying standard: 10:05.0 manual timing / 10:05.24 F.A.T.

110-Meter Hurdles
11th Place (18.60) — Nick Zukoski (Uni High)
Class A qualifying standard: 15.2 manual timing / 15.44 F.A.T.

100-Meter Dash
10th Place (12.54) — Kareem Sayegh (Uni High)
17th Place (12.97) — Langston Allston-Yeagle (Uni High)
Class A qualifying standard: 11.0 manual timing / 11.24 F.A.T.

800-Meter Run
1st Place (2:04.37) — Malcolm Taylor (Uni High)
2nd Place (2:05.96) — Zebo Zebe (Tolono Unity High)
15th Place (2:17.52) — Sam Imlay (Uni High)
Class A qualifying standard: 2:01.0 manual timing / 2:01.24 F.A.T.

Long Jump
19th Place (15-7) — Kareem Sayegh (Uni High)
22nd Place (14-9) — Noel Knox (Uni High)
Class A qualifying standard: 21-0

4x200-Meter Relay
8th Place (1:44.68) — Uni High (team members to be posted)
Class A qualifying standard: 1:33.7 manual timing / 1:33.94 F.A.T.

400-Meter Dash
10th Place (56.38) — Nathan Smith (Uni High)
Class A qualifying standard: 51.7 manual / 51.94 F.A.T.

300-Meter Hurdles
15th Place (49.38) — Nick Zukoski (Uni High)
Class A qualifying standard: 41.0 manual timing / 41.24 F.A.T.

1,600-Meter Run
8th Place (5:03.92) — Isaac Chambers (Uni High)
9th Place (5:04.33) — Jacob Olshansky (Uni High)
Class A qualifying standard: 4:37.0 manual timing / 4:37.24 F.A.T.

Shot Put
2nd Place (41-9) — Frankie McFarland (Uni High)
Class A qualifying standard: 49-0

200-Meter Dash
13th Place (26.07) — Terry Qi (Uni High)
15th Place (26.84) — Langston Allston-Yeagle (Uni High)
Class A qualifying standard: 22.8 manual timing / 23.04 F.A.T.

Triple Jump
9th Place (34-7 1/2) — Noel Knox (Uni High)
10th Place (34-5) — Kareem Sayegh (Uni High)
Class A qualifying standard: 42-0