Frankie McFarland, shown here breaking Uni's 26-year-old discus record at the 2007 Tuscola Class A sectional, broke his own record three times at this year's St. Joseph-Ogden Spartan Classic. Gargoyle photo (click to enlarge)

ST. JOSEPH — The stellar outdoor season of Malcolm Taylor continued on Monday as he led the Illineks to an impressive sixth-place finish at the 16-team St. Joseph-Ogden Boys Spartan Classic.

The junior won the 400-meter dash with a season-best time of 50.04 seconds (fully automatic timing). He defeated runner-up Zach Flessner of St. Joseph-Ogden by more than two seconds (52.69).

Taylor's performance was well ahead of the Class A state-qualifying standard of 51.94 (FAT). According to head coach Doug Mynatt, Taylor's time, when converted, equals Tim Rauschenberger's manual-timed 49.8 school record set in 1994.

This would be the second school record that Taylor has broken or equaled this season. On April 22, he set the Uni record in the 800 with a time of 1:57.86, outpacing Peter Hanratty's 1981 mark of 1:58.0 (manual timing).

In addition, Taylor's time in the 400 represented a 2.5-second improvement over his performance at last year's Spartan Classic, when he ran a 52.55 to place third.

This year's meet actually began on Friday but was postponed due to rain. It resumed on Monday.

During Friday's action, the Uni 4x800 relay team continued its winning ways, claiming first place in an extraordinarily close finish with Monticello. The Uni squad of junior Isaac Chambers, senior Austin Rundus, senior Jacob Olshansky, and Taylor edged the Sages by less than one-tenth of a second, 8:25.46 to 8:25.53.

Last year's state-bound 4x800 team (featuring the same four runners) won the Spartan Classic with a time of 8:25.72, so this year the Illineks are slightly ahead of schedule.

Moreover, Rundus is returning from an injury, so the chances are good that his times will improve significantly as he gets back into condition.

When action resumed on Monday, Monticello showed its overall strength by winning the meet with 124 points. Host SJ-O was second (120.33), followed by Tuscola (116), Tolono Unity (70), and St. Thomas More (46.33).

Uni's sixth-place finish (42) represented an improvement over last year, when the Illineks placed seventh out of 17 teams and scored 32 points.

This year's meet closed with another tight finish in a relay, the 4x400. Uni's squad of Chambers, sophomore Nathan Smith, Olshansky, and Taylor placed second to SJ-O by less than six-tenths of a second. The Illineks ran a 3:36.96, while the Spartans recorded a 3:36.38.

Last year, Uni's state-bound team of Chambers, Rundus, Taylor, and then-senior Nick Pratt placed third but ran a faster time (3:34.49).

Another impressive Uni athlete at this year's meet was senior Frankie McFarland, who broke his own school record in the discus throw several times en route to a third-place finish (141 feet, 1 inch).

According to Mynatt, each of McFarland's prelim throws (137-3, 139-10, 141-1) eclipsed the record of 132-2 that he set at last year's sectional meet in Tuscola.

Perhaps more importantly, McFarland is now within reach of the Class A automatic qualifying standard in the discus of 143-0.

Other performances that earned points for the Illineks (sixth place or higher) at the Spartan Classic were:

• Olshansky, 1,600 (varsity), fourth place (4:48.93)
• Smith, 400 (frosh-soph), fifth place (57.14)
• McFarland, shot put, sixth place (43-1)
• Chambers, 400 (varsity), sixth place (54.04)
• Carter Hutchens (jr), 110 hurdles (varsity), sixth place (18.25)

Next up: The boys will compete Thursday at the Paxton-Buckley-Loda Invitational.

Looking ahead to the postseason, Uni has been assigned to the 17-team Monticello Class A sectional, which will be held May 16. Field event prelims will begin at 5 p.m.; running event prelims will start at 6.

In 2007, Uni qualified for state in the 4x800, 4x400, and 400 (Pratt).

SJ-O SPARTAN CLASSIC: TEAM STANDINGS

Uni Team Finish: 6th Place (out of 16 teams)

• 1st: Monticello (124 pts)
• 2nd: St. Joseph-Ogden (120.33 pts)
• 3rd: Tuscola (116 pts)
• 4th: Tolono Unity (70 pts)
• 5th: St. Thomas More (46.33 pts)
• 6th: UNI HIGH (42 pts)
• 7th: Paxton-Buckley-Loda (36 pts)
• 8th: Westville (35 pts)
• 9th: Fisher (34 pts)
• 10th: Georgetown-Ridge Farm (31 pts)
• 11th: Jamaica (16 pts)
• 12th: Bismarck-Henning (14 pts)
• 13th: Hoopeston Area (6 pts)
• 14th: Danville Schlarman (5 pts)
• 15th: Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley (4 pts)
• 16th: Tri-Valley (2.33 pts)

SJ-O SPARTAN CLASSIC: UNI RESULTS

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 (8:25.46) — Uni High (Isaac Chambers, Austin Rundus, Jacob Olshansky, Malcolm Taylor)
• 2nd Place (8:25.53) — Monticello
• Class A qualifying standard: 8:22.0 manual timing / 8:22.24 fully automatic timing (F.A.T.)

• 4x100-Meter Relay
• 14th Place (50.53) — Uni High (Terry Qi, Langston Allston-Yeagle, Frankie McFarland, Noel Knox)
• Class A qualifying standard: 44.5 manual timing / 44.74 fully automatic timing (F.A.T.)

• Discus
• 3rd Place (141-1) — Frankie McFarland (Uni High)
• Class A qualifying standard: 143-0

• 3,200-Meter Run
• 13th Place (11:39.15) — Buck Walsh (Uni High)
• 16th Place (12:04.81) — Jack Snyder (Uni High)
• Class A qualifying standard: 10:05.0 manual timing / 10:05.24 F.A.T.

• 110-Meter Hurdles (Varsity)
• 6th Place (18.25) — Carter Hutchens (Uni High)
• Class A qualifying standard: 15.2 manual timing / 15.44 F.A.T.

• 110-Meter Hurdles (Frosh-Soph)
• 10th Place (19.58) — Nick Zukoski (Uni High)
• Class A qualifying standard: 15.2 manual timing / 15.44 F.A.T.

• 100-Meter Dash
• 23rd Place (13.05) — Terry Qi (Uni High)
• Class A qualifying standard: 11.0 manual timing / 11.24 F.A.T.

• 800-Meter Run
• 7th Place (2:11.90) — Sam Imlay (Uni High)
• Class A qualifying standard: 2:01.0 manual timing / 2:01.24 F.A.T.

• Long Jump
• 20th Place (15-8 1/2) — Kareem Sayegh (Uni High)
• 24th Place (14-9) — Noel Knox (Uni High)
• Class A qualifying standard: 21-0

• 4x200-Meter Relay
• 9th Place (1:47.65) — Uni High (Terry Qi, Langston Allston-Yeagle, Noel Knox, Kareem Sayegh)
• Class A qualifying standard: 1:33.7 manual timing / 1:33.94 F.A.T.

• 400-Meter Dash (Varsity)
• 1st Place (50.04) — Malcolm Taylor (Uni High)
• 2nd Place (52.69) — Zach Flessner (St. Joseph-Ogden)
• 6th Place (54.04) — Isaac Chambers (Uni High)
• Class A qualifying standard: 51.7 manual / 51.94 F.A.T.

• 400-Meter Dash (Frosh-Soph)
• 5th Place (57.14) — Nathan Smith (Uni High)
• 17th Place (1:04.96) — Albert Anastasio (Uni High)
• Class A qualifying standard: 51.7 manual / 51.94 F.A.T.

• 300-Meter Hurdles
• 8th Place (46.09) — Carter Hutchens (Uni High)
• 14th Place (51.08) — Nick Zukoski (Uni High)
• Class A qualifying standard: 41.0 manual timing / 41.24 F.A.T.

• 1,600-Meter Run (Varsity)
• 4th Place (4:48.93) — Jacob Olshansky (Uni High)
• 7th Place (5:00.77) — Sam Imlay (Uni High)
• Class A qualifying standard: 4:37.0 manual timing / 4:37.24 F.A.T.

• 1,600-Meter Run (Frosh-Soph)
• 8th Place (5:39.22) — Buck Walsh (Uni High)
• 11th Place (5:47.48) — Ziran Shang (Uni High)
• Class A qualifying standard: 4:37.0 manual timing / 4:37.24 F.A.T.

• Shot Put
• 6th Place (43-1) — Frankie McFarland (Uni High)
• Class A qualifying standard: 49-0

• 200-Meter Dash (Varsity)
• 20th Place (27.27) — Kareem Sayegh (Uni High)
• 15th Place (26.84) — Langston Allston-Yeagle (Uni High)
• Class A qualifying standard: 22.8 manual timing / 23.04 F.A.T.

• 200-Meter Dash (Frosh-Soph)
• 16th Place (26.95) — Langston Allston-Yeagle (Uni High)
• Class A qualifying standard: 22.8 manual timing / 23.04 F.A.T.

• Triple Jump
• 12th Place (36-3 3/4) — Noel Knox (Uni High)
• Class A qualifying standard: 42-0

• 4x400-Meter Relay
• 2nd Place (3:36.96) — Uni High (Isaac Chambers, Nathan Smith, Jacob Olshansky, Malcolm Taylor)
• 1st Place (3:36.38) — St. Joseph-Ogden
• Class A qualifying standard: 3:31.5 manual timing / 3:31.74 F.A.T.