Senior Frankie McFarland, shown here at the 2007 Tuscola Class A sectional, set a school record in the shot put (46-4) Thursday at the PBL Varsity Invite. Gargoyle photo (click to enlarge)

PAXTON — The records keep falling for junior Malcolm Taylor. But this time he has company.

Taylor set both a meet record and a school record Thursday at the Paxton-Buckley-Loda Boys Invitational as he ran the 400-meter dash in 49.50 seconds. (The meet used manual timing; when converted to fully automatic, the time was 49.74.)

Taylor's first-place performance officially broke Tim Rauschenberger's Uni record of 49.8 set in 1994. On Monday, Taylor ran the 400 in 50.04 (FAT), which tied Rauschenberger's 14-year-old milestone when converted to MT, according to head coach Doug Mynatt.

Also on Thursday, the 4x800 relay team of junior Isaac Chambers, senior Austin Rundus, senior Jacob Olshansky, and Taylor set a meet record of 8:38.04 en route to yet another first-place finish.

As if that weren't enough, senior Frankie McFarland joined in the record-breaking action, setting a new Uni mark in the shot put with a first-place distance of 46 feet, 4 inches. McFarland broke Ken Parker's record of 44-10 set in 1982.

McFarland also edged closer to the automatic Class A state-qualifying mark of 49-0. The senior now owns the Uni records in both shot put and discus.

Overall, Uni placed fourth out of 15 teams. The Illineks scored 67 points, behind St. Thomas More (79.5), Fisher (80), and meet champion Momence (123).

PBL VARSITY INVITE: TEAM STANDINGS

Uni Team Finish: 4th Place (out of 15 teams)

• 1st: Momence (123 pts)
• 2nd: Fisher (80 pts)
• 3rd: St. Thomas More (79.5 pts)
• 4th: UNI HIGH (67 pts)
• 5th: Paxton-Buckley-Loda (65.5 pts)
• 6th: Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley (27 pts)
• 7th: Watseka (25 pts)
• 8th: Heyworth (21 pts)
• 9th: Clifton Central-Iroquois West (15 pts)
• 10th: Hoopeston Area (14.5 pts)
• 11th: Tri-Point (9.5 pts)
• 12th: Blue Ridge (7 pts)
• 13th: Bismarck-Henning (3 pts)
• 14th: Bloomington Cornerstone (0 pts)
• 15th: Donovan (0 pts)

PBL BOYS VARSITY INVITE: UNI RESULTS

Timing: Manual

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 (8:38.04) — Uni High (Isaac Chambers, Austin Rundus, Jacob Olshansky, Malcolm Taylor) — MEET RECORD
• 2nd Place (9:11.04) — Momence
• Class A qualifying standard: 8:22.0 manual timing / 8:22.24 fully automatic timing (F.A.T.)

• 4x100-Meter Relay
• 10th Place (50.51) — Uni High (Langston Allston-Yeagle, Noel Knox, Kareem Sayegh, Terry Qi)
• Class A qualifying standard: 44.5 manual timing / 44.74 fully automatic timing (F.A.T.)

• Discus
• 3rd Place (135-2) — Frankie McFarland (Uni High)
• 1st Place (162-5) — Brandon Noe (St. Thomas More)
• Class A qualifying standard: 143-0

• 3,200-Meter Run
• 6th Place (11:36.32) — Buck Walsh (Uni High)
• 8th Place (11:56.67) — Jack Snyder (Uni High)
• Class A qualifying standard: 10:05.0 manual timing / 10:05.24 F.A.T.

• 110-Meter Hurdles (Varsity)
• T 7th Place (17.93) — Carter Hutchens (Uni High)
• Class A qualifying standard: 15.2 manual timing / 15.44 F.A.T.

• 100-Meter Dash
• 13th Place (12.40) — Kareem Sayegh (Uni High)
• 20th Place (12.96) — Terry Qi (Uni High)
• Class A qualifying standard: 11.0 manual timing / 11.24 F.A.T.

• 800-Meter Run
• 3rd Place (2:04.72) — Jacob Olshansky (Uni High)
• 5th Place (2:07.30) — Austin Rundus (Uni High)
• 1st Place (2:03.50) — Jared Hayden (Fisher)
• Class A qualifying standard: 2:01.0 manual timing / 2:01.24 F.A.T.

• Long Jump
• 18th Place (14-9 1/4) — Langston Allston-Yeagle (Uni High)
• Class A qualifying standard: 21-0

• 4x200-Meter Relay
• 5th Place (1:41.60) — Uni High (Langston Allston-Yeagle, Noel Knox, Terry Qi, Kareem Sayegh)
• Class A qualifying standard: 1:33.7 manual timing / 1:33.94 F.A.T.

• 400-Meter Dash (Varsity)
• 1st Place (49.50) — Malcolm Taylor (Uni High) — MEET RECORD/SCHOOL RECORD
• 2nd Place (51.80) — Trevor Unzicker (Fisher)
• Class A qualifying standard: 51.7 manual / 51.94 F.A.T.

• 300-Meter Hurdles
• 5th Place (45.30) — Carter Hutchens (Uni High)
• 11th Place (47.85) — Nick Zukoski (Uni High)
• Class A qualifying standard: 41.0 manual timing / 41.24 F.A.T.

• 1,600-Meter Run (Varsity)
• 2nd Place (4:57.25) — Isaac Chambers (Uni High)
• 4th Place (4:57.80) — Nathan Smith (Uni High)
• 1st Place (4:53.99) — Jared Hayden (Fisher)
• Class A qualifying standard: 4:37.0 manual timing / 4:37.24 F.A.T.

• Shot Put
• 1st Place (46-4) — Frankie McFarland (Uni High) — SCHOOL RECORD
• 2nd Place (45-1) — Lavell McCoy (Momence)
• Class A qualifying standard: 49-0

• 200-Meter Dash (Varsity)
• T 7th Place (24.84) — Kareem Sayegh (Uni High)
• Class A qualifying standard: 22.8 manual timing / 23.04 F.A.T.

• Triple Jump
• 7th Place (35-9) — Noel Knox (Uni High)
• Class A qualifying standard: 42-0

• 4x400-Meter Relay
• 3rd Place (3:40.40) — Uni High (Isaac Chambers, Nathan Smith, Jacob Olshansky, Malcolm Taylor)
• 1st Place (3:33.30) — Fisher
• Class A qualifying standard: 3:31.5 manual timing / 3:31.74 F.A.T.