Sophomore Albert Anastasio (second from left) on his way to placing second in the 3,200-meter run Friday. Gargoyle photo by David Porreca (click to enlarge)

MONTICELLO — Just imagine what Malcolm Taylor would do if he were healthy all season.

After missing the final two meets of the regular season due to a hamstring injury, the senior track star returned to action Friday night and won the 400-meter dash at the IHSA Class 1A Monticello sectional.

Taylor, the defending 400 sectional champ, ran the event in a season-best 49.51 seconds, edging Tolono Unity's Zebo Zebe by less than one-tenth of a second (49.60).

That third and final heat of the 400 was the highlight of the evening, which saw two other Illineks qualify for next week's 1A state meet in Charleston: senior Isaac Chambers in the 400 and sophomore Albert Anastasio in the 3,200 run.

At sectionals, the top two finishers in each event advance to state; other athletes move on if they match or exceed the IHSA automatic qualifying standard in their events.

That's how Chambers earned his ticket to Charleston. Although he placed fourth in the 400, his time of 51.73 beat the IHSA automatic mark (51.74 for 1A sprinters) by a hundredth of a second.

Anastasio made it to state by finishing second in his event, running the two miles in a season-best 10 minutes, 13.42 seconds. Junior Alex Hargus of St. Joseph-Ogden won the 3,200 in 10:12.57.

The 3,200 featured seven runners whose previous season bests ranged within six seconds of each other, from No. 1 seed Anastasio's 10:16.44 to No. 7 seed Hargus' 10:22.37.

In fact, those top seven runners kept a tight pack for most of the race. It wasn't until the final few laps that Hargus and Anastasio separated themselves from the others.

As the pair headed into their final lap, Anastasio remained close enough so that a victory seemed possible, but Hargus eventually opened up an insurmountable lead to win the event.

The automatic standard in the 3,200 for 1A runners is 10:05.24 (fully automated time), so no one else in the race advanced to state.

That wasn't the case in the 400, where the top four runners made the cut in a spectacular sprint under the lights.

Taylor and Zebe entered as the No. 1 and 2 seeds, respectively. Both had broken the 50-second barrier during the regular season: Taylor with a 49.83 to his credit, and Zebe right behind at 49.94.

Senior Nick Blakey of SJ-O was the No. 3 seed, entering with a season-best time of 50.52, well within the automatic qualifying mark. Chambers was the fourth seed; he would have to improve on his previous best of 51.87 to make it to state.

In 2008, Taylor captured the 400 sectional crown with a manual time of 49.2 (49.44 when adjusted to automated time); a week later he ran a 49.74 to place second at the state finals. Whether he could come close to those times or even repeat as champ were open questions given his recent layoff.

But Taylor answered those questions with an extraordinary performance in which he seemed to summon all of his strength for a final push that put him across the finish line just a split second ahead of Zebe, whose own amazing night included a victory in the 800 (1:55.90).

"After coming right off a 1:55 800, Zebo blasted out a sub-50 400 time," Chambers noted with admiration. "Running two quality races with such short a turnaround is not something most athletes can do. Zebo's probably the stronger runner, but Malcolm has more speed, and that speed carried him to his 400 championship."

Right behind Taylor and Zebe came Blakey with a season-best 50.40 and Chambers with his automatic qualifying time.

"Coming around the final curve, Zebo, Malcolm, and Blakey pulled away," Chambers said. "They were quite a bit ahead of me, so I didn't really know how to judge my performance. The unofficial hand time given to me was 51.41. To approximate a hand time to FAT time conversion you round up to the tenth and then add .24 seconds. That put me right at the qualifying time of 51.74, so I was really nervous. I was hoping I squeaked in, but I knew that the margin of error I had was really small."

Overall, Zebe's Unity Rockets won the meet, edging Blakey's SJ-O Spartans 129-122. Uni earned 28 points to finish seventh out of 18 teams.

Taylor's 49.51 was the second-fastest 400 time among all Class 1A runners in Friday's 16 sectionals. Only senior Jordan Thomas of Oregon High School had a faster time; he clocked in at 49.44 (converted from a hand time of 49.2) at the Lena-Winslow sectional.

Next up for Uni's state qualifiers will be the 1A semifinals, which will take place Thursday at Eastern Illinois University's O'Brien Field. The running events will begin at 11 a.m.

The state finals will be held Saturday, also at O'Brien Field. The 3,200 is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. (three sections in all). The 400 is scheduled for 2:55 p.m.

"Looking forward to next week, my goal is to make finals with Malcolm," Chambers said. "It's going to require a big PR on my part, but I'm optimistic. With a good taper and only the 400 to focus on, I'm hoping I can have another breakthrough race at state."

As for Taylor's chances of claiming the title that eluded him last year by just six-tenths of a second (Ben Asmus of Heyworth outpaced him 49.11 to 49.74), much will depend on his lingering hamstring problem. A healthy Taylor would be tough to beat. As Chambers put it, "I think Malcolm on a good day will win state."

More Photos: IHSA Class 1A Monticello Sectional

Malcolm Taylor crosses the finish line victorious for the second straight year in the Monticello sectional 400 dash. Zebo Zebe of Tolono Unity was second, Nick Blakey of St. Joseph-Ogden third, and Isaac Chambers of Uni fourth. All four sprinters advanced to next week's state meet. Gargoyle photos by David Porreca (click any photo to enlarge and to create your own slideshow)

Albert Anastasio (orange uniform) keeps pace with the other top runners in the 3,200.

During Friday's race, Anastasio would shave off three seconds from his previous season-best time.

The top seven runners in the 3,200 kept a tight pack for much of the race.

Anastasio heads to the finish line. He would clock in at 10:13.42.

Junior Nathan Smith leads off the 4x800 relay. Uni placed fourth but did not advance.

Junior Langston Allston-Yeagle runs the second leg of the 4x800.

Junior Eric Fritzsche runs the third leg.

Isaac Chambers runs anchor.

A final look at the blur that was Malcolm Taylor.