CHARLESTON — Senior Malcolm Taylor set a meet record for Class A runners Saturday at the Charleston Boys Indoor Invitational as he ran the 400-meter dash in 50.58 seconds.

That was the fastest 400 time in the state for a Class 1A runner this indoor season, and the third fastest time regardless of school size. According to DyeStatIL (formerly Illinois Prep Top Times), only Dylan Remick of 3A Wilmette Loyola Academy (50.19) and Greg Patton of 2A Bloomington (50.4) have run faster.

Taylor was one of several Uni athletes whose performance at the Charleston Invite earned invitations to Friday's Prep Top Times Meet in Bloomington, the unofficial indoor track state meet.

The 4x400 relay team of senior Isaac Chambers, junior Nathan Smith, senior Kareem Sayegh, and junior Eric Fritzsche qualified for IPTT with a time of 3:41.29, which earned them fourth place at Charleston.

The 4x800 team of Smith, junior Langston Allston-Yeagle, Taylor, and Chambers also qualified with a time of 8:44.49, good for fifth place.

Chamber had already qualified for IPTT in the 400 with a converted time of 53.74 at the Uni High Armory Meet No. 4 on March 18.

In all, Uni placed 17th out of the 71 teams in the Charleston meet.

Also on Saturday, the Uni girls competed at the Mahomet-Seymour Indoor Invitational.

Senior Lizzy Warner had the best finish for an Illinek, placing third in the 400 (1 minute, 4.4 seconds). She also finished seventh in the long jump (14 feet, 3.25 inches), while junior Rachel Harmon was fourth in the 200 dash (29.77).

Warner and junior Tuli Bera had already earned invitations to IPTT before the Mahomet meet. Bera was invited because of her first-place time at the March 14 Charleston Girls Indoor Invite (7.63), while Warner qualified with a converted time of 1:03.74 at Uni Armory Meet 4 on March 18.

Uni Athletes Who Earned Invitations to 2009 Prep Top Times Meet

GIRLS

• 55-Meter Dash
  Tuli Bera
  Earned invitation because of her 7.63 time at Charleston Invite, March 14
  8th fastest among invitees

• 400 Dash
  Lizzy Warner
  Earned invitation because of her 1:03.74 time (converted) at Armory Meet 4, March 18
  17th fastest among invitees

BOYS

• 400-Meter Dash
  Malcolm Taylor
  Earned invitation because of his 50.58 time (meet record) at Charleston Indoor Invite, March 21
  Fastest time among invitees (Zebo Zebe of Tolono Unity is second at 51.37)
  Isaac Chambers
  Earned invitation because of his 53.74 time (converted) at Armory Meet 4, March 18
  12th fastest among invitees

• 4x400 Relay
  Langston Allston-Yeagle, Isaac Chambers, Eric Fritzsche, Kareem Sayegh, Nathan Smith, Malcolm Taylor
  All six are listed as entries; only four will compete
  Earned invitation because of 3:41.29 time at Charleston Indoor Invite, March 21
  11th fastest among invitees

• 4x800 Relay
  Langston Allston-Yeagle, Albert Anastasio, Isaac Chambers, Eric Fritzsche, Nathan Smith, Malcolm Taylor
  All six are listed as entries; only four will compete
  Earned invitation because of 8:44.49 time at Charleston Indoor Invite, March 21
  8th fastest among invitees

Uni Results: Charleston Boys Indoor Invitational

• 55-Meter Dash
  54th — Kareem Sayegh, 7.42
  (1st — Nate Schreiber, Wesclin, 6.77; total runners: 72)

• 200 Dash
  17th — Kareem Sayegh, 25.10
  (1st — Levi Eslinger, Paris, 23.71; total runners: 44)

• 400 Dash
  1st — Malcolm Taylor, 50.58 (meet record)
  (2nd — Zebo Zebe, Tolono Unity, 51.37; total runners: 37)

• 800 Run
  8th — Isaac Chambers, 2:09.69
  27th — Langston Allston-Yeagle, 2:16.17
  (1st — Parker Thompson, Tremont, 1:58.97; total runners: 70)

• 1,600 Run
  29th — Buck Walsh, 5:10.21
  44th — Ziran Shang, 5:18.25
  (1st — Parker Thompson, Tremont, 4:29.16; total runners: 69)

• Long Jump
  33rd — Noel Knox, 14-10
  (1st — Zach Riley, Herrin, 21-8.25; total athletes: 34)

• 4x200 Relay
  21st — Uni, 1:43.21
  (1st — Herrin, 1:36.79; total teams: 36)

• 4x400 Relay
  4th — Uni (Isaac Chambers, Nathan Smith, Kareem Sayegh, Eric Fritzsche), 3:41.29
  (1st — Herrin, 3:37.21; total teams: 34)

• 4x800 Relay
  5th — Uni (Nathan Smith, Langston Allston-Yeagle, Malcolm Taylor, Isaac Chambers), 8:44.49
  (1st — St. Joseph-Ogden, 8:34.84; total teams: 27)

Uni Results: Mahomet-Seymour Girls Indoor Invitational

• 200-Meter Dash
  4th — Rachel Harmon, 29.77
  (1st — Chelsea Link, Paxton-Buckley-Loda), 27.92

• 400 Dash
  3rd — Lizzy Warner, 1:04.40
  (1st — Marissa Rader, Olympia, 1:03.02)

• 800 Run
  15th — Deborah Ladd, 3:08.46
  (1st — Sydni Meunler, Gibson City-Melvin-Sydney, 2:30.84)

• Long Jump
  7th — Lizzy Warner, 14 feet, 3.25 inches
  (1st — Katie Landry, STT, 15-04.50)

• Shot Put
  18th — Rachel Harmon, 24 feet, 7 inches
  (1st — Hannah Wilkins, Salt Fork, 37-02)