(LEBANON, Ill., Jan. 17)—The McKendree University men's track and field team resumed its 2014-15 indoor season Friday evening at the Illiana Invitational in Romeoville, Ill. The meet was hosted by Lewis University.
 
Headlining the list of top efforts for the Bearcats was freshman Alex McCrite (Tamms, IL/Egyptian), who set a new program record in the high jump. McCrite finished second in the event as he cleared a height of 1.99 meters. That bested the previous mark of 1.95 meters set by Jon Niebrugge back in 2005.
 
Including McCrite's school-record effort, there were a total of 12 top-five finishes posted by McKendree athletes during the meet, including a trio of first-place performances. Junior Donovan Friscia (Jacksonville, FL/Bartram Trail) rolled to victory in the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.32 seconds. Friscia's time puts him sixth among NCAA Division II competitors in the event.
 
Sophomore Duane Cargill (Nassau, Bahamas/Liberty Christian Academy) won the 600-meter run with a time of 1:26.95, while sophomore Deonte Andresen registered a distance of 6.63 meters to capture the long jump.
 
Junior Cameron James (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) recorded a time of 6.42 seconds in taking second place in the 55-meter dash. In the 800-meter run, freshman Christopher Jackson (Belleville, IL/Belleville West) nabbed fourth place as he crossed the finish line in a time of 2:04.11, while freshman Benjamin Richter (Troy, IL/Triad) earned fifth place in the 3,000-meter run at 9:28.26. In the 55-meter hurdles, freshman Weston Brown (Murrieta, CA/Murrieta Valley) took fifth place at 8.82 seconds.
 
In field events, freshman Ryan Pearce (Villa Grove, IL/Villa Grove) notched a pair of top-five showings. Pearce was second in the shot put with a toss of 15.70 meters while grabbing third in the weight throw at 14.50 meters. Freshman Eric Imel (Chicago, IL/Schaumburg) was fourth in the high jump with a height of 1.94 meters, and sophomore Kyle Kleeman (Carlinville, IL/Carlinville) posted a fourth-place effort in the long jump with a leap of 6.11 meters.
 
The McKendree 4 x 400-meter relay team took third place with a time of 3:53.99. The quartet consisted of Jackson, junior Moses Randich (Eldoret, Kenya/Chebiemit School), freshman Alexis Palmer (Parkland, FL/Nova) and sophomore Grayson Horton (Crest Hill, IL/Joliet Catholic).
 
The Bearcats will compete at the John Craft Invitational on Jan. 24 at Eastern Illinois University.