(LIBERTY, Mo., May 2)—The McKendree University men's track and field registered its highest-ever finish at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Outdoor Championships by placing third in the final team standings. The 2015 event wrapped up Saturday evening at Greene Stadium in Liberty, Mo.
 
The Bearcats collected a total of 91.5 points to account for their third-place effort. McKendree's previous best effort at the GLVC Outdoor Championships came in its first year as league members in 2013, when the team notched fourth place.
 
Freshman Ryan Pearce (Villa Grove, IL/Villa Grove) earned GLVC Field Athlete of the Year honors by dominating the throwing events at this year's meet. Pearce won the shot put on Saturday with a long toss of 16.48 meters. That effort was a personal best for Pearce and also hit an NCAA Division II provisional qualifying standard. Pearce opened his strong weekend on Friday by finishing second in the discus and fourth in the javelin. He personally accounted for just over one-quarter of the Bearcats' point total at the GLVC meet.
 
Fellow freshman Eric Imel (Chicago, IL/Schaumburg) joined Pearce with a strong conference meet in field events for McKendree. Imel won the long jump on Saturday with a personal best of 6.86 meters. He also tied for fourth place in the high jump as he cleared a height of 1.90 meters. Freshman Alex McCrite (Tamms, IL/Egyptian) finished just ahead of Imel in the high jump in third place at 1.95 meters.
 
McKendree boasted three of the top five finishers in the finals of the 100-meter dash on Saturday. Freshman Kevin Witcik (Machesney Park, IL/Harlem) led the pack in second place with a final time of 10.90 seconds. Sophomore Deonte Andresen (Crystal Lake, IL/Edwardsville) was right behind in third place at 10.92 seconds, while sophomore Dominick Pickens (Springfield, IL/Lanphier) collected fifth place in a time of 11.02 seconds. Andresen also grabbed seventh place in the 200-meter dash with an effort of 23.77 seconds, while he was also fourth in the long jump with a leap of 6.49 meters.
 
Also performing well in the sprints for McKendree was sophomore Duane Cargill (Nassau, Bahamas/Liberty Christian Academy), who placed fifth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 49.44 seconds.
 
The Bearcats' 4 x 100-meter relay team raced to the GLVC championship on Saturday with a combined time of 41.53 seconds. Witcik, Andresen and Pickens were joined by freshman Alexis Palmer (Parkland, FL/Nova) in the winning effort. McKendree nearly posted a clean sweep of the relays as it took second in the 4 x 400-meter race. The quartet of Cargill, Palmer, junior Moses Randich (Eldoret, Kenya/Chebiemit School) and freshman Christopher Jackson (Belleville, IL/Belleville West) combined to cross the finish line in a final time of 3:19.01.
 
Up next for McKendree is the Dr. Keeler Invitational, which will be contested May 7-8 on the campus of North Central College in Naperville, Ill.