(LEBANON, Ill., Feb. 24) — The McKendree University men's track and field team is set to compete in Indianapolis, IN this weekend at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Indoor Championships. Fellow GLVC member, the University of Indianapolis will host the meet, which is set to take place Feb. 25-26 at the Athletics & Recreation Center (ARC). The 2017 edition marks the 18th annual GLVC Indoor Track & Field Championships.

The two-day event will once again be streamed live on GLVCSN, with free coverage made available to all viewers on GLVCSN.com or the Apple TV 4^th Gen, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV and Roku over-the-top (OTT) apps.  GLVCSN's John Edwards will have the call.

The meet is the final competition for the Bearcats before the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships that begin on Mar. 10 in Birmingham; AL. Athletes must hold a top 16 time in the nation to qualify for the Indoor Championships.

McKendree finished fifth at last year's Indoor Championships. The Bearcats hold 17 times or marks that rank in the top ten of the GLVC this season and will send 23 athletes to compete.

The Bearcats hold four of the top ten slots in the 60-meter including the top two times this season from senior Donovan Friscia (Jacksonville, FL/Bartram Trail) and sophomore Demontez McCray (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon) with times of 6.85 and 6.87 seconds. Junior Kevin Witcik (Machesney Park, IL/Harlem) sits fourth at 6.94 seconds, while sophomore Tyree Allen (Country Club Hills, IL/Hillcrest) ranks tenth at 7.04 seconds. Senior Dominick Pickens (Springfield, IL/Lanphier) and junior Alexis Palmer (Parkland, FL/Nova) will also run in the 60-meter for McKendree.

McCray and Allen also hold two of the top three times in the 200-meter. McCray ranks first in the GLVC at 21.60-seconds, while Allen is third at 21.99-seconds, and are joined by Palmer who will also race for the Bearcats. Allen and Palmer and sophomore Tyler Johnson (South Holland, IL/St. Rita) will also compete in the 400-meter, where Allen ranks fifth with a time of 49.91 seconds.

Sophomores Andrew Gardewine (Effingham, IL/Effingham) and Trevor White (Highland, IL/Highland) will each run in the 800-meter before competing for the Bearcats in the distance medley relay along with fellow sophomore Joe Shannon (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) and freshman Gabe Silva (Lebanon, IL/Lebanon). McKendree currently holds the third fastest time in the distance medley this season at 10:20.43.

The Bearcats 4x400-meter relay team ranks fifth in the GLVC at 3:22.25, with Gardewine, Silva, White, and Johnson set to improve that mark this weekend.
Shannon will also compete in the mile run for McKendree, while sophomore Tyler Manion (Granite City, IL/Granite City) will race in the 3000-meter and junior Benjamin Richter (Troy, IL/Triad) will run in the 5000-meter.

In the field, junior Ryan Pearce (Villa Grove, IL/Villa Grove) looks to take home the crown in the shot put after placing second last season at the Indoor Championships. Pearce currently ranks second in the GLVC with a mark of 16.87-meters. Sophomore Chase Hagene (Nashville, IL/Nashville) also ranks in the top ten this season with a throw of 14.13-meters, while junior Harry Uyehara (Collinsville, IL/Collinsville) and freshman Kyle Hostetter (Collinsville, IL/Collinsville) will each take turns for the Bearcats.

Uyehara will lead Mckendree in the weight throw holding a top ten mark of 15.68-meters this season, joined by Hagene.

Sophomore Monte Wolke (Sigel, IL/Cumberland) will be the lone competitor in the pole vault for the Bearcats. Wolke ranks sixth in the conference after a vault of 6.80-meters earlier this season.

Sophomore Jacob Troutman (Flossmoor, IL/Homewood-Flossmoor) will compete in three events starting with the triple jump where he currently sits fourth in the GLVC at 14.21-meters. Senior Deonte Andresen (Crystal Lake, IL/Edwardsville) and sophomores Os Moore (Belleville, IL/Belleville East), Lafayette Waters (Murrieta, CA/Murrieta Valley) and Coree Harrell (Bloomington, IL/Bloomington) will also compete in the triple jump.

Waters leads the Bearcats in the long jump where he sits seventh in the GLVC with a mark of 6.80-meters. Andresen, Moore, and Troutman will each take a turn in the long jump as well. Troutman closes out with his third event in the high jump for the Bearcats.

Live results of the conference meet are available on at GLVCsports.com/indoor17, while live streaming can also be found at GLVCSN.com.  Fans can also follow the championship coverage on Twitter via the hashtag, #GLVCtrack.