(LEBANON, Ill., Feb. 11)—Twelve different members of the McKendree University men’s indoor track and field team posted a top-10 finish Saturday at the Illinois College Blue Classic Saturday in Jacksonville, Ill.

 

Senior Julius Williams (Belleville, Ill./Belleville East) (Belleville, Ill./Belleville East) topped the list by placing in the top four in two events. Williams won the triple jump with an effort of 46 feet, two inches (14.05 meters). He was also fourth in the long jump with a distance of 21 feet, eight inches (6.59 meters).

 

Sophomore Brandon Williams (Belleville, Ill./Belleville East) (Belleville, Ill./Belleville East) was the only other Bearcat to earn more than one top-10 finish on Saturday. Williams covered a distance of 20 feet, eight inches (6.30 meters) to take eighth in the long jump. In addition, he was ninth in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 8.32 seconds.

 

McKendree had three team members to finish in the top 10 of the long jump. In addition to the Williams’, sophomore Brian Steele (Dixmoor, IL/Thornton) (Dixmoor, Ill./Thornton) took second place with a jump of 22 feet, three inches (6.78 meters). Junior Steve Hammond (Port More St. Catherine, Jamaica/St. Jago) (St. Catharine, Jamaica) was the runner-up in the shot put with a toss of 50 feet (15.25 meters).

 

A pair of freshmen raced their way into the NAIA national tournament field by meeting requirements for qualification at Saturday’s meet. Freshman Zach Atkins (DuQuoin, Ill/DuQuoin) (DuQuoin, Ill./DuQuoin) grabbed fifth place in the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.52 seconds. Finishing just one-hundreth of a second behind in sixth place at 6.53 seconds was fellow freshman FiFii Johnson (New York, N.Y./Lincoln).

 

Sophomore Mike Mendez (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central) brought home fourth place in the mile run. Mendez was clocked in a time of 4:29.18. Taking fifth place in the 400-meter dash was senior Jermaine Myers (Manchester, Jamaica/Holmwood) (Manchester, Jamaica), who crossed the finish line in a time of 50.76 seconds. Another fifth-place effort was posted by sophomore Devin Williams (E. St. Louis, Ill./E. St. Louis) (East St. Louis, Ill./East St. Louis), who had a time of 1:59.34 in the 800-meter run.

 

Rounding out the list of top individual efforts were sophomores Jeff Brown (Marion, Ill./Marion), John Curulewski (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central) (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central) and Jordan Perry (Springfield, Ill./Lanphier) (Springfield, Ill./Lanphier). Brown took seventh place in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:59.67. Perry grabbed eighth place in the 200-meter dash as he covered the course in time of 22.83 seconds. Curulewski cleared a height of 13 feet, 10 inches (4.21 meters) to place eighth in the pole vault.

 

Two McKendree relay squads also broke through with solid efforts on Saturday. The Bearcats’ 4 x 400-meter relay team of Perry, Brown, Myers and senior Dominique Jones (St. Louis, Ill./Hazelwood Central) (St. Louis, Mo./Hazelwood Central) took third place with a time of 3:27.41. In the 4 x 200-meter relay, Jones combined with Steele, senior Chris Bethel (Nassau, Bahamas) and senior Adam Bailey (Phoenix, Az./Cactus Shadows) (Phoenix, Ariz./Cactus Shadows) for a fourth-place finish. The quartet posted a time of 1:33.20.

 

McKendree will return to action Friday evening at the Indiana Hoosier Hills Open on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind.