CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – McKendree University's men's and women's track and field teams continued their outdoor season here Saturday by competing at the Lake Stride Joey Haines Invitational hosted by Southeast Missouri State and held at the Abe Stuber Track & Field Complex.

At the event, the Bearcat men scored 24 points to finish ninth out of 12 teams, while the Bearcat women finished 13th out of 13 teams with a total of two points.
Southeast Missouri won the men's meet with a total of 186.5 points, while Southern Illinois was second with 100 points. On the women's side, Murray State won the team title with 177 points, while Southern Illinois was second with 113.5 points.

The Bearcat men competed in 12 events and recorded team season best marks in 11 of those 12 events and they finished in the Top 8 in six events, including a runner-up finish by senior Dontea Jones (Centralia, Ill./Centralia) in the triple jump.

Leading the way for the Bearcats was Jones, who recorded a season best mark of 14.02 meters (46-0) in the triple jump and was ninth in the long jump with a season best mark of 6.58 meters (21'7.25").

Sophomore Malachi Carroll (Omaha, Neb./Iowa Western CC) scored four points as he ran a season-best 200-meter time of 22.43 to finish in sixth place, while he ran the anchor on McKendree's seventh place 4-x-100 meter relay team that posted a season best time of 43.93. In addition to Carroll, the other members of the relay team were Deshawn Willis (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park-River Forest), graduate student Demetrius Walker (Commerce, Ga./Emmanuel) and senior Johnathan Bumpers (Alton, Ill./Alton).

Bumpers placed fifth in the 110-hurdles with a season-best time of 15.26, while Walker was 10th in the event with a time of 15.75. In addition, Bumpers also scored in the 400-hurdles as he recorded a season best time of 57.77 to finish in sixth place.

The final event the Bearcats scored in came in the high jump as freshman Brendan Harter (St. Louis, Mo./DeSmet) placed sixth in the event with a season-best mark of 1.95 meters (6'4.75").

Freshman Rodney Holas (Belleville, Ill./Althoff Catholic) just missing scoring as he was 10th in the 3,000-Meter Steeplechase with a season-best time of 11:46.10.

While the 4-x-100 meter relay team finished in seventh place, the 4-x-400 meter relay team posted a 13th place finish with a time of 3:42.04. The members of the relay team were Bumpers, Jones, sophomore Seth Kasinger (Pekin, Ill./Pekin Community) and Carroll.

Meanwhile, on the women's side, the Bearcats competed in eight events and recorded season best times in five of those eight events. In addition, the Bearcats had one Top 8 finish as the 4-x-100 relay team ran a season-best time of 51.42 to finish in seventh place and score the Bearcats' lone two points in the event.

The members of the seventh place 4-x-100 relay team were junior Sanique Rose (St. Catherine, Jamaica/Iowa Western CC), junior Madison Davis (DuQuoin, Ill./DuQuoin), freshman Brianna Sarver (Pana, Ill./Pana) and senior Ciara Hampton (Belleville, Ill./Iowa Western CC).

Other top performances were recorded by senior Madelyn Tepe (Venedy, Ill./Okawville), who placed 11th in the 1,500-meter run with a season best time of 4:56.28.

The Bearcats other relay team – 4-x-400 relay – placed 13th overall with a season best time of 4:25.10. The members of the team were Sarver, freshman Laila Searcy (Centrevile, Ill./Belleville West), Rose and Tepe.

Sarver recorded a season best time in the 100-meter dash of 12.97 as she finished 23rd overall and was 24th in the 200-meter dash (27.10).

Sophomore Kiara Spates (Markham, Ill./Thornton Township) was 20th in the long jump with a season best mark of 5.20 meters (17'0.75").

The Bearcats will return to the track next weekend (April 9) as they host the Bearcat Classic held at Leemon Field. The event will be the lone home outdoor track and field meet this season for the Bearcats.

Here are the results from the Lake Stride Joey Haines Invitational: