ST. CHARLES, MO --- Steady racing and improved performances marked the third weekend of UIS track team's third weekend. The top performance of the weekend was turned in by Eli Cook who competed at the WashU Distance Meet on Friday where he covered the 10000m run in a time of 32:28.30, which placed him 27th in the field of 59 runners across two sections. Garrad Straube won the unseeded section of the event held on Saturday morning with a time of 33:28.81 with team mate Alex Phelps finishing ninth in the section with a time of 35:16.44.  
 
Saturday at the Lindenwood (MO) John Creer Invitational the top performances were turned in by Preston Henze and Brendan Kroeger in the 800m run, where the two placed 13th and 14th overall out of the field of 71 runners.  Henze placed fourth of six in the ninth section of the event and Kroeger earned a second place of eight in the eighth section.  Ruell Chappell finished 29th overall with a time of 2:05.53.
 
In the 400m dash, Blake Carlino let a group of three UIS runners with a 22nd place overall finish out of 56 runners and won the sixth section of the event in a time of :52.61. Jose Corona (:55.43, 42nd) and Jake Shawgo (:55.83, 47th) raced to personal bests in the event as well.
 
Nick Reynolds was the top UIS placer in the 1500m Run, his 4:22.70 finished third in the fourth section and earned him 22nd overall out of a field of 58 runners.
 
The 4 x 400m relay team of Chappell, Carlino, Henze, and Koeger ran 3:35.15, improving on their school record set two weeks ago by 1.5 seconds.  They finished ninth of 15 overall.
 
GLVC Indoor Champions, Lewis University won the meet with a total of 110.5 points, with host Lindenwood runner-up with 99 points.  The UIS team did not have any top-eight scoring finishes in the field of 30 teams, which included 22 that did score in the event.
 
Coach Mike De Witt commented on the UIS men's teams efforts for the weekend:  "The theme of the weekend was continued strong racing, knowing that with good racing, times will improve as we head into the middle and then Championship segment of the season.  The men showed controlled aggressive early efforts and it was great to see strong finishes down the homestretch.  Overall the times were chipped down on the early season bests.  We will be looking for continued strong efforts moving away from our 'comfort zone' racing distance this coming weekend."