NAPERVILLE, IL --- The North Central College Dr. Keeler Invitational is the best small college track in the nation the weekend following conference meet action.  The meet provides a great setting for athletes looking to improve on National Meet qualifying marks, improve to a point of earning a spot at Nationals, as well as racing as fast as ever.  This years edition of the event included over 1200 athletes from 85 colleges across 17 states, from Texas, Colorado, Florida, North Carolina and Virginia, as well as every state to Illinois.
 
Eight members of the men's team competed on the track with all eight coming home with performances at their career bests.  Leading the way was Brendan Kroeger in the 1500m run. Kroeger covered the 3 3/4 laps in a time of 4:10.48, which was his personal best by over six seconds and broke the school record that Ethan Bluhm set last spring, as part of the non-championship segment the men raced a year ago.  His time was 4:11.03 set at Rose Hulman.  Kroeger finished eighth of 17 in the second unseeded section of the event, as well as placing 66th out of 93 runners in the event.  Preston Henze earned a personal best by less than a second as he raced to a time of 4:11.35, he was 10th in the same section as Kroeger.  Tyler Hiserote earned the 3rd personal best of the day in the event with a time of 4:18.79, an improvement of four seconds, which placed him eighth of 14 runners in the first unseeded section of the event and 77th of 93 runners.
 
Leading the way for a trio of personal bests in 5000m run was Eli Cook joined by Garrad Straube, and Nick Reynolds.  Cook earned a mark at his best ever with a time of 15:37.31 as he placed 23rd of 28 runners in the second seeded section of the event.  His time earned him a 42nd place finish out of 88 runners in the event.  Straube finished third of 26 runners  in the second unseeded section of the event with a time of 15:37.83, and improvement of two seconds on his mark from April 21st at Rose Hulman.  His time earned him a 44th place finish in the event.  Nick Reynolds also finished third place in the first unseeded section of the event out of 22 runners.  His time was 15:43.22.  It was the first time he has run the event, but his time matched his best 3000m time from Rosh Hulman, including running 2000m further.  He placed 46th in the event overall.
 
The final pair of personal bests came in the 400m dash.  Ruell Chappell improved on his best ever by more than three seconds with a time of 52.17.  He won the second unseeded section of the event out of seven runners and finished 17th overall out of 33 runners in the event.  Blake Carlino was fourth of six in the fourth unseeded section with a time of 52.24, his mark was right on his school record of 52.08, which Chappell narrowly missed.
 
The final competitor for the team at the meet was Kaj Days in the high jump, the runner-up in the event last weekend was looking to improve on his mark to earn a spot at Division II Nationals, but his efforts fell short as he went out on misses early in the competition.
 
UIS Coach Mike De Witt commented on the men's team performances:  "We have talked about this meet during the outdoor season, working to make certain that they understood that short of earning a spot at the National Meet, or flying across the country, this is the best meet for their current abilities.  It was great to see the exceptional job the group did.  The team understood that the seeded sections included athletes that will compete at Nationals, be All American, and in a few cases win a National Title at D II, D III, and NAIA.  We also did a much better job of having the feel that they belonged at the meet, as during the season we looked at the good athletes as out of reach, in particular the 5000m group showed their best intensity and racing efforts of the year.  All of the men competed well, ran smart and strong races and have a much better feel that they are not far from competing in the best sections of this meet 365 days from now."  "It has been a fast outdoor season of seven meets to jump start the men's program.  When we considered that all of the other programs at this meet completed a full indoor schedule, we look at this season and meet as having great fitness, for the end of February, which could be seen by the big improvements the ladies team accomplished with a full set of 14 meets since January.  We knocked down all of the goals we set and knowing we have a strong group returning, along with an even better recruiting class coming in.  Three months from now, the start of cross country will bring a better version of UIS Track and Cross Country."