HOUSTON – The St. Edward's men's indoor track & field team earned four top-five finishes at the FasTrak Athletix Indoor Collegiate Last Chance Invitational as the final tuneup before the Lone Star Conference Championships. 
 
"I'm encouraged with how the meet went. We're still working on getting to where we want to be as a program, but I think we're starting to make some headway," St. Edward's Head Track & Field Coach Steven Cary says. "There were lots of positives to take away from today." 
 
Freshman ARLO GONZALES is translating a promising first cross-country season into a successful inaugural indoor track season, placing third in the 5K at 15:13.05. Junior transfer Ben Bayly made a solid Hilltop debut in fifth at 15:22.05. 
 
WILLIAM SULENTICH and Gabe Hernandez finished one right after the other, rounding out St. Edward's four top-25 finishers in 20th and 21st at 16:10.43 and 16:16.18. MELECIO ORTIZ followed in 26th at 16:33.78, and JUSTIN LEATHERS in 29th at 16:44.68. 
 
The quartet of WILLIE ODEM, RUDY QUINTELA, JAVIER TILLERO, and Sulentich delivered a third-place finish in the distance medley relay at 10.49.85. 
 
HOGAN HEIKKINEN paced St. Edward's in the 800 and the mile. Heikkinen clocked a 1:57.86 to finish fourth in the 800. Odem (15th, 2:02.78) and BRADEN COX (21st, 2:05.29) also finished in the top 25, and JOSIAH GUAJARDO (28th, 2:09.06) and Archie Chesler (30th, 2:13.28) also competed. 
 
Heikkinen was one of five Hilltoppers to run the mile, placing seventh at 4:22.65. Tillero (22nd, 4:35.02), Cox (27th, 4:38.94), Guajardo (44th, 4:49.36), and Chesler (46th, 4:50.30) rounded out the lineup. 
 
JORDON CHAPPELL led the sprinters in the 200 with a sixth-place tie of 22.15. TYRIQ WILSON and ANDRE MOORE finished 25th and 31st at 22.67 and 22.93. CRISTIAN MENDOZA placed 48th at 23.45, and ISAAC KIM in 79th at 25.93. 
 
Wilson led the Hilltoppers in the 60, placing 39th at 7.18, followed in 40th by MARCUS AGUINALDO in less than a split second behind him. Moore placed 43rd at 7.19, Mendoza in 57th at 7.29, and Chappell in 59th at 7.30. 
 
DAVID MARQUEZ competed in the long jump and triple jump, finishing 23rd in the long jump with a distance of 5.93 meters and 11th in the triple jump with a distance of 12.08 meters. 
 
"In every event, I saw the guys battling out there, and that's what we need: for everyone to be rowing in the same direction," Cary says. "From sprints to jumps, guys stepped up and competed. That's something we'll be looking for more of this season and into the spring." 
 
St. Edward's will close out its indoor track & field season at the Lone Star Conference Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico, from February 21-22.