CARBONDALE, Ill. – Drake University sophomore Rob McCann (Mississauga, Ontario) claimed the 3,000-meter steeplechase title at the Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championship on Saturday evening.

McCann crossed the finish line with a personal best time of 8:50.79 to out race the field by more than six seconds to claim his first MVC title and set the SIU facility record.

The steeplechase was one of the few finals contested on the track on Saturday, the second day of the MVC Championship. However, eight other Bulldogs advanced to the finals in preliminary action.

Leading the way in those preliminary heats for the women were Tiara Winston (Denton, Texas) and Danyelle Cole (Kansas City, Kan.) in the 100 meters who advanced with times of 12.15 and 11.99, respectively. Winston advanced by virtue of finishing second in her heat, while Cole's time was one of the fastest not to finish first or second in a heat.

The Bulldogs also had two women advance in the 100-meter hurdles with Sarah Yeager (Ottumwa, Iowa) and Ashley Johnson (Chicago, Ill.) finished second and eighth, respectively, in the preliminary heats. Yeager turned in a time of 13.73, while Johnson's personal best of 14.05 snagged the final qualifying spot. Yeager also finished sixth in the 400-meter hurdle preliminaries to advance in 1:02.54.

James Saxton (La Crosse, Wis.) clocked a personal best of 1:52.87 in the 800 meters to finish sixth in the preliminary heats and advance for the Bulldogs. Also qualifying for Sunday's finals were Kai Asberry (Carrollton, Texas) and Travis Marsh (Ankeny, Iowa) in the 400-meter hurdles. Asberry's personal best of 52.09 was the third-fastest qualifying time of the day while Marsh came in seventh in 53.61.

Saturday also saw the Bulldogs claim points in the field and multi-events. Ryan Cook (Colorado Springs, Colo.), the MVC defending high jump champion, came in fourth with a clearance of 6.9.75. Jeffrey Foreman (Winfield, Ill.) wrapped up two days of competition in the decathlon with a fourth-place finish thanks to 6,365 points.

The Bulldogs begin the final day of the MVC Championship on Sunday with the women's triple jump at noon and events on the track beginning at 1 p.m.