Season starts with 'low-key' race

Team confident entering Millikin

By: Jeff Jurinek/Staff Reporter

Posted: 9/1/09

The men's and women's cross country teams kick off the 2009 season today at the Millikin "5K with a View" with a simple and realistic goal in mind: To race as a team.

"One of our main goals is to run as a pack," junior Caitlin Napoleoni said. "We're one of the better teams, so we should be able to do good overall."

The race is held at Hickory Point Golf Course at 5:30 p.m. in Decatur.

The Eastern runners and coaches are describing the season opener at Millikin as a "low-key," shorter-distance meet that should offer a good opportunity for both teams to do well. However, head coach Geoff Masanet stressed that the most important expectation is for the Panthers to run in groups, race hard and do it together.

On the men's side, the Panthers are led by a strong core of returning seniors, including Mario Castrejon, Aaron Iaun and Dave Holm.

Last season, Castrejon was the Panther's No. 2 runner and finished 19th overall with a 26:58.20 8K at the Ohio Valley Conference Championships, while Iaun took 24th in 27:08.50.

Holm, who last year finished in 27th place with a 27:21.30 at the OVC Championships, said that tonight's meet will serve as a stepping stone between summer training and upcoming races and will also be a chance to see who did their work over the summer.

"We just want to get out there and race hard," Holm said. "It's a low key meet that we should be expecting to win. We want to see guys up front in the lead pack."

The lead pack in tonight's race will still be missing a familiar face. Red-shirt sophomore Brad LaRocque, who was expected to return after missing last season due to a pelvic stress fracture, will not compete at Millikin. Masanet cited fatigue from summer training as the reason LaRocque will not return as soon as anticipated.

"He's been a little bit tired, and this meet doesn't have much bearing on our season," Masanet said.

Returning senior Erin O'Grady, who was the Panther's No. 1 runner last season, will pace the women's team. O'Grady placed 18th at the 2008 OVC Championships with a 19:50 5K, and 125th at the NCAA Midwest Regional with a 6K time of 27:45. She is joined by Napoleoni, who took 20th place in 19:57 at last year's OVC Championships, and sophomore Erika Foltys, who was 22nd in 19:57.

The Panthers will also receive a lift from red-shirt freshman Olivia Klaus, a transfer from Miami University (Ohio). Klaus was a multiple state champion while competing for Eureka High School.

Jeff Jurinek can be reached at 581-7944 or jejurinek@eiu.edu.

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