EIU Posts Strong Showing At Panther Invite

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois had two women’s and one men’s runner post top ten finishes on Friday evening as the Panthers had a strong showing at their own Panther Invite ran at the Panther Trail in Charleston.

The meet was a double-dual scoring meet with competitors from Danville CC, Eastern Illinois, Evansville, Illinois Track Club, Millikin, Southeast Missouri, Southern Illinois and Southern Illinois Edwardsville.

Transfer Olivia Klaus was the top finisher for the Panther women for the second straight meet as she posted a time of 18:38.52 on the 5K course to finish in 7th place. Teammate Erin O’Grady was just behind closing in 8th place with a time of 18:45.48.

The Panthers also received top twenty finishes by Brittany Arthur in 15th with a time of 19:21.07, Erika Ramos in 17th place at 19:24.53 and Danielle Dickman in 20th position at 19:41.39.

On the men’s side Aaron Iaun placed 8th overall with a time of 26:07.34. David Holm finished just outside the top ten in 11th place with a mark of 26:25.01. Connor Kustief was 14th at 26:29.11 and Harrison Bueno posted a top twenty finish in 19th place at 26:37.90. Matt Dettloff rounded out the top five EIU men’s finishers in 23rd with a time of 26:41.64.

The women’s overall winner was Kayla Brown of SIU Edwardsville with a winning time of 17:44.98. She was followed by five straight Southern Illinois runners who all finished between 18:02 and 18:38 on the 5K course.

The men’s overall winner was Dan Dunbar of Southern Illinois in a time of 25:19.32. He beat out Jason Lumpkin of Southeast Missouri who was second at 25:21.78 covering the 8K distance.

Eastern Illinois returns to action next weekend at the Illinois Intercollegiate hosted by Illinois State.