Illinois Intercollegiate Up Next For EIU

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois will continue its early portion of the 2009 cross country season as they travel to Illinois State to compete in Friday evening’s Illinois Intercollegiate. The event will start at 4:30 p.m. in Normal with teams from 30 different Illinois colleges scheduled to compete.

Eastern Illinois is coming off hosting the Panther Open which featured head-to-head dual scoring between the competing teams. The Panther open featured competition against Southern Illinois, SIU Edwardsville, Evansville and Southeast Missouri as NCAA Division I teams.

Aaron Iaun was the men’s top finisher last week covering the 8K distance in a time of 26:07.34. David Holm finished just outside the top ten with his mark of 26:25.01 good enough for 11th place. Jason Springer who finished first in the Panthers 5K event at Millikin did not compete at the Panther Open.

On the women’s side Olivia Klaus was named the OVC Women’s Runner of the Week after recording the top EIU finish at the Panther Open. Her time was 18:38.52 on the 5K course which landed her in 7th place. Klaus was also EIU ‘s top finisher and overall winner at the Millikin 5K on Sept. 1. Senior Erin O’Grady finished in 8th at the Panther Open with a time of 18:45.48.