Cross Country Hosts Productive Alumni Meet

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois held one of its most productive alumni meets in recent years late Saturday afternoon as the Panthers had more than 50 runners compete in the 2009 Walt Crawford Alumni Open. The Panthers will return to action this week at the Lucian Rosa Invite in Kenosha, Wis.

The women’s meet was contested over 2.1 miles on the EIU Panther Trail. Senior Erin O’Grady set a course record for that distance finishing in first place at 11:45. Olivia Klaus was a close second at 11:50 with EIU alumnus Nicole Flounders in third place at 12:09. The women’s field had 17 runners compete.

“We have a very deep team and are rounding into a team that should be able to contend for a top finish in the women’s OVC championship in four weeks,” said head coach Geoff Masanet after the race. “We had eleven women run under 13 minutes compared to just one runner who was at sub-13 minutes last year.”

On the men’s side 39 competitors entered the field including several members of the Panthers 1969 NCAA National Championship team which was honored over the weekend on campus. The race was won by EIU alumnus Kyle O’Brien with a course record of 19:30. The men’s event was a 4-mile event.

EIU alumni Dan Strackeljahn and Brad Butler placed second and third in the men’s race with times of 19:45 and 20:09. The top finisher on the current Panthers roster was Jason Springer who placed fourth at 20:13 followed by David Holm in fifth at 20:15 and Aaron Iaun in sixth at 20:16.

“This was the best alumni meet we have had in nearly 20 years,” added Masanet. “We had five guys run faster than our top two runners have run the past two years. This event is a confidence booster for our team and gives us a reason to believe we can contend for the OVC championship.”