Track teams prepares for meet on Saturday
Saturday, January 23 2010 - EIU Mega Meet
Bob Shaughnessy/Staff Reporter
Issue date: 1/22/10 Section: Sports
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After an impressive showing six weeks ago in the Early Bird, the Panthers will look to stay on top of their game as they welcome in two Ohio Valley Conference rivals - Southeast Missouri and Murray State who will compete on the women's side.
In the preseason OVC polls, SEMO was picked to finished second while Murray State was picked to finish fourth.
"It's early and a lot can happen between Jan. 23 and Feb. 26 (the OVC Championship)," Eastern head coach Tom Akers said. "There's still a lot season left, and still time for people to improve."
In their last meet on Dec. 11, seniors Ian Winston, Chandra Golden and Kandace Arnold led the Panthers.
Winston hit the NCAA indoor provisional mark in the high jump. His jump of 7-0.25 put him third in the Eastern record books, but he finished second in the meet.
Golden won the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.68 and the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.73, while Arnold set the school record in shot put with a mark of 49-7.25.
Arnold also holds the school record in weight throw at 59-9.75, which she set at last year's Mega Meet.
"Hopefully our athletes, Kandace and Ian, are going to have some real solid performances; hopefully, close to where we left off at the Early Bird and continue to improve from there," Akers said.
The Panthers will be missing sophomore sprinter Zye Boey this weekend. Boey earned OVC Track Athlete of the Year last season when he finished first in both the 60-meter and 200-meter dash at the OVC Championships.
Akers said Boey will probably miss another couple of weeks as he is returning from a knee injury.
"He's been getting better, but we want to make sure he's completely healthy before we try getting him back in the lineup," Akers said.
Without Boey, Eastern will look to junior transfer Darren Patterson, who finished first in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.10 seconds on Dec. 11.
Patterson transferred after two years at Rend Lake College where he helped the team win the NJCAA Indoor National Championship.
The others school set to compete in the meet will be Lindenwood, McKendree and Chicago State.
After the Mega Meet the Panthers will host the Illinois Intercollegiate on Jan. 30 in the Lantz Fieldhouse.
Bob Shaughnessy can be reached at 581-7944
or rrshaughnessy@eiu.edu
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