Panthers Tune Up At Friday Night Special

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Senior Kandace Arnold shattered her own two school records on Friday evening as the Eastern Illinois men’s and women’s track and field teams had a final tune up for defense of their Ohio Valley Conference titles at the EIU Friday Night Special held at Lantz Indoor Fieldhouse.

Competing in a large field of schools that included Illinois, Illinois State, Indiana State and Southern Illinois the Panthers had several strong showings on their home course.

Arnold placed sixth in the weight throw with a distance of 60’6.75” as she became the first EIU women’s thrower to crack the 60’ mark in school history. She would return later in the day to place third in the shot put finishing at 50’2.50”, again becoming the first Panther women’s athlete to pass the 50’ mark in that event.

Senior teammate Chandra Golden was also solid in a competitive field as she won the 60m dash with a time of 7.66. Golden was second in a fast field in the 60m hurdles finishing at 8.57. The top seven competitors all posted times under 9.0 seconds including Caitlin Finnegan in sixth place at 8.97, the 8th best mark in school history.

The men were also solid in the 60m hurdles as Lamarr Pottinger placed second in the 60m hurdles at 8.25 followed by teammate Dominique Hall in fourth place.

Sean Wiggan picked up a second place finish in the 400m while Mike Connolly was fourth in the 400m and Matt Feldhake fourth in the 800m.

Erin O’Grady improved her personal best in the mile winning the event with a time of 5:01.05 which ranks fifth on the EIU charts. She would later place fourth in the 800m race. Megan Gingerich also picked up a first place finish winning the 600m while freshman Jamiee Roy was third in the long jump at 17’7”. 

The EIU women's 4x400 relay team capped the night placing first while the men's 4x400 relay squad was second.

EIU will travel to Nashville next Friday and Saturday looking to repeat as OVC Indoor Track Champions. The women have previously won the indoor title two times while the EIU men have domisteeplewebd the track podium with 11 trophies in 13 years.