Perry joins EIU track squad

By RICK DAWSON, Staff Writer
rdawson@jg-tc.com

CHARLESTON — It took much of the summer to make it reality, but Antoine Perry is now on Eastern Illinois’ track team.

The Charleston sprinter chose EIU after also drawing interest from Gardner Webb in North Carolina, a state he once lived in. He delayed his decision long enough to mull offers after advancing to Illinois’ Class AA state track meet each of the past two years.

At Eastern, he should fit in running his specialty, the 400-meter dash.

“In high school, he’d run the 100, the 200, the 400 — even the 4x800,” EIU track and field coach Tom Akers said. “The main reason I liked Antoine when I watched him over the years is he’s been a hard worker, tough competitor. I know he’s done a lot of different events over at Charleston. I think he has a lot of upside if he gets around a lot of other 400-meter runners who can push him.”

The group Perry joins is a youthful one, including Casey junior Marcus Williams plus two other freshmen: Normal’s Reid Basting and Pinckneyville’s Ryan Rushing. Akers compares Perry to Williams, whose best time in high school was just above 50 seconds. As a freshman, he dropped it by two seconds, even going under 48 seconds in his 4x400 split.

Perry has done the necessary legwork to get prepared. His summer, he said, was a boring one, spent mainly working out at the Decatur YMCA.

“That’s like all I did,” he said. “I mostly ran hills and off and on distance, got in that mid-distance type of shape.”

The 400 wasn’t Eastern’s deepest event during the outdoor season. The top two were left out of the lineup and another got injured. With the three freshmen arriving, there promises to be stiffer competition this time around.

“Those guys are really going to add a lot of quality depth to that 400-meter area,” Akers said. “I’m really excited. I think that groups going to do some great things.

“This team we have this year coming in, if everybody stays healthy and sets their minds on the right things, we could have one of the strongest teams on the track that we’ve had in a long time.”

Recent Charleston graduates who have competed for the Panthers include Clint Coffey and Erik Werden. Gena Nance and Claire Dau are members of EIU’s cross country team.

Contact Rick Dawson at rdawson@jg-tc.com or 238-6855.