Men 5th, Women 9th At Evansville Invite

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Eastern Illinois men’s cross country placed fifth at the Evansville Invite while the Panther women finished 9th in their final race prior to the OVC Championships on Nov. 1

Senior Brad Butler led the men’s team with a 17th place finish in a time of 25:11.99. Derek Ericson was the second Panther finisher at 25:25.25 good for 27th place while Mario Castrejon was EIU’s third finisher in 36th place at 25:47.06.

Southern Illinois won the team title with 31 points while Belmont was second with 63. EIU scored 151 points for fifth place but did finish ahead of OVC members Austin Peay, Murray State, Tennessee Tech, UT Martin and future league school SIU Edwardsville.

On the women’s side EIU scored 235 points and finished just behind Tennessee Tech who was in eighth place. The Panthers did finish ahead of OVC schools Austin Peay, UT Martin and SIU Edwardsville. Southern Illinois won the team title followed by Southern Indiana and Murray State. 

Erin O'Grady was leading Panthers runner with a time of 18:55.29 good for 34th place. Brittany Arthur was close behind in 38th place and a time of 19:02.25. Caitlin Napoleoni rounded out the Top 3 EIU women’s runners in 53rd with time of 19:13.97.