Eastern Illinois men's and women's cross country will compete in their last major race prior to the Ohio Valley Conference Championships as the Panthers travel to the Bradley "Pink" Classic on Friday afternoon in Peoria.
The men will run at 3:15 p.m. in the 8K Red Race while the women will run at 4 p.m. in the 6K Red Race. Both races will be held at the Newman Golf Course in Peoria.
The men's race will feature a total of 28 teams in the field including nine that are ranked in the Midwest and Great Lakes Region. The ranked teams in the field include Iowa (6th MW), IUPUI (12th GL), Oakland (11th GL), Nebraska (7th MW), Bradley (12th MW), Missouri (8th MW), Marquette (14th GL), Wichita State (13th MW) and Kansas State (14th MW).
The women's race will have 31 teams in the field with ten regionally ranked teams from the Midwest and Great Lakes Region. The ranked teams in the field include Northern Illinois (10th MW), Bradley (11th MW), Marquette (13th GL), Loyola-Chicago (13th MW), Illinois State (14th MW), Kansas State (9th MW), Xavier (12th GL), South Dakota (8th MW), Toledo (9th GL) and Missouri (3rd MW).
In their last race two weeks ago at the Greater Louisville Classic the EIU men placed 19th out of 30 teams in a highly competitive field. Freshman
Dustin Hatfield continued his impressive season as he led EIU with a time of 24:35.35 to place 49th overall. The time set the EIU men's 8K freshman record. Senior
Chris Orlow added a top 100 finish for the men in Louisville placing 82nd.
On the women's side EIU the Panthers placed 33rd out of 37 NCAA Division I teams. Senior
Maria Baldwin led the Panthers for the third straight meet this season with a time of 18:13.61. Freshman
Kate Bushue and junior college transfer
Ali Gutt were the second and third finishers for the Panthers in the meet.
Next week EIU will send a small group of runners to the Illini Classic before Eastern Illinois hosts this year's Ohio Valley Conference Championship meet on Saturday, Oct. 28 at the EIU Woodall Panther Trail.
