Track Heads To WIU Calhoun Classic

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois will begin the road portion of its 2010 outdoor track and field season this weekend as the Panthers head to Western Illinois to participate in the 21st Lee Calhoun Classic. A limited schedule of events will take place Friday evening following by a full day of competition on Saturday. 

Teams scheduled to compete in the Calhoun Classic include host Western Illinois, Bradley, Chicago State, Illinois State, Iowa, IPFW and Marquette. 

The Panthers are coming off an impressive performance at their own Big Blue Classic last weekend. Kandace Arnold, Shawana Smith andDarren Patterson all collected Ohio Valley Conference weekly honors based on their performances. 

Arnold was the OVC Female Field Athlete of the Week following her efforts in the shot put, discus and hammer. Arnold set the school record in the shot put at 49’6.50” while increasing her school record mark in the discus to 155’2”. 

Smith was the OVC Female Track Athlete of the Week following a pair of first place finishes in the 100m and 200m dash. Smith also ran one leg on the 4x100 relay team that placed first with a time of 48.36. 

Patterson was the OVC Male Track Athlete of the Week after winning the 200m dash with a time of 21.65. Patterson also ran a leg on the 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams that placed second posting times of 41.76 and 3:13.37. 

The Panthers will send a full squad to the Calhoun Classic which should include sophomore Zye Boey and senior Ian Winston. Boey returned to win the 100m dash last weekend after missing the indoor season recovering from knee surgery. Boey advanced to the NCAA National Championships last season in the 100m dash and currently ranks 12th nationally in that event. Winston has yet to perform in the high jump this season but enters the weekend ranked 49th nationally. 

On the women’s side hurdlers Caitlin Finnegan and Andrea Fabiano are coming off top performances in the 400m hurdles as Finnegan posted the fifth best time in EIU history last weekend while Fabiano turned in the eighth best mark in Panther history. Jumper Queenie Adeboyejo also turned in a top ten career performance last weekend winning the triple jump at 38’10.50 which landed as seventh best at EIU.