CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois men's and women's cross country open the season this Friday as the Panthers host the Walt Crawford Open at the Woodall Panther Trail. The women will compete at the 5K distance starting at 4:45 pm followed by the men at 5:30 pm running an 8K.
Teams scheduled to compete this Friday are EIU, Bradley, Southeast Missouri, Murray State, Illinois, and SIUE from the NCAA Division I ranks. The field will also include teams from Danville CC, Kaskaskia College, Illinois Central College, Vincennes University and Lincoln College.
The women's team will be led by seniors
Maria Baldwin,
Caroline Collet and
Lea Viano as the Panthers look to rebuild after losing five seniors to graduation. Baldwin returns as the back-to-back champion in the event. Last season she won the season opening race with a time of 17:48.92 which was just four seconds off her career best time.
The EIU men will also be looking to replace several key runners as they graduated four seniors from last year's squad.
Chris Orlow is one of men's teams top returning runners after placing fifth last season for EIU in the Walt Crawford Open with a time of 25:44.41. Orlow will be joined in the senior class by redshirt seniors
Tyler Keen,
Karson Hahn and
Michael Mest.
