The events of Sept. 11 are forever etched in most Americans lives. The day changed everyone’s life in one aspect or another.

Eastern athletes and coaches were no exception.

Their experience on that fateful day was in many ways unique to what others experienced.

Panther head volleyball coach Brenda Winkeler and the team returned from a trip to Alaska just hours before the attacks in New York and Washington. All air travel was suspended shortly after the attacks. She said it was a scary moment that she won’t forget.

“I think that it really made the team uneasy getting ready to fly again that year,” Winkeler said.

Many of the players’ parents were stranded in Alaska and were faced with a 14-hour drive home as flights were suspended for several days.

“Nobody really knew what happened until (senior Jennifer Fisher’s) mother called on a cell phone,” Winkeler said.

Winkeler said her team took some time off practice to talk about what happened.

“It’s definitely still on everyone’s mind,” Winkeler said. “There are memories that everyone has and it’s been in the press enough to stay in the forefront of everyone’s minds.”

The Panther football team was weeks away from its trip to California, but the upcoming flight weighed heavy on the minds of the players.

“I know it was on my mind,” head football coach Bob Spoo said. “It’s not something we really talked to the players about, but I’m sure they were all thinking about it too.”

Spoo was a key player in the decision to cancel the game at Illinois State the Friday after the attacks.

“With the severity of it – I was convinced very early,” Spoo said. “I just felt like it was appropriate to not play.”

While Spoo can’t recall where he was when he first learned about what was happening, he said it’s something he thinks about every day.

“I think it’s really changed everyone’s outlook,” Spoo said. “You worry about these things now. You wonder if they’re going to strike again and when and where that will be.”

The Panther women’s soccer team was primed for a trip to Hawaii when the terrorists struck. The trip was ultimately canceled.

“It just makes you appreciate what we have and what those people in those towers lost,” women’s soccer coach Steve Ballard said. “You don’t think about sports when that happens. I’ll tell you that I’m incredibly thankful for what I and my family already have.”

Panther men’s soccer coach Adam Howarth gave his team a few days off from practice out of respect for Sept. 11.

“Everybody was kind of in shock that day and we just went through the motions,” Howarth said. “Everybody’s minds were in different places – not on soccer.”

For members of the cross country team, running was therapeutic.

“It was good to get away from the TV and do something normal, again, maybe a little bit anyway,” Panther cross country head coach John McInerney said. “We wanted to get back to business. I think there was an urgency to get back to normalcy.

“It made everyone take a long look at their lives and we did take a couple of days to regroup and sort through everything.”

*Sports editor Nate Bloomquist, associate sports editor Matt Meinheit, staff writers Tim Martin, Matthew Stevens and Matt Williams contributed to this story.