In a field filled with athletes from major universities and former collegiate all-stars, members of the Eastern men’s and women’s track team turned in impressive performances in Indiana over the weekend.

The Panthers traveled to Bloomington, Ind., to compete with runners from 16 teams along with representatives from track clubs in the non-scoring event. Eastern could enter only two performers in each event so only a select number of Panthers made the trip.

One Panther who made the trip to the Hoosier State was sophomore distance runner Jacob Stout. After Stout’s time in the mile run the rest of the 11-man field wishes he had stayed in Charleston.

Stout finished the mile on top with a time of 4:18.93 which was ahead of second-place finisher Nick Kruse (4:21.29) from Indiana and teammate Brad Runnion (4:23.67). Stout’s time in the mile was his fastest of the year surpassing his previous best of 4:19.75 set at the EIU Mega Meet last month.

“He did an outstanding to win an event against that type of competition,” Panthers men’s track and field coach Tom Akers said. “He ran really well.”

The underclassmen continued to impress over the weekend as freshman Jimmy Schultz qualified for the finals of the shot put with a throw of 51 feet three inches. Schultz’s toss placed him eight out of 25 competitors in the prelims. In the finals, Schultz struggled with a throw of just under 50 feet, well behind Dan Taylor from The Ohio State University winning toss of 62 feet, but even in defeat the freshman impressed Akers.

“Jimmy Schultz was one of the freshmen who really performed well,” Akers said. “He set a new personal record on Friday throwing over 51 feet. He was a little flat in the finals but still had a good weekend.”

Coming off a record setting performance in which she broke the 60-meter dash at the EIU Quadrangular on Jan. 31, Eastern speedster Alicia Harris suffered little letdown at Indiana. The Wheaton North graduate entered both the 200 and 400-meter dash advancing to the finals in each event. Harris finished fifth in the finals of the 200-meter and fourth in the 400-meter dash.

“She got into a crowded race (400-meter dash) but still had an outstanding run,” Akers said.

The Panthers will next be in action on Feb. 20, as they host the Friday Night Special at the Lantz Fieldhouse.