More than 40 women make up Eastern’s women’s track and field team. So why are only a handful making the trip to Iowa this weekend for the two-day Iowa State Classic?

“A lot of the freshman are tired,” said women’s head coach Mary Wallace.

She explained the squad traveling will be small this weekend because the team has a long season and some of the girls need a break.

No long or high jumpers will be traveling. No throwers will make the trip. There will be one hurdler, sophomore Shannon McDougall, and one sprinter, freshman Violet Nwordu. Junior Nicolene Galas will be pole-vaulting solo this weekend leaving the other seven seats to long and middle distance runners.

The team will use the weekend to practice and rest for next week’s Friday Night Special at Lantz Fieldhouse and the conference championships on Feb. 24-25.

The Iowa State Classic is so competitive, most of the opening heights and minimum distances for the field events are out of reach for Panthers.

Athletes have to throw at least 48 feet to even be measured in weight throw. Junior Erin Stein, who is no longer on the roster, has the longest throw by Eastern with a throw of 48-1 3/4 at the Early Bird Meet on Dec. 10 at Lantz.

The minimum jumps to qualify for long and triple jump are 17 and 36 feet, respectively. These distances are at the peak of Eastern’s athlete’s latest performances, and athletes have to jump at least that to even be measured.

The meet will benefit the distance runners.

“This will give the long and middle distance ladies a great opportunity to get into a quick race and run some good times,” said Wallace.

Last week’s meet at Indiana housed more than 1,000 athletes. This meet will make last week’s meet look tiny, Wallace said.

“It’s not uncommon for West coast schools to show up, along with teams from the Midwest and South,” she said.

Wallace points out that it is hard to run a good race when there are only a handful of competitors and they are all spread out. The Panthers will try to take advantage of having a large group to run with and push themselves to the next level.

For senior distance runner Amanda Schutte, this meet is a chance to fix her 5K performance.

She said last weekend she was not mentally in the race and hopes this weekend to work on her pacing and “getting into the race better.”

Senior Angie Simone will also be running the 5K in this weekend’s meet.

McDougall hopes to compete up to her usual standards this weekend.

“I’m not where I think I should be this time in the season,” she said. McDougall had asthma problems earlier in the season that she feels now are under control. “I feel I can still improve.”

The meet is a two-day event with finals and prelims on both days.