Freshman learning the footwork

There are a handful of freshmen that head coach Mary Wallace said she thought had the potential to make a difference this season. They’ll get their first chance this Saturday at Eastern’s Early Bird Meet in Lantz Fieldhouse.

Kandace Arnold (shot and weight throw), Caitlin Finnegan (hurdles and long sprint) and Erin O’Grady (middle distance to distance) are among those Wallace mentioned.

Arnold is not only having to make the transition from high school to college athletics, but is also learning to compete in a new event, the weight throw.

“High school is way different,” Arnold said. “There I was like top dog and here after throwing 40 feet I was really excited about it and coach was like, ‘Yeah that is nothing, so keep going.’ I got to work my way back up but it is going really well so far.”

Wallace said Arnold is learning that it is not just throwing and is doing a good job learning the technical aspect of it also.

“It is kind of easy,” Arnold said. “My coach is making it easier for me. The footwork and everything is really hard. I am really excited for Saturday. I am not nervous at all. I just want to get the footwork down.”

Sprinters are running on a depleted lineup

The Panthers are dealing with quite a few injuries in the sprinting section and some women may not be running on Saturday. Sophomores Tarra Grant (knee), Chandra Golden (foot) and Samantha Manto (broken fibula) are all starting the season off injured.

“We are a little low on sprinters, but we are going to keep our heads up,” said sophomore Crystal Jones. “We know it is OK if we lose a couple of races. We still need to put our hearts into it and go out strong.”

Wallace said sophomore Shawana Smith has had a great fall and is looking as though she will be a threat in some of the sprinting events.

Smith said she is not too worried about the injuries to her fellow sprinters.

“A lot of the girls with injuries will be back in January after resting some over Christmas break,” Smith said. “Saturday is mainly about testing the ones that are here and ready in order to build for the rest of the season.”

From the field to the fieldhouse

Sophomores Molly Clutter, Jones and Samantha Manto are all Eastern rugby players that are also on the women’s track roster.

Manto broke her fibula in the second-to-last game of the rugby season, but said she is recovering nicely.

“I took the boot off a few days ago and I am walking on it now and it doesn’t hurt too bad,” Manto said. “It is a non-weight bearing bone so it is going alright. I think in about a month, to a month-and-a-half I will be ready and training like normal.”

Manto said she is going to start doing elliptical training in a week and jogging on a treadmill in two weeks.

The other track women from the rugby team are trying to get their bodies ready for the meet on Saturday.

“The transition has not been too difficult,” Jones said. “We started off a little easy. We had a great week in practice. The weight lifting is about the same and I did a lot of running in rugby so it is not too difficult.”

Jones said that the three have gotten closer because they spend so much time together and it is nice to have two other people that are going through the same things.

Clutter said she does notice a difference in the training.

“In rugby we did other drills, like passing and it wasn’t all running,” she said. “So in track, I am working my body a little more and it takes a bit of a toll.”