He won’t participate in Saturday’s Early Bird Meet. He won’t compete in a meet until January. He will, however, be on the sidelines assisting and cheering his fellow teammates.

Sophomore runner Jeremy Wheeler is not able to participate in men’s track and field because he is a transfer from the University of Illinois and will not be able to compete until next semester starts.

Wheeler said it was a simple reason for transferring to Eastern.

“I didn’t run,” he said. “I really didn’t like the U of I program.”

Wheeler cited other reasons for leaving Illinois.

“It was too huge,” he said. “Me and the coaches had a rough time getting things together. There were so many athletes there.”

Academics also played in the role of the decision to transfer to Eastern.

“Classes are definitely a lot easier here,” Wheeler said. “There’s more one-on-one with the teacher compared to U of I. At U of I, I took an econ class, there were like 500 kids in a lecture hall. It’s a lot better here.”

Wheeler then proceeded to transfer to Eastern.

“I called the coaches here and I really like it,” he said.

Even before Wheeler went to Illinois, he had looked at Eastern.

“It was between Eastern and U of I,” he said. “I really liked Eastern when I came down for the visit, going freshman year into college and called up coach (Geoff) Masanet and coach (Tom) Akers and they got me a spot.”

Wheeler’s main passion is running.

“I happen to be good at running,” he said. “It’s more relaxing and it helps relieve a lot of stress. It’s definitely time to think about things. It’s a team aspect. Running’s been pretty successful here.”

Eastern has won the past six consecutive indoor Ohio Valley Conference championships and nine of the past 10.

At the collegiate level, Wheeler will primarily be working with the middle-distance runners. That group runs a variety of races from the 400 meters to the mile.

“Here, they’re going to have me run the mile and the steeplechase,” Wheeler said.

Wheeler said he has never competed in the steeplechase event before.

“I was hurdling with the hurdlers,” he said. “I kind of stopped after a while because I was getting sore. (The coaches) said just work on flexibility, so I’m just going to wing it my first time, see how it goes.”

Because of NCAA transfer rules, Wheeler will not be able to compete until the EIU Mega Meet Jan. 20 at Lantz Fieldhouse.

In the meantime, Wheeler has tried to become more comfortable with the team.

Wheeler said he communicates with junior runner Chris Wesson the most.

“He’s definitely someone that motivates me,” Wheeler said. “He’s the next level of me. I always want to catch him in the workouts.”

Wheeler also said he is more comfortable with the coaches here also.

“I definitely like the coaches here better,” Wheeler said. “They seem more interested.”

Wheeler trained with the cross country team before the track team started this fall.

“He’s going to be a great addition to the team,” Akers said. “He fit in right off the bat.

He surprised me with his leg speed. He’s definitely a strong athlete, very strong mentally and psychically as well.”