For nine of the past 10 years the women have had to sit back and watch the men win one Ohio Valley Conference Championship after another.

The women have never won an OVC championship but this year, something is different.

The women are favored to win and have a confidence distance coach Geoff Masanet said has been lacking in previous years.

“In years past they were a little bit anxious, like ‘We could, maybe do it, but I don’t know,'” Masanet said. “This year I think they actually believe it.”

Even though the women supported the men all along, they still felt like they were in a shadow and wanted a victory of their own, said senior pole-vaulter Nicolene Galas.

Seeing the men win consistently every year just makes the women want it more and more, said senior distance runner Jillian Blondell.

“I think it is sort of like playing second fiddle to somebody else and seeing it happen year after year,” said Tom Akers, Eastern’s men’s track and field head coach. “It wouldn’t sit well with me and I think our girls have a competitive enough attitude that it is like, ‘We want to do that too.'”

Akers said this year he believes the women are capable of doing that.

Akers said he thinks the reason the men have had success in the past was because they had contributors in each event.

He feels the women are at that point now.

Women’s track and field head coach Mary Wallace said coming into the conference championships they have talent in every event.

She also doesn’t feel like any one event has a weak spot or any one event is particularly stronger than the other.

“The entire team is solid and has the opportunity to get it done,” Wallace said. “If every event group takes care of their business we will have really good results.”

Because Tennessee State has won women’s conference titles in the past and Southeast Missouri are the three-time consecutive defending OVC champions, Masanet said they might be favored over Eastern.

“They know, theoretically, what it is like to show up to a championship meet like this and perform well,” Masanet said. “They know how to control anxiety and edge people out at the line to make it to a final where it does help to have that experience.”

Akers said Tennessee State and SEMO are predominately sprint and jump oriented. And Samford and Eastern Kentucky have strong distance programs, he said.

“There is just so many different teams that have strengths in different areas so it is really going to be a battle no matter what event we are competing in,” Akers said.

Austin Peay head coach Doug Molnar said he is also expecting the Eastern women to have many athletes scoring in many events.

“We don’t have a lot of guns, but like assassins, the ones we do have are very lethal,” Molnar said. “Eastern has a lot of guns and on paper they are favored. It is theirs to lose.”

Now it is time to see if the outcome will be different too.