The Eastern women’s track and field team shocked the Ohio Valley Conference and the school by winning the OVC Indoor Championships in February.

The team did the same by winning the Big Blue Classic last weekend.

But neither should have really come at much surprise, given the talent and balance the team has.

While the women’s team is short on upperclassmen, their few seniors and juniors place frequently and are led by distance runners Jillian Blondell and Nicole Flounders, jumper Nicole Marczewski (whose fifth-place triple jump sealed the victory at the indoor championships) and pole-vaulter Nicolene Galas.

But the real heart and soul of the women’s team is in their ultra-talented sophomore class.

Sprinter Shawana Smith, hurdler Chandra Golden and thrower/jumper Nicole Walcott have combined for nine first place finishes this school year, including six indoor victories and three wins in just two meets during the outdoor season.

Head women’s track and field coach Mary Wallace said she knew her sophomore class would be something special based upon the times and talent they displayed in high school.

She was absolutely right.

But even better than how talented they are is the work ethic Wallace said they all possess.

“They take track very seriously and they want to be the best,” she said.

That statement personifies “coach speak,” the type of cliched statements coaches say to the media all the time.

But in this case, it holds true as clearly the women have improved on last year’s fifth-place finish in the indoor and look to win the OVC outdoor championship after finishing second last year.

“We are underclassmen but we are still dominating, even with just one year of experience,” Walcott said.

But the sophomores are not the only underclassmen sporting gold medals this year.

The freshmen class is also getting in on the winning, with thrower Kandace Arnold winning twice and middle distance runner Erin O’Grady picking up one win.

Strong seniors are necessary for any team to win championships, but the future of the program lies in the underclassmen.

The sophomores and freshmen are only going to get better with Wallace and men’s head coach Tom Akers working with them on a daily basis.

Next year there will be only four seniors and the sophomores and freshmen will have one more year of experience.

The men have consistently been the OVC’s top track team, and won their sixth-straight OVC indoor title and 10th in 11 years this season.

But with a month until the OVC Outdoor Championships, it looks like the men might have to let the women get some space atop the podium, because the women are about start their own dynasty.