Eastern cross country runners get a bit of a break this weekend.

They have no official meet and have Friday and Saturday to train on their own.

The break will allow some of the athletes to go home, or just hang out around campus and relax, Eastern head cross country coach Geoff Masanet said.

They will still be running – just not for an official organized practice.

Sophomore Mario Castrejon said overall, it is not that much of a break because they will still be running and training through the weekend.

“The week isn’t really off; we are training hard through it,” Castrejon said. “If anything, we train harder on weeks we don’t race.”

Sophomore Erin O’Grady is looking forward to the mental break of not having a meet this weekend.

“Basically, a weekend off is a little break for your head,” O’Grady said. “A little bit of time where we don’t have to worry about the stresses of racing and traveling. Just a time to catch up and regain focus.”

Panthers to practice “Under the Lights”

After their break over the weekend, the Panthers are expected to return for the “Under the Lights” practice Sunday night at O’Brien Stadium

Masanet said this is a fairly hard workout of mile repeats that are ran at night to simulate the atmosphere of the Memphis Invitational, which Eastern will compete in Oct. 6.

“Obviously, the track is not the same as a cross country course, but the intensity and the excitement is sort of the same,” Masanet said. “It is a pretty fun way to get in some hard training before Memphis.”

Memphis is the meet Masanet said he has been pushing all year, where he will run everyone that he can and hope they all do as well as they can.

Both teams to run full line up at Memphis

Masanet said he expects to have a full lineup for the Memphis meet and will use it as somewhat of a judge to see who will make the conference team.

“We hope this is a meet where we come out of the gates and everyone races hard, finishes well and places high,” Masanet said.

Masanet said senior Brad Butler will definitely be red-shirting this year and hopes that allows for some of the younger guys to step up.

“We are taking a risk by not having Butler,” Masanet said. “He is looking wonderful and is a definite top five in the conference. We are giving up a lot, but I am still optimistic about what the rest of the guys can do, and even more optimistic about what we will do next year.”

Depleted women’s squad

The women’s team is running with low numbers as of late because of a slew of injuries that are either just beginning or trying to heal.

Senior Jill Blondell

is student teaching this semester and had planned on running and practicing on her own in order to still compete with the team.

Blondell recently came down with a knee injury, and she is unsure if she will be ready for the Ohio Valley Conference Championship.

Blondell’s younger sister, Jessica, is still trying to overcome an injury from last year. Masanet said she is getting better day by day.

Freshman Terasita Williams, who Masanet said was one of the top female runners, competed at the Belmont Invitational but is now trying to cross train to get rid of a shin injury.

“I know a lot of girls have been worried about our numbers, but it has been getting easier each week,” O’Grady said. “We have been running as a smaller group, but we only need five girls to score at a meet. So we know we only need five strong, healthy girls that are ready to bang something out, and we really will be fine.”