Senior jumper Obe Eruteya jumped past his own best mark this season and all other competitors this weekend at the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa.

The Chicago native won the triple jump with a mark of 50 feet, 7.5 inches, the farthest by any competitor in the Ohio Valley Conference this season.

“There was a lot of competition, and that was one of the top 3 meets in the country this weekend,” Eruteya said. “I am very pleased with the outcome and how I performed.”

Eruteya jumped more than 50 feet for the first time this season.

“I just wanted to go out there and do my best,” Eruteya said. “I knew that 50 feet would come sooner or later.

Eastern head track coach Tom Akers said the weekend meet had a few hiccups, but he was pleased by his athletes’ two days of competition.

“We had a lot of season and personal bests,” Akers said. “We had a lot of people (who) stepped up, and I am very pleased by the result.”

Junior distance runner David Holm had another solid meet. He finished ninth in the 800-meter run and ran a season best of 1 minute, 51.24 seconds. Holm’s time was third-fastest in program history.

Akers said Holm had a solid weekend and ran well in his 800-meter run, the distance medley, and the 1,600-meter relay.

For the women’s team, sophomore sprinter Meghan Carney placed 13th in the 600-yard run. She finished in 1:28.15, which was her fastest time of the season.

Junior sprinter Shawana Smith placed 21st in the 60-meter dash in 7.79 seconds.

Eastern was also successful in non-seeded events on both the men’s and women’s teams.

Junior sprinter Tarra Grant placed fifth in a non-seeded 400-meter dash in 58.74 seconds.

For the men in the 800-meter unseeded race, Eastern had a number of athletes finish in the top 10. Freshman distance runner Justin Helpingstine placed second with a time of 1:53.43, sophomore Jason Springer finished fourth in 1:53.97, and sophomore middle-distance runner Justin Stewart finished 10th in 1:54.66.

On Friday, the men’s distance medley relay team of senior middle-distance runner Chris Wesson, sophomore hurdler Pat Tortorici, sophomore middle-distance runner Wes Sheldon and Holm ran the fourth fastest time in school history (9:55.21).

The team placed third and ran the fastest time in the OVC so far this season, and beat the previous time by 26 seconds.

Eruteya said the team did a great job overall.

“A lot of people stepped up at the meet,” Eruteya said. “We really stepped up to the competition.”

The Panthers will host the EIU Friday Night Special on Friday at Lantz Fieldhouse. It will be the last meet before the OVC Indoor Championships.

Dan Cusack can be reached at 581-7944 or at dscusack@eiu.edu.