The Panthers expected Southern Illinois-Carbondale to win, and win by a lot, head coach Geoff Masanet said about Saturday’s SIU Saluki Invite.

“We know we are not of the same caliber as Carbondale even if we had our whole team and weren’t missing some key guys,” Masanet said. “Our goal was not to win but to go out there and be competitive.”

“Carbondale took it hard and went out fast from the beginning and we just wanted to stick our noses out front more, and we did a pretty good job of that,” junior Aaron Iaun said.

The Panther men placed second in the meet overall with 86 total points, only seven points ahead of third place Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.

Southern Illinois-Carbondale men scored only 15 points total for the win.

Senior Brad Butler was the first to cross the line for the Panthers in 10th place with a time of 26 minutes, 7.40 seconds.

Right behind Butler, in 14th and 15th place was sophomore Derek Ericson and Iaun.

Iaun said he was very impressed with freshman Jordan Patterson who finished in 17th place.

“He stepped up and ran a really great race,” Iaun said. “That was a big deal for us.”

The women placed fifth overall, with junior Erin O’Grady placing 15th with a time of 19:29.60.

Freshmen Brittany Arthur and Jenna Wise were the next two finishers for the Panthers coming in 20th and 24th place overall.

Masanet said the women had a rough deal in that they got up at 5:30 a.m., got on the bus and almost as soon as they got to Carbondale they had to warm up, stretch and go race.

“The guys at least had some time to sit around, relax, wake up a bit and get their minds ready for a race,” Masanet said.

Masanet said the Panthers will lighten up on practice this week in order for the team to rest before the Notre Dame Invite on Friday.

Brandy Provaznik can be reached at 581-7944 or at blprovaznik@eiu.edu.