All season the Panthers’ cross country teams have been pushing forward to their next meet.

Eastern head coach Geoff Masanet has said all year, “Our best race is still ahead of us.”

Masanet said he feels like this year, as a team, the Panthers have had some of the best practices, but on race days things just don’t end the way they want them to.

The Panthers have had two weeks since their last meet at the Ohio Valley Championships and will head to Stillwater, Okla., to compete in the NCAA Midwest Regional on Saturday. The two top teams from each of the nine regionals will qualify for the NCAA National Championship, which will be held Nov. 24 in Terre Haute, Ind.

Thirteen other teams will be at-large selections chosen by the NCAA Division I track and field and cross country sub-committee.

In addition, 36 individuals will automatically qualify for the championship by being one of the top four regional finishers not on an advancing team. Two additional individuals are at-large selections by the sub-committee.

In years past, Masanet has not always brought full teams to Regionals. Last year, the Panthers didn’t compete at Regionals at all.

“Sometimes we get to the end of the season and we are tired and banged up or just not running our best races, and for one reason or another we hold off a little,” Masanet said.

That is not the case this year, even though the men’s team took a big hit with the Panthers’ No. 1 runner, senior Brad Butler, forced to miss the Regionals because of an injury.

“Butler being out obviously hurts, but overall we are ready to go, and we aren’t exhausted or worn out,” Masanet said.

Junior Mario Castrejon said this weekend would be a big test for the Panthers to prove what the team is capable of.

“It is kind of like, ‘OK, we are bringing a full team, lets see what we can do,'” Castrejon said. “I think Masanet has confidence in us pulling off a good race because so far we haven’t really shown all our cards. He knows, and we know, what we are capable of.”

The Panthers are changing up their strategy a bit for the race at Regionals, Masanet said, and will be putting more focus on their pace and reaching certain time goals.

Junior Aaron Iaun said it may be harder to focus on their own individual races with 30 other teams running around them, but that is what Eastern’s runners are going to attempt to do.

“We are just going to try and go out a little more conservative and not worry so much about everybody else,” Iaun said. “If we can do our own thing and hit the times we know we are capable of, the rest will take care of itself.”

The Regional race is going to be different from other meets this season because the distance is increased for both the men’s and women’s races. The men’s race is increased from eight kilometers to 10 kilometers, while the women’s race is increased from five kilometers to six kilometers.

“It is only another three or four minutes longer for the girls, and we have done all the training and everyone is ready for it,” sophomore Caitlin Napoleoni said. “It is a little tough, but really it is all mental. Once you get past that it isn’t too bad.”

Masanet said he hopes the race plans help the runners deal with the increase in distance.

“On the guy’s side, it is an extra six in a half or so minutes – another mile and a quarter – which is quite a bit longer,” Masanet said. “We are hoping that if we stick to those race pace times that we want to achieve then the extra distance won’t be too big of a deal.”

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

The men’s cross country team runs along the Panther Trail during practice on Oct. 20. The men’s and women’s cross country teams travel to Stillwater, Okla., on Saturday for the NCAA Midwest Regionals. (Amir Prellberg/The Daily Eatern News)

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