The Eastern men’s and women’s track and field team will look to keep their momentum going this weekend as they host the Big Blue Classic at O’Brien Stadium.

The event will not be scored and will be open to all competitors. The first event will be the men’s hammer throw and is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. today.

On Saturday, the first event will be women’s shot put and will begin at 10:30 a.m.

The action at O’Brien Stadium will be the first and last of the season for the Panthers. For many of the seniors that may be difficult to swallow.

“This will be my last time on this track,” said senior Samantha Manto. “Even in high school we came here for state. It is definitely starting to kick in that it’s almost all over.”

Her last time out, Manto won the 400-meter hurdles in 1 minute, 4.43 seconds. Last year in the Big Blue Classic, Manto finished in 1:03.09 to place her eighth in the Eastern record books.

Another Panther looking for a strong performance will be junior Kandace Arnold. Arnold placed first in discus, shot put and hammer throw last weekend at Terre Haute, Ind.

Her shot put distance of 27-feet, 5.75-inches passed the NCAA regional mark for the second time this season. Arnold was named the OVC Field Athlete of the Week for the second straight week as well.

Other Eastern athletes receiving awards were senior Shawana Smith, who was named OVC Track Athlete of the week, and freshman Demarcus Brooks who was named Track Athlete of the Week.

Brooks, who was running in his first outdoor sprints of his career, landed himself sixth on the Eastern career list with a time of 10.56 seconds in the 100-meter dash.

Smith, who will also be competing in her final run at O’Brien Stadium, picked up a first place finish in the 200-meter run with a time of 25.01 seconds. She is also third in Eastern’s career list in 24.75 seconds.

To start off the Big Blue Classic, Eastern held the Neil-Moore multi-events Thursday morning and will continue on Friday morning.

The event only included the heptathlon and decathlon.

Teams competing in the events included Indiana State, Lincoln College, Wisconsin Milwaukee and others. Eastern did not compete in the event.

“It looks like we are going to have some good weather,” said Eastern head coach Tom Akers. “Last time, we had great weather we had some great performances by all those attending, so it would be a great weekend to come on out and watch. We’ve been training hard the last couple (days) so I think we’re ready for some more good stuff.”

Bob Shaughnessy can be reached at 581-7944 or at rrshaughnessy@eiu.edu.

Eastern senior thrower Ryan Bennett prepares for the shot put during practice Wednesday afternoon at O’Brien Stadium. The Panthers are hosting the Big Blue Classic today and Saturday at O’Brien Stadium. (Erin Matheny/The Daily Eastern News)

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