Junior Chad Aubin is next in the line of elite hurdlers for the Eastern men’s track team.

At the Big Blue Classic on Friday, he was able to finish the race and secured a win in the 400-meter hurdles. At the EIU Invitational he tripped and fell over and went from first to fifth.

“I just tried to run faster and relax around the turn,” Aubin said. “This week I wanted make sure I got over the hurdles and finished strong. I knew I could have a good time because I was on for a good pace last week. It was just a matter of finishing today.”

The mark (53.13 seconds) was a personal best, in his second outdoor meet of the season.

Aubin led an Eastern contingent with a 1-2-3 finish in the event as juniors Preston Smith and Pat Tortorici finished rounded out the top three. Freshmen Danny Harris and Dominique Harris finished fifth and eighth respectively in the event.

In the 110-meter hurdles, Hall showcased his speed with a runner-up finish and freshman Lamarr Pottinger finished third.

“It’s great for training,” Aubin said. “You always have someone there pushing you. Everybody’s pushing everybody else.

Everywhere you go, you’re going to have great competition.”

Although the outdoor season is still young (Eastern has only competed in two events), Eastern hurdlers have registered five of the top seven marks in the Ohio Valley Conference in the 400-meter hurdles. Aubin has notched the best mark this season in this event. Eastern hurdlers also follow a similar trend in the 110-meter hurdles. These athletes have posted four of top seven times in the OVC.

This hurdling prowess doesn’t stop on the men’s side. It continues on the women’s side.

Senior Chandra Golden has been consistent from the day she stepped onto the blue track.

Junior Caitlin Finnegan is making the right strides. She set a personal best with a second-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles at the Big Blue Classic. She has the top mark (1 minute, 2.49 seconds) in the event in the OVC. Not far behind her is freshman Andrea Fabiano, whose time (1:02.87) ranks third in the OVC. And freshman Jill MacEachen is also making strides.

Finnegan started the race strong only finishing second to former Illinois All-American hurdler Deserea Brown.

“I gave it all in the beginning, and I knew the end was going to be hard,” Finnegan said.

Golden said she started the race off right and was tired by the end of the race.

“That last hurdle is always the make-or-break of the race,” she said. “I got over it and sprinted my butt home as hard as I could.”

Finnegan said Brown out in front pushed her to a better time. Golden ranks second in the 100-meter hurdles in the OVC, Finnegan ranks fourth, Fabiano ranks seventh and MacEachen ranks eighth.

Eastern head track Tom Akers is pleased with the performances of the hurdlers this season.

“It’s always nice have that depth,” Akers said. “It’s nice to have that dilemma.”

Kevin Murphy can be reached at 581-7944 or kjmurphy@eiu.edu