After an impressive showing at the Illinois Intercollegiate meet Friday in Bloomington, the Eastern cross country team has a week to rest before they head to South Bend, Ind.

The Panther women’s team finished in fifth place out of 40 teams, while the men finished 10th.

One of the women’s top finishers was junior Brittany Arthur, who came in 44th place with a time of 19:08. Arthur was one of four Eastern runners to finish inside the top fifty.

“I thought we had a different race plan going in,” Arthur said. “We were a little conservative, we picked it up during the 3K and 4K (part of the race). I thought we did good, we had a meet week before this one, so we all had a lot of training, we all improved our personal times and everyone is looking good.”

As for the rest of the season and the team’s chances at an Ohio Valley Conference title, Arthur has high hopes.

“I think we can definitely be on the top of the conference this year,” Arthur said. “It’s always our goal to win conference, and I think that this year that is a very realistic goal.”

The Panthers look to have another strong performance at the Notre Dame Invite Friday, Oct. 2.

Around the OVC

This week’s Ohio Valley Conference Runners of the Week both come from Eastern Kentucky University. Freshman Soufiane Bouchikhi and senior Kat Pagano both won for their performances at the Old Timers Classic.

The Belgian born Bouchikhi won the 8K race of 89 other runners with a time of 24:39. Pagano took third place in the 5K race with a time of 18:34.

Pagano shared her Runner of the Week title with Eastern red-shirt sophomore runner Olivia Klaus, who finished 13th at the Illinois Intercollegiate with a time of 18:34.

The Old Timers Classic, held at Western Kentucky University, featured five OVC schools including Austin Peay, Morehead State, Tennessee Tech and University of Tennessee-Martin and Eastern Kentucky.

The Eastern Kentucky mens team took first place and the womens team took second.

Three OVC teams competed in the Commodore Classic held in Nashville, Tennessee including Murray State, Southeast Missouri and Tennessee State. Southeast Missouri was the highest finishing OVC school, finishing in fourth place on the men’s level.

SIU-Edwardsville hosted the SIU-E Challenge Friday in Edwardsville. The women’s team was able to finish in second place, while the men’s team finished in first place.

Dominic Renzetti can be reached at 581-7944 or dcrenzetti@eiu.edu

Racers gather at the starting line during the EIU Panther Open Sept. 10 at the Panther Trail. (Seth Schroeder

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