After competing at the Ohio Valley Conference championship one week ago, Easterns men’s and women’s cross country teams had one week off to prepare for the upcoming NCAA Regionals.

At last season’s NCAA Regional, the Panther men finished 24th out of 25 teams. The only other Ohio Valley Conference team to compete was Southeast Missouri, who finished in 22nd.

The men’s meet overall was won by Hassan Mead of Minnesota, finishing in 30:21.9. The top Eastern finisher was Brad LaRocque who finished in 89th place with a time of 33:40.7. LaRocque was the only Eastern runner to finish inside the top 100 in the field of 174. The meet was won overall by Oklahoma State.

Eastern’s women’s team did not place as a team. The meet was won by Angela Bizzarri of Illinois with a time of 20:07.5. Minnesota won the meet overall with a score of 60 points.

The top Eastern finisher was Erin O’Grady, who finished in 145th place with a time of 24:33.0. The event featured a field of 173 runners.

After an eventful 2nd place finish by the women and 3rd place finish by the men at the Ohio Valley Conference championships, the Panthers look to prove that they are not the same team that competed at the 2009 NCAA Regionals.

The Panthers come into the NCAA Regionals with a slight advantage over the rest of the field. The event is held at Bradley University in Peoria, a place where the Panthers have already competed once this season.

This will also be the first NCAA Regional event for the Panthers under new head coach Erin Howarth. Numerous players have all stated how Coach Howarth’s workout and training regime has bettered them and improved their skills.

Around the OVC

The Ohio Valley ConferenceScholar-Athlete Award for the 2009-2010 season was given to six winners this past week.

The award is voted on by OVC Faculty Athletics Representatives and is awarded to athletes that have “performed athletically with distinction, earned at least a 3.25 grade point average and conducted themselves in a manner which has brought credit to the student-athlete, his or her institution, intercollegiate athletics and the OVC.”

After a field of 18 finalists was narrowed to six, the six finalists were: Alex Das, tennis player, of Eastern Kentucky, Dustin Davis, track and cross country runner, of Southeast Missouri, Megan Gingerich, track and cross country runner, Stephanie Lynch, soccer player, of Eastern Kentucky, Chelsea Pelletier, soccer player, of Jacksonville State, and Cody Terry, baseball player, of UT- Martin.

Gingerich is the 13th Eastern athlete to win the award, and only the fifth ever Eastern woman to ever win the award.

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

Sophomore cross country runner Graham Morris jogs during practice Sept. 28 at the Panther Trail by the Campus Pond.(Jordan Boner

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