Just one week after the Eastern track and field team’s only home meet of the season, the team will hit the road for the first time as an entire team since the indoor season ended.

This weekend, the Panthers will head to Bowling Green, Ky., for the WKU Hilltopper Relays, at Western Kentucky University.

Though the team enjoys competing at home, red-shirt junior Megan Gingerich said sometimes it is good to compete somewhere new.

“It’s good to get away sometimes,” Gingerich said. “I think it brings out the competition in people. We haven’t really traveled since the indoor season.”

With the WKU Hilltopper Relays expected to be a smaller meet than what the Panthers are normally used to, Gingerich said it should be a good meet for team.

“It’s going to be a smaller meet. I think there’s only about five teams, so it should be a good experience for us,” Gingerich said.

Other teams competing against the Panthers this weekend will be host, Western Kentucky, Chattanooga, Kentucky State, Bellarmine, and Ohio Valley Conference rivals, Murray State and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.

Host Western Kentucky, representing the Sun Belt Conference, enters the meet with the No. 47 ranked men’s team and the No. 69 ranked women’s team in the most recent national poll.

The Hilltoppers have two of the top athletes in the country in the men’s javelin throw and the women’s hammer throw events. The Chilean-born Ignacio Guerra is currently the nation’s No. 1 javelin thrower. Guerra, a junior, threw 258-feet, 2-inches at last weekend’s Florida Relays.

His throw also broke his own Chilean national record, the Western Kentucky school record, as well as currently ranking as the No. 11 throw in the world so far this year as well as being No. 1 in the NCAA. Guerra has already qualified for the Pan-American Games.

Senior Lauren Iguane holds the No. 6 best hammer throw distance in the nation after finishing second at last weekend’s meet. Iguane has won the Sun Belt Conference’s weekly field athlete of the week award two weeks in a row.

Temperatures are expected to be in the 80s for this weekend’s meet, as well as a possibility of rain showers. Gingerich said adjusting to the weather conditions is one facet of the outdoor season track that athletes must adjust to coming from the indoor season. She said the athletes must have mental toughness, and always be prepared for conditions such as rain or wind.

Practice this week has been nothing out of the ordinary for the Panthers. Gingerich said the team completed two hard workouts this week and is ready for competition.

“I’m ready to hit the road,” Gingerich said.

After last week’s success, Gingerich said she believes the Big Blue Classic has set the tone for the remainder of the season.

“Coming off a good indoor season, we’re prepared for outdoor,” Gingerich said.

The WKU Hilltopper Relays will begin 9 a.m. Saturday with the men’s hammer throw. Next weekend the Panthers will head to the Kansas Relays in Lawrence, Kan.

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

Sodiq Alliu, a sophomore jumper, hangs in mid air during the men’s long jump Saturday during the EIU Big blue Classic at O’Brien Field. (Danny Damiani

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