To go along with the Panthers’ 12 first place finishes at last Saturday’s Hilltopper Relays, the team also came home with a number of other top five finishes.

At the single day event held at Western Kentucky University, sophomore Jill MacEachen and senior Donald Romero set marks good enough to make the Eastern all-time best list. MacEachen, competing in the women’s 100-meter hurdles, took second place with a time of 14.58 seconds. MacEachen’s time now stands as the No. 8 all-time best at Eastern. MacEachen is also listed in the indoor record books as the No. 6 all-time best in the 60-meter hurdles. She set the record earlier this indoor season.

The Panthers saw favorable weather conditions at the Hilltopper relays, which MacEachen says helped improve her performance.

“It was good to go to a place where the weather was nice. It’s been pretty chilly (in Charleston) lately,” MacEachen said.

Romero, competing in the men’s hammer throw, recorded a mark of 183-feet, 11-inches. His mark now stands as the No. 4 all-time best at Eastern. Romero took second place in the event, falling short to junior Buddy Price of Western Kentucky. Price won the event with a throw of 186-feet.

Romero also took third place in the discus with a throw of 160-feet, 9-inches. Romero finished behind teammate Tyler Arnholt. Arnholt, a senior, recorded a throw of 173-feet. Unattached competitor John Bowman won the event.

In other men’s field events, sophomore Scott Mammoser took second place in the javelin throw. Mammoser recorded a throw of 163-feet, 5-inches, falling behind junior Ignacio Guerra of Western Kentucky. Guerra won the event with a throw of 238-feet, 4-inches. Guerra leads all colligate athletes as the No. 1 javelin thrower in the nation.

On the women’s side of the javelin throw, Eastern finished with the second and third place spots with sophomore Michelle Pranger and senior Dominique Turner falling to junior Julia Zalewski of Bellarmine. Pranger recorded a throw of 104-feet, 2-inches, while Turner came away with a mark of 201-feet, 1-inch.

The Panthers will be split next weekend between the Kansas Relays and the Vanderbilt Invitational.

Around the OVC

Eastern Kentucky competed at the University of the Cumberlands Invitational last Saturday. The Colonel women finished in first place, while the men finished second. The team won a total of 10 events at the meet. Next weekend, the Colonels will travel to compete at the University of Tennessee Sea-Ray Relays.

Southeast Missouri traveled to the University of Missouri for the Tom Botts Invitational this past weekend. The men’s and women’s teams combined for a total of ten top five finishes. Sophomore Jerika Lewis broke the school record for the women’s 200-meter dash with a time of 23.92 seconds.

Tennessee Tech finished in third place last weekend, as the team competed at the Boston-Moon Classic at Tennessee State University. Freshman Kelli Keck set a new school record for the women’s triple jump with a distance of 36-feet, 10.5 inches. As a team, the Golden Eagles set 17 personal best marks at the meet. Tennessee Tech will compete along side Eastern Kentucky next weekend at the University of Tennessee Sea-Ray Relays.

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

Jared Diaz, a freshman thrower, gets ready to compete April 2 in the javelin portion of the EIU Big Blue Classic at O’Brien Field. (Danny Damiani

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