The Eastern indoor track and field team will open its season today with the EIU Early Bird, along with Eastern, Cincinnati, Indiana State and Vincennes University.

The Panthers are returning a number of key team members on both the men’s and women’s teams, as well as adding some new faces.

Entering his final season of a Panther, red-shirt senior Zye Boey was a 2011 Indoor first team All-American in 200-meter dash, as well as the 2011 Ohio Valley Conference Male Indoor Track Athlete of the Year. Boey had a big year last year, breaking the Eastern indoor 200-meter dash record.

Junior Erika Ramos is coming off a cross country season as in which she set the Eastern school record for the 6K event, as well as leading the Panthers to an OVC cross country title. Ramos will look to set some school records in this year’s indoor track season, as she has been steadily moving up the all-time ranks in multiple events. Last season, Ramos moved into the No. 3 spot in the 800-meter dash in the No. 6 in the mile run.

In field events, the men’s team will be returning red-shirt sophomore pole vaulter Mick Viken. Viken broke the Eastern indoor pole vault record, previously held by current coach Kyle Ellis. Viken, now in his second season as a Panther, will have to live up to his OVC Indoor Freshman of the Year honors.

The women’s team will return junior thrower Alisha Donner, who placed third in the OVC last season, and moved into No. 10 on the all-time Eastern list.

Both the men’s and women’s pole vaulting team is bringing in transfers who will compete this season. The men’s team will add sophomore Dan Chalus, a transfer from Chicago’s North Park University. At North Park, Chalus set the school’s record with a jump of 14-feet 10-inches. He finished fifth at last year’s College Conference of Illinois Wisconsin (CCIW) indoor championship.

The women will be adding red-shirt sophomore Georgia transfer Jade Riebold. Riebold finished tied for seventh during the 2010 Southeastern Conference (SEC) Indoor Championships. Riebold red-shirted her 2011 season at Georgia.

Cincinnati brings tough competition to the EIU Early Bird, with senior hurdler Terrance Somerville. Somerville posted the nation’s top 110-meter hurdle time and finished sixth at the USA Track and Field Indoor Championships.

Also for the Bearcats is senior distance runner Eric Finan, who holds the school records in the indoor 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter runs. An All-American, Finan also was the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Cross Country Champion, finishing 60th in the NCAA cross country championship.

For the Cincinnati women’s team, senior Kathy Klump is coming off her best track season in which she set school records in the indoor 500-meter, 800-meter, indoor 4×4 relay, and was the indoor 500-meter Big East Conference championship.

The EIU Early Bird begins at 3 p.m. Friday at Lantz Fieldhouse.

Dominic Renzetti can be reached at 581-7942

or dcrenzetti@eiu.edu.