The Eastern track and field team will be split this weekend, with half of the roster heading to the Grand Valley State Big Meet, while the others will compete in the Indiana Hoosier Hills meet.

The Panthers will be bringing four nationally ranked athletes to the Grand Valley State Big Meet in red-shirt senior Zye Boey, red-shirt sophomore Mick Viken, red-shirt senior Donald Romero and red-shirt sophomore Jade Riebold. Boey is ranked No. 23 nationally in the men’s 60-meter dash and No. 7 nationally in the men’s 200-meter dash. Viken is ranked No. 41 in the men’s pole vault, while Riebold is ranked No. 29 in the women’s event. Romero is currently ranked No. 20 in the men’s weight throw.

In the 60-meter dash, Boey will take on a field of less experienced competition. Competing against Boey in the 60-meter dash will be sophomore Josh Atkins of Notre Dame, sophomore Michael Johnson of Central Michigan, fifth-year senior Rod Gray of St. Joseph’s College, Emmanuel Grembo of Tiffin, Dontaey Paige of Indiana Tech, as well as one other unattached runner.

In the 200-meter dash, Boey will see freshman Cameron Bolton of Eastern Michigan. Bolton, in his first season, comes to Eastern Michigan after being the nation’s No. 9 400-meter dash runner in high school.

Junior Jacob Mitchell and sophomore Kaleel Johnson will compete alongside Boey in the 60-meter dash, while Boey is the lone Panther competitor in the 200-meter dash.

Viken, along with junior Scott Mammoser and red-shirt senior Joe Noonan, will compete in a field of 17 competitors from schools including Illinois State, Indiana State and Grand Valley State.

In the women’s pole vault, Riebold, along with junior Abigail Schmitz, will compete in a larger field of 23 competitors. Riebold is the only nationally ranked competitor.

Romero will compete among 12 others in the men’s weight throw, where he is one of four seniors competing.

The other seniors include Jason Cogswell of Davenport, who finished in the top three in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) for the past two years, as well as holding the school record of 55-feet, 10-inches.

Other seniors include Matt Jensen of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Brian Bott of Saginaw Valley State.

The women’s 4×400-meter relay team of red-shirt senior Megan Gingerich, senior Bridget Sanchez, senior Emily Quinones and junior Erika Ramos will look to find success again this weekend, as they recorded the No. 2 all-time finish in Eastern history last weekend, while also recording the best women’s 4×400-meter time since 1981.

“Us three have been racing against each other for the past three years. I think just us three, we all love the 4×4 and we love that we’ve all been together,” Gingerich said. “Bridget and Emily are both long sprinters and the 400 is kind of their race. We all just come together and we get so excited for it.”

The remainder of the team will compete at the Indiana Hoosier Hills meet in Bloomington, Ind.

Some Panthers competing include red-shirt sophomore Tyler Allen and junior Alliu Sodiq will compete in the men’s triple jump, while junior Danny Harris, freshman Cory Householder and red-shirt freshman Daniel Trevor will compete in the 60-meter hurdles. Juniors Doug and Brian Mateas, along with sophomore Danny Delaney will compete in the men’s 3,000 meter race.

On the women’s side, sophomore Jaida Moore and junior Ashley Brown will each compete in the 60-meter and 200-meter dash events. Senior Erika Foltys will run in the 800-meter run, while freshman Sadie Lovett will compete in the pole vault.

The Panthers have one more meet remaining after this weekend before the Ohio Valley Conference championship. They will compete at home on Feb. 17 for the EIU Friday Night Special.

Dominic Renzetti can be reached at 581-7942 or dcrenzetti@eiu.edu.