Eastern’s cross country team is off to a quick start this season and will look to build off its early success at the Louisville Cross Country Classic.

Coach Erin Howarth believes the team has shown a lot of improvement over

the last two weeks since the Illinois Intercollegiate.

“Both teams are looking to learn from the mistakes made in the first two races and put it all together,” she said.

The men’s side looks ready to take another step at the meet. Sophomore

Bryce Basting looks ready to lead the team into the race after winning OVC Runnerof the Week, posting a time of 24:44 at the Illinois Intercollegiate.

Juniors Danny Delaney and Pablo Ramirez also have performed this season.

Ramirez won the OVC Runner of the Week for his performance at the Walt Crawford Invitational.

However, the key to the meet for the men may be their health.

Red-shirt freshman Joe Calio and red-shirt junior Mike Hesslau are ready to return to action after going through some tough injuries.

“They didn’t race at the Intercollegiates, and they were sorely missed,” Howarth said.

The women’s side is also off to a quick start this season, finishing in second place at the Walt Crawford Open and seventh at the Illinois Intercollegiate.

Red-shirt senior Olivia Klaus and senior Britney Whitehead will look to continue leading the team at Louisville this weekend.

Klaus finished fourth at the Walt Crawford Open and 21st at the Intercollegiate.

Whitehead finished fifth at the Walt Crawford Open and 23rd at the Intercollegiate.

Senor Elizabeth Dole and red-shirt junior Paige Biehler will look to build off their finishes at the Intercollegiate, as well.

Dole finished with a time of 19:01 while Biehler hit the finish line right after her with a time of 19:03.

Freshmen Amy Yeoman and Quincy Knolhoff and seniors Erika Ramos and Stephanie Peisker round out the top runners.

Both teams are capable of finishing at the top of the leader board when healthy, but injury problems could limit the Panthers production.

“We still need to tighten up our 1-5 and be the strongest team out there,” Howarth said. “That means that we can pass a lot of runners from 3-4k in the women’s race and 6-

7k in the men’s race. If the team fixes this, they have a strong chance of winning the meet.”

The Panthers will compete at the Louisville Cross Country Classic on September 29.

Holden Fuehne can be reached at 581-2812 or hjfuehne@eiu.edu