After earning 13 top-10 finishes at the Indiana Relays last weekend, the Eastern men and women’s track and field teams will be back in action this weekend at the Notre Dame Meyo invite.

The 2016 Meyo invitation will be on Friday and Saturday at the University of Notre Dame for the 28th straight year.

Both of Eastern’s men and women’s track and field teams will be in attendance for the contest. The Panthers will depart for South Bend early Friday morning and will begin competing later that afternoon.

This year, the invite was extended to 48 other schools, along with several track clubs from across the nation. During the past week, Tom Akers, track and field coach, has led the Panthers through a mentality-based practice scheme in preparation for this weekend’s events.

“Being three weeks back from vacation, last week was sort of a light work week for us.” We’re four weeks out of the conference championship. So we’re getting back after it, working hard this week yet looking forward to some good competition,” Akers said.

While Mondays through Wednesdays are the team’s heavier practices, Thursday tends to be a day of technique mixed with a lessening of volume and intensity.

Akers said his team needs to be competitive across the board in every event. In Akers’ eyes, output of every race, shot thrown, or sand divot is a measurement of how prepared the team is against all overall competition.

“We can win a John Craft invitational and not have good performances, and we would finish dead last at a Notre Dame meet and (you) know, set some PR’s and who knows, maybe even a school record,” Akers said.

Eastern is always looking to go against itself when contending against other schools. Whether their opponent is a representative of the SEC or the ACC, the team looks at their personal bests to hold themselves to a higher standard.

This will be the largest field of competition that Eastern has seen this year. Many teams from various schools will step onto the 300-meter track, which is presumably known as the annual stage of early February competition.

The invite will be at the Loftus Sports Center, and the facility has been hosting the contest every year since it opened in 1988.

Eastern’s track and field teams had a strong weekend at the Indiana Relays in Bloomington, Ind. Junior sprinter, Johnathan Boey was Eastern’s only top finisher last weekend, as he claimed first place in the men’s 60-meter dash with a time of 6.88.

Akers said he knows what his team is capable of and is looking to set the tone this weekend.

Jack Arkus can be reached at 581-2812 or jtarkus@eiu.edu