The track and field team opens their outdoor season at Southern Illinois-Carbondale for a weekend meet.

The Bill Cornell Spring Classic will begin with the women’s discus throw at 9 a.m. this Saturday with running events kicking off at 12:30 p.m., starting with the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase.

At the 2016 classic, the Panthers raked in four first-place finishes with five athletes posting Eastern career top-10 marks. Junior Haleigh Knapp will seek another top mark in the high jump again this year. Knapp earned first in the 2016 meet after clearing 5’8” to sail to fifth on the school career list.

The women dominated the steeplechase with three Panthers snatching the first, second and third place positions. Senior Rachel Garippo ran away with the event title after posting a time of 11 minutes, 20.71 seconds.

Eastern graduate Quincy Knolhoff finished 14.43 seconds after Garippo with senior Caroline Collet taking the bronze with a time of 12:15.81.

Senior Riley McInerney earned points with his first-place steeplechase performance of 9:07.66. The men’s only other first place finish came via senior Jamal Robinson who placed first in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.60 seconds.

The men and women also combined for eight second-place finishes last year.

Junior Brion Portis earned the silver with her 37’8.75” leap, ranking her 10th all time for Eastern in the event. Graduate student Dihaa Dean barely missed first place finisher Brette Correy of Northern Iowa in the 800-meter dash with a time of 2:13.81, 0.65 seconds under Correy’s time.

Senior Anita Saffa had two second place wins of her own, both of which earned her a top-10 school all-time ranking. She finished her 100-meter race in 12 seconds flat and the 200-meter dash in 24.51 seconds.

Saffa also ran the first leg of the second-place 4×100-meter relay and was joined by graduate Briana Walker, junior Darneisha Spann and senior Angelica Anyaogu.

Alumna Amina Jackson rounded out the women’s second place finishes with her 400-meter hurdle time of 1:01.77.

The only two returning individual second-place winners for the men were junior Chrisford Stevens and sophomore JaMarcus Townsend. Stevens placed second in the triple jump after covering 45’9”, and Townsend finished the 200-meter dash in 21.77 seconds.

The 4×100 and 4×200-meter relay teams provided the final two second-place finishes for the men.

Kaitlin Cordes can be reached at 581-2812 or krcordes@eiu.edu