With their first outdoor meet in the books, the track and field team will have a much needed home stint this weekend.

This home meet is crucial as it is the Panther’s only one of the season. There’s no doubt that the Panthers can succeed at home, either. The team has placed as low as third when they have hosted this year, playing on the energy home-track advantage brings.

Eastern’s second indoor home meet this year was crammed full of cheering parents, supportive friends and curious children watching their favorite college athletes compete.

There’s no doubt the 60-degree weather pegged for Saturday’s portion of the meet will rake in just as many fans.

Senior Ruth Garippo said that the days leading up to the meet are opportunities to grow.

“This week is a good week to learn from this past weekend. Individually, all of us have something we want to improve from last weekend, and this will be a great week to focus on whatever that may be,” Garippo said. “For me individually I will be focusing on recovery after each run leading up to Friday to ensure that I feel the best I can physically.”

The Panthers will look to their typical standouts to lead the team to yet another victory on their own turf.

Garippo has already proven that she will be a leading force in the women’s 5,000-meter race. Garripo ran away with the gold at the Bill Cornell Classic in Carbondale last weekend with a time of 18 minutes, 00.34 seconds.

She outran the second-place finisher by over 30 seconds but missed her fastest race time by 23.42 seconds.

Sophomore Adam Kessler will possibly regain his position as a leader in the men’s shot put and weight throw as well. Kessler placed seventh in the shot put at the Southern Illinois-Carbondale meet after covering 52’8.25” and missed out on the top five by just 2.25 inches. His best throw in last year’s outdoor season measured 53’00.25”.

Senior Bryn Buckwalter will no doubt propel the Panthers with her typical successful shot put performances. Buckwalter tied for first in the event this past weekend where she threw 45’3.25”.

She easily out-threw her flight-two opponents, outing the Southern Illinois’ Alexis Roberson by nearly 2 feet.

The men’s 4×100-meter relay team should produce another stellar finish this weekend as well. Sophomores Brandan Lane, Ja’Marcus Townsend and Michael Miller and senior Jamal Robinson picked up a second-place win at the classic after finishing the race in 41.28 seconds.

The first-place McKendree University team barely scraped by Eastern, winning by 0.04 seconds. Each member of the EIU squad averaged a 10.32-second, 100-meter dash in the relay race.

Garippo said that these successes and all others happen largely due to the coaches.

“If it weren’t for the coaching staff here at Eastern, this program wouldn’t be as successful as it has been. Our coaches work day in and day out to make each and every one of us not only the best athletes we can be but our best selves,” Garippo said.

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