Six of the 26 athletes the track and field team sent to the Drake Relays placed as high as eighth on the first day of the three-day meet.

The men’s 4×1 600-meter relay team finished eighth out of 13 teams Thursday with a time of 17 minutes, 00.22 seconds. The relay squad consisted of junior Myles Foor, freshman Robby Prescott and seniors Michael Mest and Tyler Yunk. Eastern had a neck-and-neck finish with Kansas State as the Wildcats finished just 1.29 seconds behind the Panther squad. Oklahoma State was the winning team in the event with a time of 16:18.80.

Senior Julie James finished 15th in the 800-meter run out of 24 competitors. James finished the race in 2:12.26. James competed in the first heat and placed 10th out of 11.

Sophomore Michael Brown raced in the men’s 800-meter competition where he placed 18th with a time of 1:56.18. Brett Myers of Fort Hays State won the event in 1:50.53. Brown competed in the second heat and finished 10th.

Seniors Riley McInerney and Paxson Menard also ran in the 5,000-meter race Thursday night. McInerney finished 14th in the time of 14:13.44. Menard’s time was not completed at the time of this article.

The second leg of the relays will see even more Panther powerhouses as 11 athletes will compete. Friday will mark the first of the field events featuring Eastern.

Senior Bryn Buckwalter will compete in the discus throw, and junior Haleigh Knapp will have a shot at the high jump. Senior Angelica Anyagou will try her hand at the long jump as well.

Junior Chrisford Stevens will compete in the triple jump while senior Riley Kittridge and sophomore Adam Kessler will throw the shot put. Sophomore Clayton Turner will be throwing the javelin.

In running events, junior Darneisha Spann will run the 100-meter hurdles, and senior Kristen Paris will run another 800-meter race. Spann and Anyagou will join senior Anita Saffa and junior Nyjah Lane for the 4×100-meter relay.

The Panthers will wrap up the competition Saturday with appearances by seniors Ruth and Rachel Garippo, Ivy Handley, Jamal Robinson, Kendall Williams, sophomore Michael Miller and juniors Lars Ott and Davion McManis.

Friday’s competitions will begin at 8:58 a.m. with the women’s 4×100-meter relay and run until 11:55 p.m. with another round of the women’s 4×100-meter relay. The first men’s event to feature an Eastern athlete will be the javelin throw at 10 a.m. followed by the shot put an hour later.

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