The outdoor track and field season began for Eastern last weekend down at Southern Illinois Carbondale, at the SIU Bill Cornell Classic.

The weather conditions were not optimal for the first meet of the season, but with the cold and rain Eastern performed well including several top five finishes and two first place finishes.

Competing against schools across the Midwest including Purdue, Indiana State, Milwaukee and Tennessee-Martin, Eastern showed that the layoff between the indoor and outdoor seasons did not slow them down.

There were a handful of highlights from the first meet of the outdoor season for the men’s and women’s teams. Women’s field events came out of the gates strong and put up top finishes throughout the meet. One of which included junior transfer Pedra Hicks earning first in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 1:03.57. Hicks also was part of the 4×400 team that finished fourth, with a time of 4:05.57, that included other runners senior Stephanie Dominguez, junior Shirley Jones and sophomore Sophia Keith.

Also in the field events, senior Brion Portis won the women’s triple jump with a mark of 40’11” and she also placed in the long jump with a fifth place finish.

Women’s javelin had a great meet as well, with three Eastern competitors placing in the top five. Junior Kaitlyn Ebert placed second, freshman MaKenna Wilson placed third and junior Jasmine Woodley finished fifth. They had throws of 118’4.75”, 113’7.25” and 103’6” respectively.

On the men’s side, redshirt senior Riley McInerney returned to competition after not competing in the indoor season due to eligibility expiration. He finished second in the 1500 meter run with a time of 3:53.55.

“I am really excited to get back out there and compete one last season. It was hard not running with the team indoor in the indoor season, but I’m ready for outdoor,” McInerney said.

This will be his last season competing in track and field for Eastern.

The men’s 4×400 relay team also placed, as the team of redshirt junior Michael Brown, redshirt senior Karson Hahn, junior Cedric Johnson, and freshman Jeremy Bekkouche finished third with a time of 3:38.21.

This upcoming weekend will be the next meet for Eastern track and field and will be the only meet home meet for them in the outdoor season. It will also be the final home meet for longtime head coach Tom Akers, as Eastern will host the EIU Big Blue Classic.

Alex Hartman can be reached at 581-2812 or aihartman@eiu.edu