Now entering deeper into the outdoor track and field season, Eastern took a short ride north to Illinois for the Illinois Twilight meet Saturday.

The Panthers competed against the schools of Illinois-Chicago, Marquette, DePaul, Northern Illinois and IUPUI. The men and women both finished in fourth place among the competition.

Eastern’s men and women combined for 27 top five finishes and three first place finishes at the Illinois Twilight meet.

To begin the day, the field events had numerous top five, and a first place finish as senior high jumper Haleigh Knapp claimed another first place in the high jump with a height of 5-feet-7. For the men, junior Ashton Wilson also placed in the high jump with a second place height of 6-feet-0.75.

Freshman thrower MaKenna Wilson earned top five in each of the four events she competed in over the weekend.

Beginning with javelin and the shotput, where she placed third, with throws of 118-feet-9 and 42-feet-4, respectively. Then in the discus, she placed fifth with a throw of 133-feet-2 and also placed fifth in the hammer throw with a mark of 148-feet-1.

In distance events, Eastern had a first place finish by redshirt senior Riley McInerney with his 9:02.23 steeplechase time, as well as a third place finish in the women’s steeplechase with her time of 11:55.83.

“It feels great to be back at EIU and in the routine of training again. I currently am dealing with a nagging foot injury, so keeping that under control is my first priority,” McInerney said.

Eastern had multiple other top five finishers in distance events. Eastern placed in the men’s and women’s 5,000-meter run, led by freshman Shelby Siltman with a third place time of 18:01.44.

For the men, sophomore Marcus Skinner finished fourth in the event with his time of 15:05.13.

To end the meet, junior Grace Rowan earned a fourth place finish in the 1,500-meter run with her time of 4:41.48.

The track and field team’s next meet will be at Indiana State’s Pacesetter meet Saturday. It will be one of the last three meets for the Panthers before the outdoor OVC Championship.

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