CHARLESTON, Ill. - A contingent of Eastern Illinois men's and women's indoor track and field athletes headed North and South this weekend to compete in the Last Chance Meets prior to the 2007 NCAA Indoor Track and Field National Championships to be held next week at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.
The Panthers had three men's team members head to the site of next week's national championships with Kirkland Thornton, Kyle Ellis and Obe Eruteya all competing at Arkansas. All three athletes had fifth place finishes at the meet. Thornton posted a time of 8.18 in the 60 meter hurdles which was won by William Vesse of Texas San Antonio. Ellis had a vault of 5.09 meters (16-8.25 feet) while Chip Heuser of Oklahoma took home top honors. Eruteya had a triple jump leap of 14.88 meters (48-10 feet) with Fabian Florant winning the event as an unattached competitor.
The remainder of the EIU squad looking to qualify for next week's national championships headed to the University of Notre Dame meet. Shawana Smith, Tarra Grant, Nicole Flounders and Chandra Golden represented the EIU women while Brenton Pegues, Daniel Strackeljahn, Chris Wesson, David Holm and Matt Fisher rounded out the Panthers men's team in attendance.
Smith was seventh in the 60 meter dash prelims with a time of 7.78 and sixth in the 200 meter dash finals with a mark of 24.89. Grant was 17th in the 400 meter dash finals. Flounders was 12th in the 5000 meter finals. Golden was 8th in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 9.00 after winning the OVC title last weekend.
Strackeljahn was fourth in the men's mile with a time of 4:04.72, just off the NCAA provisional mark. Pegues was 14th in the 400 meter dash. Wesson and Holm both competed in the 800 meter run with Wesson crossing in 16th place and Holm 26th. Fisher was 10th in the 60 meter hurdles. Pegues, Strackeljahn, Wesson and Holm all combined as part of EIU's distance medley relay team that placed 18th in the event but hit an NCAA provisional mark with a time of 9:45.0. The top 18 distance medley teams all hit NCAA mark with the top three from Texas, Tennessee and Michigan all hitting automatic qualifying marks.
