Eastern’s women’s cross country have proven throughout the year that they are a winning team. They won the EIU Walt Crawford Open, placed fourth out of 12 in the Redbird Open, and won the Ohio Valley Conference Championship. Looking forward, Eastern will be racing in Stillwater, Oklahoma today for the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship. There.
The male Panther of the Week is going to Blake Ruffin from the football team. The redshirt sophomore safety from Louisville, KY provided a game clinching interception to help the Panthers beat the Northwestern State Demons 19-10. Ruffin’s interception led to a field goal by senior kicker Stone Galloway to make the game a two-possession.
The Panthers’ cross-country teams ran at the EIU Walt Crawford Open on Friday afternoon. Eastern’s women’s team finished with a score of 27, beating Indiana State, Vincennes, and Kaskaskia College. The women’s team finished first as a result of performances from senior Mackenzie Aldridge and freshmen Bella Marcum and Brenda Torres, who were the top.
Panther sophomore Kathryn Cichon, junior Kylie Haacke and senior Alex Gomez talked about their training over the summer, how they feel about their first meet of the season, how they are adjusting after losing some of their top runners and what race they are looking forward to the most. Eastern’s first meet is the EIU.
Panther sophomores Mason Stoeger and Michael Atkins and fifth-year Adam Swanson talked about their training over the summer, how they are adjusting after losing one of their best runners, Dustin Hatfield, and how they feel about their first meet of the season. Eastern’s first meet is the EIU Walt Crawford Open on the Tom Woodall Panther.