Athletes were milling around Lantz Fieldhouse, warming up and getting ready for the Ohio Valley Conference championships. At one end of the bleachers, Jarrod Macklin was talking to his mom, aunt and several small cousins.

“Gotta go now,” Macklin said. “It’s time for team clap.”

Members of Eastern’s men’s and women’s track team had begun to gather in the center of the track. From all sides of the fieldhouse, Panthers took notice and ran to join their teammates.

“At the beginning of each meet, we always get together for team clap,” Macklin said. “It’s our way of getting everyone together and going over what needs to be done.”

As the athletes huddled together, they began a loud, rhythmic clapping, broken only by shouting of the group in unison.

“It’s also our way of becoming focused and getting fired up before a meet,” Macklin said.

After the clap, Eastern’s men’s team rode the wave of emotion and reclaimed the indoor championship, which it had lost last year by half a point. Macklin, who finished first in the 200, 400 and was a member of the winning 4X400 meter relay, was a big reason why.

“When I got here my freshman year, we won the indoor

championship along with the outdoor championship, and it hurt last year to lose by half a point,” Macklin said. “It felt good to get it back.”

Macklin, now a junior, arrived at Eastern in 1998 from Peoria-Manual High School. Eastern was attractive to Macklin for several reasons.

“My older brother went here, but he left his freshman year,” Macklin said. “It was also close to home and my son (4-year old Jarrod), plus financial aid.”

With hard work and practice, Macklin was able to adjust to college track.

“In high school, I was a hurdler and I ran some relays,” Macklin said. “We had some really good sprinters in high school. When I got to Eastern, I started to focus more on the 200 and the 400.”

The hard work and practice has paid off. Macklin lost only two individual races this indoor season, each time to All-Americans from the University of Illinois and Middle Tennessee State.

“Jarrod helped the team as soon as he got here,” head coach Tom Akers said. “He’s one of the hardest workers on the team, and one of the biggest competitors as well.”

Although it was nice to reclaim the indoor title, Macklin said he enjoys the outdoor season even more.

“Running on the indoor track is hard on my legs,” Macklin said. “I like running on the outdoor track a lot more.”

The indoor track is only 200 meters long and has sharper turns while the outdoor track is twice as long with wider turns, something Macklin prefers.

“I have long strides, and I lose time on the smaller tracks,” he said. “The smaller sprinters have an advantage over me on the indoor tracks.”

Before the outdoor season begins, Macklin will travel to Notre Dame to try to qualify for the NCAA Championships in the 200 and the 400. He will also be trying to break the indoor record in the 200, held by Chad White.

“When Jarrod got here, Chad White kind of took him under his wing,” Akers said. “Chad had a great work ethic and helped Jarrod along.”

Though White helped Macklin adjust to Division I athletics, this still does not stop friendly competition.

“Everyday I look at the wall in the field house (where the school records are posted),” Macklin said. “I just keep telling myself, some time soon it will be me.”

Although track can be a sport that focuses on individuals, Macklin is proud of his team and what they have accomplished.

“Jarrod isn’t quite the vocal leader White was,” Akers said. “He just sets the tone and leads by example.”

Macklin, a former business management major, switched to family consumer science his sophomore year, and is not sure what he wants to do after college.

He is considering trying to run for one of the professional track teams in Indiana.

“Ever since I was a freshman in high school, I’ve gotten faster every year,” Macklin said. “I just plan to go wherever my legs will take me.”