The women’s track and field team was pleased with their performance after the meet Friday against Indiana State at Lantz Arena. The teams did not keep score but the early competition was beneficial to the Panthers.

“I think there were a lot of good things coming out of this meet for us,” said head coach Mary Wallace.

Indiana State finished higher than Eastern in most of the track and field events, but the Panthers were just trying to see where they stood against a solid team. While the team struggled against the Sycamores, the final standings seemed secondary to Eastern’s coaching staff.

Alicia Harris, who is only a freshmen, was the only Eastern athlete to finish in first place in an event. Harris ran solidly and finished first in the women’s 400-meter dash. Also running well for Eastern was junior Leah Reeves who set the school record in the 60-meter dash preliminary.

“There were some good performances from runners like Leah Reeves and Alicia Harris, which really gave our team a boost,” said Wallace.

The Panthers hoped to use their first meet as a gauge to see how the team would hold up against the Sycamores. While they did not win many events, Wallace felt that the team did a good job for their first meet.

“On an individual basis we are now able to analyze the meet today and we will be able to improve upon this showing,” said Wallace. “It was good to face a top school from the MVC and come away with a couple of wins and some close seconds. It is definitely something we can build upon