The Eastern men’s and women’s track teams had impressive performances as they hosted the ‘Friday Night Special.’

The women’s team built on the momentum it gained last week at the Canon IV Classic by winning seven individual events at the ‘Friday Night Special’ and set a new school in the 200-meter dash.

Alicia Harris’ record setting time of 25.33 seconds in the 200-meter dash set at the Canon IV Classic lasted a week.

The talented sophomore broke her own record this weekend by shaving over two-hundredths of a second (25.10) off the time to once again cement her name in the Panther record books.

“Alicia is on a big roll,” women’s track coach Mary Wallace said. “She works extremely hard and is dedicated to running fast.”

Harris continued to ‘run fast’ when she won the 60-meter dash later during the event. The Wheaton native had a winning time of 7.70. Harris has now won an event in four consecutive meets.

Senior Jennifer Cowan also won two events. The senior finished in a tie with Harris in the 200-meter (25.10) and also won the long jump with a distance of 17 feet, 9 inches. The jump distance was a season best for Cowan.

In the mile run, Angie Simone distanced herself from the pack by winning the event by nearly 18 seconds. Simone finished the mile in 5:11.07 and Wallace said her times in the mile continue to drop weekly. Simone’s win in the mile comes one week after she won the 5,000-meter run at Southern Illinois.

Krissy Peters finished the dominating performance turned in by the women when she won the 3,000-meter run. Peters’ time of 11:00.85 gave her an easy win in the distance event.

On the men’s side, Josh Wakey gave the Panthers a first-place finish in the pole vault with a season-best jump of 14 feet, 7 inches.

Freshman Brad Runnion also stood on the winners podium with a win in the 800-meter run. The Lockport graduate had a time of 1:57.92.

Runnion’s high school teammate and fellow freshman Jake Stout had the Panthers other top finish on the day. Stout, a distance runner, cruised to victory in the 3,000-meter run with a time off 8.58.12.

A big key to the success of both the men and women was competing at home. Wallace said home meets are an advantage for the athletes.

“I think any time you can have a home meet it’s a bonus for the athletes,” Wallace said. “It’s great to have the home crowd and the

athletes are always ready to go at home.”

The Panthers return to action this weekend when they host the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Championships this Friday at the Lantz Fieldhouse. The event will start at 3:30 p.m. Friday and will continue with a full-day of action Saturday.