The Eastern men’s and women’s track and field teams split its rosters this weekend. Some members traveled to the University of Kansas for the Kansas Relays and the remaining athletes heading to Terre Haute, Ind., for the Pace Setter Invite.

The non-scoring Kansas Relays resembled an all-star meet with only the best in the nation in attendance. Invitations were based on performances during the first month of the outdoor season. Women’s head coach Mary Wallace was pleased with the select athletes that represented Eastern at the Kansas Relays.

“That group did an outstanding job,” Wallace said.

Leading the way for the women was sophomore sprinter Alicia Harris. The standout from Wheaton, finished in second-place in the 400-meter dash finals.

Harris was able to run in the finals only after a solid preliminarily heat. She won her seven-woman opening heat with a time of 55.96 seconds, which was the third-fastest run in the 400-meters. She finished second in the finals with a time of 56.10, slightly behind Southeast Missouri’s Hannah Stuckenschneider’s winning time of 54.91.

“She (Harris) did a great job in the 400-meters,” Wallace said. “Alicia ran a sprint medley just 30 minutes before the 400-meters and didn’t have much time to recover, but she still had a great run.”

Junior pole-vaulter Mary Wood had a career day at the Kansas Relays. She broke her own school record in the event with a vault of 10 feet 10 1/4 inches to finish in ninth-place out of more than 30 competitors. Freshman Yvonne Calzonetti of Kansas was tops in the pole-vault with a vault of 12 feet even.

“Mary Wood did an outstanding job by breaking the school record in the outdoor pole-vault,” Wallace said.

The Panthers received another solid performance from senior thrower Tiffany Greenley. Greenley missed the opening outdoor meet of the season at Southern Illinois, but has been throwing well lately and this weekend was no different. The Manteno native placed eighth out of 19 competitors, with a throw of nearly 48 meters.

“Tiffany had a lot of good long throws that didn’t stay in the ring and did not count,” Wallace said. “But overall it was a nice meet for her.”

On the men’s side, sprinter Jarrod Macklin stayed dominant in the 400-meters.

The senior, who won the 400-meters last week at the Lee Calhoun Memorial at Western Illinois, placed first in the event with a time of 47.08 to edge Keyshawn Lugrand (47.18) of Lincoln College.

Jermaine Jones had an impressive run in the 110-meter hurdles. The junior from Belleville finished second in his heat and third overall with a time of 14.52.

The times and runs turned in by the Panthers are even more eye opening when considering the competition Eastern was up against. According to Wallace, the Panthers faced steep and unfamiliar competition in Kansas.

“The competition was really good,” Wallace said. “The Kansas Relays were a change of pace because the (Eastern) athletes did not see the teams before.”

At the Pace Setter Invite, the men finished fourth out of eight schools and the women finished seventh out of eighth.

For the men, Jason Stark had a top finish in the long jump. Stark’s jump of 23 feet 5 ½ inches was good enough for second-place and earned the Panthers eight team points. Despite having a few of its relay runners in Kansas, the men’s 4×100 squad still posted a solid time in the vent. The men finished in fourth-place (42.05) but were just over a second off the lead time turned in by Rend Lake (41.03.)

The women distance crew turned in a respectable effort in the 5,000-meter run. Four Panthers (Lauren Rapacki, Krissy Peters, Lizette Ruvelosba and Amanda Schulte) finished third through sixth in an event dominated by the Panthers.

Also impressive was senior Lexie Nuckolls who turned in Eastern’s best performance in the 100-meter dash. Nuckolls time of 12.34 put her eighth overall but was just half a second of the winning time by Korta Dunbar of Southern Illinois.

The Panthers will next head to Des Moines, Iowa for the Drake Relays, held Thursday and Friday.