With its under card all completed, the Eastern men’s and women’s track and field teams will now prepare for the main event.

That event will take place Friday on an oval about a quarter of a mile long in Nashville, Tenn., and if the regular season is any indication, the Panthers can’t wait to sink the rest of the Ohio Valley Conference competition.

The OVC Championship will begin at 4 p.m. Friday and conclude Saturday evening.

Both the men and women will go into the OVC championship on a positive note after competing last weekend at the Drake Relays in Iowa and the Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville Twilight.

The Drake Relays were the equivalent of an all-star meet and despite facing some of the top competition from the Big 12, Big Ten and Pac-10, the Panthers were near the top of the leaderboard in their respective events.

Leading the charge for the Panthers was senior sprinter Jarrod Macklin, who finished in a tie for seventh-place in the 400-meters with a time of 46.65 seconds. Macklin’s time was just over a second off the winning time of 45.16 turned in by Mitch Potter of Minnesota.

Macklin wasn’t the only Panther to shine in the Volunteer state. Fellow senior Jermaine Jones had a strong showing in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 52.51, which placed him sixth overall.

Kyle O’Brien, who is an NCAA Championship provisional qualifier in the 10,000-meter, showed his versatility by finishing eighth in the shorter 5,000-meter run.

Assistant coach John McInerney was pleased by the performers who made the trip to Iowa for the tune-up meet.

“Drake was a nice, good trip,” McInerney said. “Jarrod Macklin had a nice weekend with three really good races and Kyle O’Brien finished in eighth-place and his time in the 5,000-meter was the 10th best all-time at Eastern.”

The group that went to SIU was attempting to make a final claim to one of the 28 roster spots available for the conference team. While it is yet to be known who makes the final cut, distance runner Zach Fairfield did all he could to show he belongs. The freshman ran the 1,500-meter in 3:55.20 which put him in fifth-place. He followed that performance with a fourth-place time of 1:54.89 in the 800-meter.

“Zach Fairfield had a rough time in the 1,500-meter in the beginning of the year but he busted through (in the event) this weekend,” McInerney said. “He also had a personal best in the 800-meter. We got some clarification (as to who solidified a roster spot.)”

Although the Panthers have won the OVC Outdoor Championship six years in a row, Southeast Missouri State and Eastern Kentucky will be formidable challengers.

Of the two schools, SEMO may be the best of the bunch.

The Indians are a well-rounded team with Jay Heddell and Brandon Myer in the shot put and discus and Shelton Scott and David Herman among the best in triple jump and hurdles respectively.

Despite the strength of SEMO, McInerney is very confident going into the weekend meet.

“I would say the men will be very focused,” McInerney said. “We have good seniors in the distance events and nice senior leadership. The key is to stay focused and not take anything for granted.”

On the women’s side, head coach Mary Wallace will bring a solid group to Nashville hoping to garner an OVC title. Wallace said the Panthers are coming off a superb meet at Drake and the team will go into the OVC Championship on a good note.

“The group that went to Drake had strong outstanding performances,” Wallace said. “We’re going into the OVC with a lot of positives and a good head of steam.”

One of those positives is sophomore sprinter Alicia Harris. The speedster has led the Panthers all season long while competing in various events ranging from the 100-meter to the 4×400-meter relay. This will not be a change this weekend as Harris runs in three events this weekend.

“Alicia is going to focus on the 200-meter, 400-meter and a relay,” Wallace said.

Harris will hope to get help from junior pole vaulter Mary Wood. The Lincoln native won the pole vault competition at the SIU meet with a vault of 10 feet six inches. Wood holds the Eastern record in the pole vault when she vaulted over 10 feet 10 inches at the Kansas Relays on April 18.

With performances like Harris’ and Wood’s it’s understandable why Wallace is confident going into the OVC Championship.

“The women are doing a good job,” Wallace said. “They started slow, but now are coming together.”

Like on the men’s side, SEMO will be a challenger for the OVC women’s title. Wallace also believes Tennessee State could be on top of the standings after the final event is completed.

“Southeast Missouri State presents a fundamental challenge,” Wallace said. “They have a lot of quality athletes.”

If the Otahkians falter, look for the Tigers of Tennessee State to be in the running.

“Tennessee State has a lot of proven competitors that are ready to compete,” Wallace said.

While Wallace realizes the competition will be tough, she realizes how special it would be to win an OVC Championship in her first year as Eastern’s coach.

“Any time you can win a championship, it is very rewarding,” Wallace said. “It would be a big thrill.”