Both men’s and women’s cross country teams will be heading to Peoria Friday to battle out a large field of competition. On the women’s side, 21 teams will be competing and on the men’s, 19 teams.

Coach John McInerney said the competition should be “very good stuff.”

“For the women, the competition is a little more balanced this year,” McInerney said. “There are still some outstanding teams, but there are the teams we can compete with too.”

McInerney sees Illinois State University and Indiana State University being the women’s main competition, and Marquette, University of Illinois and University of Missouri as the top three teams overall.

Stephanie Bone and Angie Simone are expected to lead the Eastern women, with sophomore runner Jessica Peach and junior runner Amanda Schutte not far behind. McInerney also hopes to see freshmen Nicole Flounders, Megan Balas and Jill Blondell in the mix.

“We’re still running without Krissy Peters, Jaylee Carr and Deb Tygrett, who are all injured at the moment, but we’re looking for some nice improvements,” McInerney said.

Missouri, Marquette, Illinois State and Indiana State will be competition for the men as well, but Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and the University of Northern Iowa will also be bringing some tough competition.

Jeff Jonaitis, Jackson Johnson, Dave Carlson, Erik Werden and Jake Stout are the Panthers’ usual leaders, but Dan Strackeljahn and Zach Fairfield are also expected to make a big debut.

The men’s team is always five or six guys deep, but McInerney wants them to “close the gap and do it together.”

McInerney’s main focus, for both the men and women runners, is running as a unit.

“The men are more experienced, so they know what to do, but many of the women are young and out with injuries so they are a little behind,” McInerney said.