The Panther cross country teams are rested and ready to compete. With a weekend off and two weeks of hard training, Eastern’s men’s and women’s runners are expecting some good results this weekend in Terre Haute, Ind., at the Indiana State Invitational.

The men’s and women’s teams will be facing some of the toughest competition in the nation this weekend. The men will compete with the Air Force Academy of Colorado, the 15th-ranked team in the nation, Butler University, St. Joseph’s College, Depaw College, Washington University and Rose-Hulman College.

The women will compete against the same crowd with the addition of Dayton, Ohio State and Southern Illinois of Carbondale, who won Eastern’s 2003 Panther Open.

Thus far, the cross country teams have been focusing on elements of team building, but the beginning of a new month will bring a new philosophy for the runners. This is the time of season where competing becomes more important.

“September is a low key month for us. October is the time to look for some higher intensity, quality running,” coach John McInerney said. “This time of season, we’re putting a little extra pressure on running well.”

The teams are confident in their ability to run well. Runners believe these past two weeks of practice, and having the weekend off, will benefit them greatly.

“I think the weekend break only makes us better,” said sophomore Zach Fairfield.”We were able to increase our mileage and work load, and our legs are that much faster and minds that much stronger.

“I think after two weeks training hard is where your performance is at its best,” said sophomore Jessica Peach. “Now we have some good solid miles, good speed work outs and less anxiety about competing.”

McInerney believes if the men run to their capability, they could very likely give the Air Force Academy an unexpected “run for their money.”

The men are anxiously awaiting the challenge this brings to them as a team.

“I would really like to see what we can do as we take the line with Air Force Academy,” Fairfield said. “I would like to see what we can start doing as a team. We need to feed off of the competition.”

Of the women, McInerney said, “I think we’re ready to get a little more aggressive and compete.”

Senior Nicole Milici, junior Krissy Peters and sophomore Lizette Ruvalcaba aren’t yet back and rolling with the team because of preseason injuries. Without these key runners, the women’s team is relying on the younger women to step up and carry the load.

“These younger runners are doing just fine, and I think we’ll be ready to run,” McInerney said.

Running as a tight pack of blue is still a goal for the women’s team.

“We’re still focusing more on encouraging each other to run together, but, at the same time, we need to keep a lookout for Indiana State and Southern,” said junior Amanda Schutte.

Preparation with mental imagery, tough practices and rest seem to be a good combination for Eastern’s runners.

“We are mentally and physically ready, now we just need to produce some results,” McInerney said.

The men will begin their race at 10:30 a.m. and the women will follow at 11:15 a.m. Saturday.