Eastern’s cross country teams will head to Stillwater, Okla., Saturday to race in what could be its last race of the season. The NCAA Regional race is a very large meet, hosting 30 teams in both the men’s and women’s fields, and the Panthers have only sent a couple of runners to the NCAA Championships since coach John McInerney’s reign of 11 years.

In the Midwest Region, the region in which Eastern resides, Oklahoma State University and University of Missouri are polled as the men’s and women’s leading teams, respectively.

Eastern’s men are polled at 14th place, but two teams the Panthers have previously conquered, Southern Illinois University and Illinois State University, rank at 12th and 13th place, accordingly.

The women Panthers do not hold a top 10 position and did not show in the Regional rankings, but McInerney hopes for his women to finish in the 15th to 20th place range.

The Panthers are not going into this race, however, concentrating on finishing high as a team.

“Our first priority is to finish off the season with an all out effort,” McInerney said. “And secondly, we want to try and have some of our men and women finish with All-Regional honors.”

Jeff Jonaitis, Jacob Stout, David Carlson, Stephanie Bone, Angie Simone and Amanda Schutte are the top three harriers from each squad to watch. These six runners, if they run to their capability, have confidence they can finish in the top 25 to make All-Regional honors.

Even though the thought of qualifying for the NCAA Championships is reaching high, the Panthers are not eliminating the concept. Three of Eastern’s men, whose names have almost created a melodious tune when mentioned this season, have high hopes to run in the championship race. Jonaitis and his fellow trio members Stout and Carlson, are planning to finish somewhere in the top 25 places, and hoping for a trip to Cedar Falls, Iowa, where the NCAA Championship race is held.

“This is what I’ve been preparing for all year and throughout this past summer,” Jonaitis said. “I’m ready to get out there and do what I want to do, which is to finish in the top five or six.”

As for the team as a whole, McInerney wants his men to finish in the top 10. In the past years, Eastern has had no problem with finishing in the top 10, and McInerney hopes to keep the tradition alive.

Bone, Simone and Schutte are racing for All-Regional honors, but, as for the rest of the team, they just want to end out the season trying to accomplish the same goal they’ve been shooting for all year.

“Team wise, we are just hoping to do the same thing we’ve been trying to do all year, packing it up and running together,” sophomore Jessica Peach said. “Now is the time to do it. It’s our last race and we want to just give it our all and run great.”

McInerney has the same goals for his women. He would like to see the Panthers finish in the 15th to 20th place range, but moreover he is focused on building from this race and making it a learning experience for his younger runners.

“We have such a big gap between our top three and remaining runners, it’s just going to be tough to place high as a team,” McInerney said. “We’ve just got to build off of those top three and compete tough, and, hopefully, the younger girls will take some good experiences from it all.”

Neither Panther squads are focused on beating any particular team. The 30 teams invited are all good teams and Eastern will be happy with however many it can run down.

Junior Amanda Schutte did say, however, the women are aiming to finish ahead of any teams they have previously beaten this season. The men, solely out of matters of pride, would like to beat the other competing Illinois schools, such as University of Illinois and Illinois State University.

Overall, the Panthers are focusing on themselves and keeping their teams together throughout the entire race.

The men will begin this deciding race first on Saturday at 11a.m., and the women will follow at noon.