The Eastern men’s and women’s track teams will compete against one of the most talented fields this weekend at the two-day Vanderbilt Invitational on Friday and Saturday in Nashville, Tenn.

“Vanderbilt is more competition than we see all year,” said sophomore distance runner Justin Helpingstine. “We are going to go against some guys who are definitely faster. It is important to definitely go out there and get a (personal record) and just going out and competing.”

Helpingstine said he will run the 800-meter run and wants to run in the 1 minute, 52 seconds range.

The two-day event will feature 14 different teams, including two Ohio Valley Conference opponents: Austin Peay and Tennessee State.

The meet will also feature three Southeastern Conference teams, including Alabama, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.

The men’s team is coming off a second-place finish at the Lee Calhoun Classic in Macomb, while the women are coming off a third-place finish.

The Panthers are two weeks from the OVC Outdoor Championships, and freshman sprinter Ebone Ashford said she thinks the team will be ready come conference time.

“We did minimum but hard work at the beginning of the week,” Ashford said. “And we were steady at the end of the week near the actual competition, so it is getting kind of harder.”

Helpingstine said the team is getting stronger.

“We have been focusing on speed during workouts instead of bulk,” Helpingstine said. “We are definitely heading down the point where we are starting to peak. When we want to peak is the conference meet, so we are definitely getting there.”

Helpingstine said the Panthers are expecting better weather than they experienced in Macomb, where it was cold and sleeting.

He said they expect some rain, but he said as long as it wasn’t windy they should be OK.

The Vanderbilt Invitational will begin at 4 p.m. today with men’s high jump, and the first day will conclude at 9 p.m. with women’s 3,000-meter run.

The meet will resume Saturday with the women’s hammer throw beginning at 9:30 a.m., The final event of the meet is scheduled to begin at 3:45 p.m. with the men’s 4×400 relay.

In addition to competing at Vanderbilt, Eastern athletes will also participate in the Wheaton College Twilight on Saturday in Wheaton. That event will begin at 1 p.m. with the women’s javelin and conclude at 9 pm. with the 5,000-meter run.

Dan Cusack can be reached at 581-7944 or at [email protected].