Finding the leader on Eastern track and field teams isn’t easy. That’s because there are a lot of people on the team.

Looking at the top – head coach Tom Akers is one place to start but he doesn’t get anywhere without the assistance of his other coaches.

That includes Jessica Sommerfeld (throws), Kyle Ellis (pole vault), Brad Butler (distance), Brenton Emanuel (sprints), Clint Coffey (mid-distance) and even help from Mary Wallace, assistant athletic director and senior woman administrator.

But even their effort is not enough. They rely on the athletes. And they rely on captains.

Last season David Holm and Zye Boey showed leadership on the track by qualifying for the NCAA Indoor National Championships.

This season the leadership has come from a variety of those people. That includes junior Darren Patterson, who’s fulfilled his role of the top sprinter, replacing Boey for the indoor season.

Akers said Patterson’s even realized that the 60-meter dash is not even his best role and the 200- and 400- meter dashes are suited better for the transfer from Rend Lake College.

And with a large team such as a track team, like football, finding one’s role isn’t easy.

Patterson shows his prowess and abilities on the track by posting some of the top times in the Ohio Valley Conference in the sprints.

Then there’s Chandra Golden. She’s been a leader for the past three seasons with her sprint core — Tarra Grant and Shawana Smith.

She’s doing it again this season, but this time she is a senior.

“She rises to the occasion,” Akers said.

O’Grady wasn’t satisfied with her time at Iowa State. The senior leads a corp of young distance runners. And she’s had to do this without a coach – Geoff Masanet left in early January.

The 2006 OVC Cross Country Freshman of the Year realizes there’s only so much time left. She has the Friday night Special and the OVC Indoor Championships before her indoor season comes to a close.

“Hopefully the youngsters will take notice,” Akers said of how an athlete only has four years to compete.

O’Grady said Coffey and Butler have been key with helping out the distance and mid-distance crews.

“I just go to practice and try to be a good example,” O’Grady said. “My goal is to lead by example and to show the girls how to work hard.”

O’Grady’s been part of a distance crew that’s tried to score more and more points each season.

“She’s got the right attitude,” Akers said.

A group that has the right attitude and the right swagger without being cocky has been the mid-distance crew (or as their T-shirts have said the 800 crew).

Akers attests their leadership and top performances to the work of former runner Chris Wesson. Other top runners have included Coffey, Holm and countless others.

This season senior Jason Springer has taken charge of the 800-crew. Sophomore Sean Wiggan, senior Wes Sheldon, junior Justin Stewart, sophomore Reid Basting, senior Mike Connolly and Springer have posted six of the top seven times in the 800-meter run in the OVC this season.

Akers said Springer and Sheldon are two of those carrying on that tradition of strong mid-distance runners.

Finding a leader isn’t easy. They come from different parts of the team.

But in Akers’ time, it has worked.

The women’s team has won two of the last three indoor conference championships. The men’s squad has captured 11 of the last 13 three indoor conference championships.

Kevin Murphy can be reached at 581-7994 or [email protected].