With the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Championships only a week away, the Eastern track and field team looked for a final tune up at the Friday Night Special at Lantz Fieldhouse. As a team, the Panthers turned in a total of five first place finishes, as well as a number of top five finishes.

Red-shirt junior Zye Boey took first place in the men’s 60-meter dash, crossing the finish line in 6.71 seconds. Boey is currently ranked No. 24 in the nation in the 60-meter dash, and his time at the Friday Night Special was only marginally slower than his nationally ranked time.

Boey recorded a 6.71 second time at last month’s Illinois Intercollegiate meet.

Boey opted out of competing in the men’s 200-meter dash, an event where he ranks in the nation’s top five. Boey has already qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in the 200-meter dash.

Despite Boey’s absence from the 200-meter dash, the Panthers still picked up the victory in the event, with senior Darren Patterson taking first place with a time of 21.85 seconds. Patterson ranks second behind Boey in the OVC’s top 200-meter time. Patterson will need to improve his time if he wishes to join his teammate at the NCAA Indoor Championship. A time of 20.82 in the 200-meter dash automatically qualifies for the NCAA Indoor Championship.

Patterson said he felt good about the team’s performance, and that it will carry a lot of momentum going into the OVC Indoor Championship.

“It’s all about momentum,” Patterson said. “You want to feel good running on your own track. A lot of teams are not used to the tight turns we have here.”

Rounding out the first place finishers for the men’s team is freshman Cody Boarman, who took first place in the 400-meter dash with a time of 50.51 seconds.

On the women’s side, junior Bridget Sanchez won the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.47 seconds. Aside from Sanchez’s individual first place performance, Sanchez was also the final leg on the women’s first place 4×400-meter relay team. The team also consisting of junior Emily Quinones, junior Megan Gingerich and freshman Klaudia Susul crossed the finish line with a time of 3:55.84. The men’s 4×400 team also took first, recording a time of 3:20.65.

Junior Erika Foltys won the women’s 600-meter dash with a time of 1:38.11. Teammate Paige Biehler came in second in the event.

The Panthers also had a number of finishes ranking among the all-time best at Eastern. Sophomore Jill MacEachen’s second place finish in the 60-meter hurdles event landed her seventh on the all-time list.

MacEachen posted a time of 8.92 seconds in the event. Red-shirt junior Megan Gingerich’s performance in the 400-meter dash puts her fourth on the all-time list. Gingerich recorded a time of 57.72, good enough for a third place finish in the event. Senior Donald Romero moved into fifth all-time at Eastern with a 57 foot, 4.25 inch distance in the weight throw. Romero placed third in the event.

Gingerich said the coaching staff told the team that this meet is always filled with big performances and a lot of good races.

The Panthers return to Lantz Fieldhouse next Friday for the OVC Indoor Championship.

Dominic Renzetti can be reached at 581-7944

or [email protected].