The Eastern’s men’s and women’s track and field team each saw a good amount of success at this past weekend’s Notre Dame Meyo Invite, but it wasn’t before running into some trouble.

The Panthers’ bus caught a flat tire on the way to the event, causing the team about a two and a half hour delay going into South Bend, Ind. Despite the interruption, red-shirt senior Megan Gingerich thought the team handled the situation well.

“We heard a big pop, and I wasn’t sure what it was; but we just kind of kept riding for a few more minutes, and someone on the bus said, ‘I think we just got a flat,'” she said. “Then we pulled off to the side of the road, and we kind of had to wait for someone to come fix it; and then once the person got there he was fixing it, which took awhile.”

She said that during the delay, members of the hurdle team began warming up, anticipating the delay.

“Some of us got off the bus. Some of the hurdlers who had to race that day were over on in a parking lot off to the side of the road, doing a little shakeout because they had to race in a few hours,” Gingerich said.

Gingerich said the team did not get too frustrated, even while waiting on repairs.

“Honestly, it wasn’t as bad as I thought. I thought people would get a little more frustrated. We dealt with it and I thought everyone handled it really well,” she said. “It was definitely an experience.”

This is not the first time the Panthers have had issues in getting to the Notre Dame Meyo Invite. For last year’s trip, the team had to be extra cautious due to the recent winter storms, resulting in snow and ice on the roads. The Panthers made it to the meet without any major problems.

Gingerich said this year was different from years past, as the Panthers saw more home meets leading up to the Notre Dame Meyo Invite.

“I think the difference between this year and past years is that we only had a few more home meets at the beginning of the year and Notre Dame was always kind of our big meet away,” she said. “It’s usually the first meet where we see a lot of competition, so I think people were more prepared for it this year.”

With the Notre Dame Meyo Invite being home to some of the nation’s top competition, Gingerich said Eastern represents itself well as one of the smallest schools in attendance.

“As a smaller school, I think we represent ourselves well,” she said. “I think a lot of times people aren’t expecting to hear ‘Eastern Illinois University,’ but I think in the heats that we’re in and the race that we’re in, I think we hold our own.”

She also said it is good that Eastern is able to showcase its ability in front of the bigger schools at these top meets.

“For a smaller school, I think we’ve always represented ourselves well and shown the talent that we have, so I think we’re lucky that we get to do that at the bigger meet and against bigger schools,” Gingerich said.

Next weekend, the Panthers will head to Grand Valley State for the Grand Valley State Invite. The meet is scheduled to begin on Friday, Feb. 10, and conclude on Saturday, Feb. 11.

Dominic Renzetti can be reached at 581-7942 or [email protected].