Student government elections soon
Students can check their emails April 9 and 10 to cast their votes for the 2024-2025 student government executive board.
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Two sides of recent warm weather
A false spring at the end of February caused plant and animal life to become active early this year.
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As the clock ticks down to the total solar eclipse on April 8, the towns of Vincennes, Indiana, and Lawrenceville, Illinois, are bustling with excitement and preparation, said the director of the Vincennes eclipse, Sarah Wolfe.
Both towns are around an hour and a half south from Charleston set in the path of totality for the upcoming eclipse. Charleston is not in the path of totality, so it will not see a total solar eclipse, but it is close. According to
the city of Charleston website, the Lincoln Log Cabin will see a 99.99% partial eclipse. The rest of Charleston will see 99.87% partial eclipse.
Over 50,000 people are expected to attend the event between Lawrenceville and Vincennes, said Wolfe. Currently, Lawrenceville has a population of 4,209 while Vincennes has one of 16,484.
This rare event will not happen again for 129 more years in the area, according to timeanddate.com.
Vincennes began making plans right after the total eclipse that passed through Carbondale in 2017.
From emergency personnel to small business owners, everyone is trying to prepare for the large influx of guests.
Pretty Posies, a home decor and souvenir shop located on Main Street in Vincennes has extended store hours for the weekend before the eclipse.
The store will even open on Sunday for the first time ever, said the owner Jan Witteried.
“It was too risky to go with eclipse specific stuff, but I figured people traveling from a long way may want something that says Vincennes on it,” said Witteried.
All emergency personnel in Vincennes are required to work during the weekend before and the day of the eclipse, more specifically from the hours of 3 to 5 p.m., to help combat the traffic from thousands of people leaving right after the eclipse.
(See ECLIPSE PG 2)
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Vincennes, Indiana, will have one of the longest viewing times in totality with around four minutes and five seconds, while Effingham will have around 50 seconds.
ECLIPSE CONTINUED FROM PG 1 >>
“Around that time is when we will implement those plans that involve changing traffic light patterns to sure that they work smoothly and consistently switching over to flashing yellow lights to keep people moving,” said Wolfe.
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After the eclipse ended in Carbondale, the traffic was stopped for eight hours. Carbondale has more roads and larger roads than both Lawrenceville and Vincennes.
“If you have to go out that day, make sure you have a full tank of fuel, something to eat in the vehicle and warm clothes,” said the Lawrence County emergency management director, Joe Calvert.
During a total eclipse, the whole sky turns into nighttime colors, said Lawrenceville High School science teacher
David Atkins. If the event happens on a clear, sunny day, stars will be visible. Insects and animals will get confused as well and begin to make evening noises.
Proper eyewear is necessary to look at an eclipse before totality. Even looking at the sun for a couple of seconds can cause permanent damage.
“In general, staring directly at the sun, even for a few seconds, can cause permanent damage to your eyes,” said Katrina Miller in a New York Times article. “This can range from blurry or distorted vision to something even more serious like blind spots. Because there are no pain receptors in the retina, you won’t feel it while it’s happening.”
During totality, however, it is safe to take off the specialized glasses and look directly at the sun. This will not cause harm to the eyes.
Both the Knox County and Lawrence County chambers of commerce will be
handing out the specialized eclipse glasses to all students the week before the eclipse, stated Wolfe.
The path of totality is around 100 to 120 miles wide. Depending on how close people are to the center line of the path of totality, the longer total darkness takes place. Lawrenceville and Vincennes have one of the longest viewing times with four minutes and five seconds. Effingham, on the edge of the path of totality, will only have around 50 seconds of totality.
“I want people to know how special and important this is,” said Wolfe. “It’s really a wonderful reminder of how tiny we are as humans. I implore you to not miss it. Do everything you can to get to see this because it’s like nothing you will ever see again.”
Elsie Svika can be reached at 5812812 or at ejsvika@eiu.edu.
The 2024-2025 student government candidates gave their platform speeches at the latest student government meeting.
Six candidates are running for five positions. Only the position of executive vice president is being contested.
Ameenah Morris, junior philosophy major, gave her student executive vice president speech to the student senate Wednesday. Morris is one of two candidates for the role.
Philosophy and political science double major Ameenah Morris is one of two candidates running for the executive vice president position in student government.
to maintain EIU’s motto of affordability and give voice to different student perspectives by attending and speaking at higher board meetings.
Sheldon Turner Jr., sophomore accounting major, gave his student executive vice president speech to the student senate Wednesday. Turner Jr. is one of two candidates for the role.
Morris won the senator of the semester during the fall 2023 semester. She said that she thrives under pressure and has experience working with budgets, big and small.
She is currently the co-president of the philosophy club and is the chair of internal affairs in student government.
If elected, she said she would work
Also running for executive vice president is Sheldon Turner Jr., a sophomore accounting major.
Turner Jr. is the president of his fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha as well as the covice president of NAACP. He will be a resident assistant in Lawson Hall next semester.
Turner Jr. is not currently a part of student government.
If elected, he said he wants to foster inclusivity on campus and advocate for progression including funding and resource availability.
Taylor Cloud, a sophomore communication disorders science major, is running unopposed for student body president.
Cloud is currently the secretary for student government.
One of the areas that Cloud wants to improve is the safety and wellbeing
of students on campus. She said she wants to disperse mental health pamphlets and social media posts on student governments’ Instagram.
Carlos Rodriguez, a sophomore psychology major, is running unopposed for vice president of student affairs.
Rodriguez is currently serving as vice president of academic affairs. He said going forward, he wants to collaborate more with Registered Student Organizations and host bigger events.
He said student government needs more love because of how hard they work and thinks the members deserve recognition.
a community for students that need accountability.
Javier Martinez, junior psychology major, is running unopposed to be the speaker of the senate.
Martinez is the coordinator for the university board and said he has completed 18 credit hours last summer at his former school while earning straight A’s. Martinez is currently on the business affairs committee.
Rodriguez said he loves academic affairs but wants to be more involved in the event planning and wants to provide for the student community.
Ty Rea, a communications major, is running unopposed to be the vice president of academic affairs.
Rea said they want to raise Eastern’s campus’ collective GPA.
They are currently the chair of alumni relations.
Rea said they wanted to host study sessions at the library as a way to build
He said he works well under pressure and wants to take on greater responsibility in student government.
Martinez said he will dedicate time to student government over the summer while he will also be an orientation leader.
One of his goals is to foster diversity, inclusion and academic excellence by working with RSOs.
Candidates can be voted for April 9 and 10 via email.
Veronica Gipson contributed to this article.
Cam’ron Hardy can be reached at 581-2812 or at cahardy@eiu.edu.
By Alli Hausman Copy Chief athausman@eiu.edu
s of March 19, spring has officially begun. But the warm temperatures have been around for quite some time.
early. Though these native plants typically bloom in March normally, the pawpaws had leafed out by February.
When the cold snap came in mid to late March, the leaves and flowers of his pawpaws froze and dropped off, struggling to grow back the rest of the season.
Think back to February.
Birds were singing a shrill chorus. Squirrels were running amok across the sidewalks. Students and community members alike were out in shorts and T-shirts.
Should one believe the prediction of Punxsutawney Phil, it would appear spring had arrived back then with temperatures being in the upper 50s across much of the month.
But it wasn’t spring then. At least not yet.
Through the month of February, Illinois and much of the Midwest experienced a phenomenon known as false spring.
False springs are defined by climatologist Cameron Craig as periods of abnormal warmth in the winter season followed by a snap back to cold weather.
According to Craig, false springs are a biological occurrence rather than a climatological one, meaning there isn’t a specific temperature threshold that defines a false spring. Rather, false springs happen when plants and animals resume activity ahead of schedule just to be shut down by frost burn when the temperatures snap back to cold.
“People ask, ‘Is this unique?’” Craig said. “No, it’s not unique. This has happened throughout our data collection since 1895.”
So far this winter season, Charleston saw a high of 77 degrees on Feb. 26; the average for that day was 67.5 degrees.
In March of 1925, the Charleston area saw temperatures of 80 degrees, Craig said. In 1917, it hit 78 degrees—same in 1903.
The issue with false springs, EIU plant ecologist Scott Meiners said, is not the fact that it gets warm early but rather the extended warm temperatures.
From a plant’s perspective, Meiners said, temperature is the best way to determine where it is in the year.
When long periods of warmth arrive after some cold, many plants are signaled to resume activity and begin growing again, he said. In these early growth stages, the plants are sensitive and susceptible to the cold. For Meiners last year, his pawpaw trees bloomed
“That’s really hard on plant populations to sustain that sort of thing,” Meiners said.
During false springs, non-native species often struggle more than their native counterparts, behavioral ecologist and founder of the Urban Butterfly Initiative Paul Switzer said.
For example, should an orchard tree, like an apple tree, begin to flower in a false spring, the following cold snap can nip the tree’s flowers, leaving the owner with no fruit that year, Meiners said.
Plants don’t just have to replace the leaves they lose; they must restart growth, using more nutrients, he said.
Damaged plant tissues can also lead to pathogen susceptibility.
The rapid temperature switch is where the biggest problems arise, Meiners said.
In animals active during winter, like the fox squirrels seen across EIU’s campus, the warm temperatures associated with false spring prompt more activity, said Switzer.
“If you go out to Lake Charleston during one of our warm days, you may see male red-winged blackbirds singing along the levee, doing their best to stake out territories for the coming breeding season,” Switzer said.
the cold air to move further south from the Arctic. During a positive arctic oscillation, the warm jet stream is stronger and traps in the cold air in northern regions.
Neutral phases occur when the arctic oscillation is not strong in either direction, positive or negative. Typically, the oscillation changes quite rapidly, over two days on average, Craig said. When it gets stuck for days on end in neutral or positive modes, those are instances where false springs can occur.
This year, the arctic oscillation went positive around Feb. 18 and maintained that positive quality until around Feb. 28, when temperatures dropped to a low of 22 degrees. During this time, growth began in many plants, including Craigs’ magnolia tree and the magnolia tree outside of Buzzard Hall. This was a potential false spring event.
“But the trend for warmer and warmer weather over long periods of time— climate change— worries me a great deal. ” - Paul Switzer
Some insects may become more active, seeking mates and food during a false spring only to retreat back into hiding when the cold comes back, he said.
Hibernating animals, like groundhogs, will often stay in their burrows until consistent spring temperatures arrive, said Switzer.
According to Craig, one key component for making a false spring is changes in the jet stream—the west to east flowing currents of air that circle the globe.
One primary factor that changes the jet stream is arctic oscillation, shifting pressure from the atmosphere.
During a negative arctic oscillation, ridges of cold air and ridges of warm air combat one another, allowing
According to Craig, the most recent long false spring was in 2012— which would go on to become a drought year.
2012 had a majority neutral arctic oscillation, going positive often as well, with the cold air in the jet stream bottlenecked. In the neutral phases, the cold air couldn’t make it far enough south. It took Hurricane Isaac to break the stream and release the cold air again.
This drought caused extremely high temperatures in Charleston, breaking five records in March of that year, according to Craig. So far this season, Charleston has been in a majority negative oscillation, said Craig. There have been back and forths between low temperatures—a low of negative 12 in January—and high temperatures—the 70-degree weather.
However, for Meiners, Switzer and Craig, the false spring event was not what concerned them about the current season. Rather, all three brought up a different fear: climate change.
“I’m not a huge fan of winter, so I kind of like warm spells because it helps me think spring is on its way, even if the cold reality of winter is likely to return before we truly hit spring,” Switzer said. “But the trend
for warmer and warmer weather over long periods of time –climate change– worries me a great deal.”
False springs are not directly caused by climate change. However, the earlier start to spring that has been occurring in the past several years is, said Craig.
According to a Climate Central study, cold streaks have shrunk by six days on average across the U.S since 1970. The study found that Champaign had lost eight days of cold.
Peoria tied for the third largest change in the studied locations, losing 14 days.
Looking at the climate normals—the 30-year averages— for Charleston from the National Weather Service station on campus, the warming is evident.
From the 19722000 average to the 1991-2020 average, temperatures increased across the board by 1.3 degrees.
The late winter and early spring months saw a greater increase compared to fall and summer months. In February specifically, there was 2.2-degree increase— the largest of any month.
These temperatures shifts are causing problems in both global and local ecosystems greater than anything a false spring can do, Switzer said.
“If spring is coming earlier and earlier year after year, insects and plants may be on different schedules depending on which cues they use to determine that spring is here,” Switzer said.
According to Meiners, one species this affects is the spring beauty, a white flower that carpets the bottom of forests.
Spring beauties are early blooming flowers that are pollinated primarily by andrenid bees. These bees are specialist miner bees, nesting underground. According to the Missouri Department of Conservation, this spe-
cies’ “life cycle is timed to correspond precisely to the blooming of specific flowers.” Over time, Meiners said, these bees and flowers are starting to fall out of sync with one another, alongside many other soil dwelling species.
The temperature changes are shifting when plants germinate and when many animals resume activity. Depending on whether species use soil or air temperature or even the amount of light present to resume activity, species are getting started at different times, Switzer said.
Many other bees, like honey bees, are seeing population declines from climate changes, a National Library of Medicine study found. Additionally, the study said that food supply and the price of food could be in danger should honey bee populations continue to fall. Currently, honey bees pollinate $15 billion worth of crops in the U.S., the USDA said.
With the lack of cold has come a lack of snow.
This winter season, Charleston received around four inches of snow, Craig said. According to Craig, the 30-year-average for snow in Charleston is 19 inches.
In 2022, Charleston received almost the same amount of snow as this year, hitting around four inches on the ground in late January. Just like this year, that snow did not stick around, melting within days.
Similarly in 2021, Charleston received several small bursts of snow, lasting for a maximum of three days in February. Charleston saw one day with six inches of snow in 2021, but it melted after only two days. One effect of this lack of snow can be seen in pest insect populations.
Insects like June bugs and Asian lady beetles hibernate over the winter season.
In order to kill these pest insects, according to Craig there must be at least 13 inches of frozen soil for at least a month or two.
“In order to get that much frozen, your whole season has to be below freezing,” Craig said. Overall, insect populations are in decline, Biological Conservation reported. However, insects that benefit from the warmer temperatures are seeing increases. Mosquitoes, who are active in warmer temperatures, are one such species. Last August was the hottest on record, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found.
With warmer temperatures, Climate Central found that the number of hospitable days for mosquitoes has increased. This has allowed mosquitoes to be active for longer in the season.
With these aforementioned shifts, Craig also added that the weather and climate are getting more erratic. Craig defined the climate as a “rollercoaster shooting up and down.”
The jumps in temperature are beginning to become more irregular, changing quickly from hot to cold back to hot, Craig said. These jumps affect plant and animal populations.
For example, recently Lake Charleston saw a die-off in the fish gizzard shad. The event was small, but it was caused by the cold spike in February. Alongside these other changes, Craig noted that the jet streams appear to be becoming more erratic, making extreme weather more severe and more common. Typically, there are two jets, the polar and subtropical jets—cold and warm. Breaks in these jets are appearing more than ever before, Craig said. The Alfred Wegener Institute found these changes to be directly linked to climate change and the decline in Arctic sea ice.
Looking forward, Craig predicts winter as we are defining it—snow and harsh cold—to disappear in the Midwest.
“100 years ago, you could definitely say, ‘We’re in spring,’” Craig stated. “Nature will do what it wants, and we are exacerbating the situation with human activity.”
At the end of the semester, students submit anonymous evaluations about their classes and professors with aims of helping better the class for future students.
As a board, we had seen a vast range of student opinions about class evaluations. Students don’t know how they are used, know the real purpose they serve or understand the necessity of doing evaluations if there is no change made in real time.
After hearing student’s perspectives on the evaluations, we questioned the validity of the forms and wanted to know their impact.
Department chairs review student evaluations and raise concerns about the course material or instructor, and after grades have been submitted for the class, professors can review what the class submitted.
Provost Ryan Henderickson said the student’s perspective is always seen and addressed and the feedback plays an import-
ant role in the process.
Junior psychology major Olivia Omundson said she knows several students in her major who have submitted evaluations critiquing professors just to then not see any change.
Like Omundson, freshman theater major Meadow Hazucha hopes the departments address the areas professors need improvement in or simply check in and talk about the received feedback.
“I hope there would be actual change,” Omundson said.
Senior political science major Karolina Guzek sees the short term benefits of the evaluations but is unsure about how they are considered on the bigger picture.
“I like to think the academic affairs part of the university takes them pretty seriously,” Guzek said.
Sophomore history education major, Tommy Whitehead takes evaluations seriously
with hopes departments share the same ambition.
“I like to think professors actually see them,” Whitehead said. “If they don’t, nothing is going to change.”
If these evaluations are as important as intended, students should not be confused on how or if they are used. There needs to be more clarity in the evaluation process and how it affects all faculty, tenured or not.
When students see a consistent trend of improper classroom conduct or inconsistencies in teaching, then those who see the evaluations need to take the considerations into account.
Between both student and faculty, the evaluation process should not be pushed aside or seen as a chore at the end of the semester.
The Editorial Board can be reached at 581-2812.
About 10 months ago, EIU’s baseball team was on top of the Ohio Valley Conference. They had just won the OVC Championship Tournament after a nail-biting 6-5 win over the No. 1 seeded Morehead State University, giving the team its third title in Eastern program history.
Back to the present day, Eastern’s team has not performed so far to the same standard as last year.
As of April 1, the team stands at 6-18 (1-5 in conference), sitting last in the OVC.
The issue? It seems to be pitching.
The team has seen 18 separate faces come up to the mound through 24 games. Whether it be because of injury or poor performance, Panther head coach Jason Anderson has had to use more pitchers than he’s got.
Anderson touched on the need for his experienced pitchers to get healthy again after Eastern’s 20-13 loss against Southeast Missouri State University on March 22.
The team was 5-13 at the time.
“We got a lot of experienced guys who are hurt,” Anderson said. “They need to get out and help us on the mound to help us turn this thing around, hopefully.”
Eastern gave up 13 walks at this SEMO game, led by senior right-handed pitcher Colton Coca with five. Aside from Coca,
sophomore left-handed pitcher Jack Potteiger and senior right-handed pitcher Mitch Alba combined for five walks.
The walk bug has taken hold across all 18 pitchers this year.
Eastern has walked 149 players this year, ranking second to last in the OVC. Aside from walks, the team allows a .306 batting average.
On top of that, the team is giving up an average of 9.25 runs a game in the 2024 season.
Pulling back the curtain, the culprit is injuries.
Inexperienced players are being forced to play key roles on the team, but it’s not all bad.
Take the tale of freshman pitcher Slater Wilcox as an example.
Wilcox was pulled off the redshirt list to pitch against the University of Tennessee at Martin on March 30. Coming into this game with just six innings of collegiate experience, Wilcox pitched 5.2 innings allowing only one walk.
The team went on to win 8-4 with Wilcox recording the win.
Earlier this season, after a 20-9 win over Lindenwood, Anderson showed his appreciation for the freshman on the team in a tweet on X.
It read, “Love to see the freshman coming out and carrying the water this week.”
As for the future, Anderson has faith. He
experienced some
throughout the season.
noted the team is going through some early struggles yet will get better later in the year. As for now, the young team just needs experience.
“We need some guys to start winning some individual battles,” Anderson said.
The first Panther of the Week is going to William Hays from the tennis team.
The sophomore from Evansville, Indiana, won his doubles and singles matches against the University of Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles Saturday afternoon at the Darling Courts.
Hays, along with his doubles partner fifthyear Pau Riera, defeated Screaming Eagles Eytan Michaeli and Guy Finkelstein 7-6 in the doubles category.
Hays won his singles match against Screaming Eagle Guy Finkelstein. Hays lost only three out of 15 sets (6-2, 6-1).
the
“They have the talent; they just don’t have the experience. They’re just playing guys that are more experienced than they are.”
Aidan Cusack can be reached at 5812812 or at atcusack@eiu.edu.
The second Panther of the Week is going to
The junior infielder from Brooklyn, New York, hit a grand slam to help the Panthers finish with an 8-4 win over the UT Martin Skyhawks Saturday afternoon.
Infante’s grand slam at the top of the ninth inning allowed sophomore Michael O’Conor, senior Lucas Loos and senior Cole Gober to score along with Infante.
Along with sealing the win for the Panthers, this was also Infante’s first home run as a Panther.
Injuries are a part of the game for college athletes. Whether they play through them is something else.
Redshirt sophomore running back MJ Flowers knew all about that when he had a low ankle sprain the summer before last season.
Flowers said that he played through it because his body wasn’t telling him that he couldn’t play.
“I honestly thought it was over because when the pain hit at that moment it be like, ‘Oh my goodness,’” Flowers said. “I iced it, got checked at urgent care and then I was able to come back that next day actually. I just practiced through it the whole summer, and then throughout the season it didn’t occur again.”
After that practice, he went to urgent care, and they told him that he would have to sit out.
“When they asked me what happened at checkup, I was like, ‘I’m good,’” Flowers said.
One thing that Flowers said he wouldn’t play through was a concussion.
“A concussion, that’s nothing to play with,” Flowers said. “I was just talking to my friends, had the glasses on, I wasn’t on my phone or nothing.”
Eastern football head coach Chris Wilkerson said that a concussion is one of the injuries that his players are not allowed to play through.
“There are some that are non-negotiable. Any of the concussion stuff right now you’re out until you can clear the concussion return to play protocol,” Wilkerson said.
Redshirt sophomore forward Kooper Jacobi also dealt with an injury this past season, but he was not able to return from it before the season ended.
Jacobi fractured the fourth metatarsal in his right foot, which would be right by the
pinky toe, before Eastern’s game against the University of Tennessee at Martin.
He would go on to play with the injury for about a week because he thought it was a strain. When it wouldn’t stop hurting, he went to the doctor to get it checked out.
Jacobi decided to sit out to get back to his normal health when it got to that point.
“I feel like there’s a certain point where it’s stopping you from playing normal,” Jacobi said. “There’s some injuries where you can play, you may be sore at first but like 10-15 minutes in practice or in a game and you’re good. Some it’s like it doesn’t go away, and that’s when I’m like I don’t think it’s worth it.”
Both Flowers and Jacobi said that if an injury happened later in the season, they would try to push through it and finish out the season.
“If it’s that last game, the last two games, and we need them wins, depending on which team is being played, I feel like I got-
ta play. It just doesn’t sit right with me as a competitor,” Flowers said.
Jacobi said that he saw that in some of his teammates this season.
“I think a couple guys had something hurt, but there was three or four weeks left, and they were like, ‘I’ll just push through,’” Jacobi said. “If it was the beginning of the season, I feel like it would have been harder to push.”
Eastern football athletic trainer Scott Goehner said that this is very common for players to do towards the end of the season, but it does depend on how the season is going.
“There were more guys that were more willing to push through things if we’re doing well,” Goehner said. “The prior two years, we had guys that had pushed through things early in the season and towards the end were just like, ‘I can’t keep doing this anymore.’”
Eastern women’s basketball and men’s
soccer athletic trainer Jehan Ayap said that she sees this in the sports that she helps too.
“Near the end of the season, the stakes are always higher, playoff spots, conference stuff near the end,” Ayap said. “For some of [these athletes], it can be the end of their first year or it could be the end of their career.”
Both Goehner and Ayap said that not every athlete is the same. Some are willing to push through an injury but there are some that don’t play unless they feel 100 percent.
“I have [offensive] lineman, they’re at forty percent, they’re hobbling out there, they look terrible, it’s like dude just pull the plug, ‘No I can finish,’” Goehner said. “Then you have guys where the wind blew too hard and they don’t want to try and continue.”
Cross country and track and field athletic trainer Jim Nave said that as a trainer, he is trying to protect the athletes even when they want to play through an injury.
“I’m here to protect you from yourself sometimes,” Nave said. “In the case of cross country, track and field, I’m here to look at ‘Hey we have this many meets, what’s more important, the one at the end where we’re going for a conference championship or the next one?’”
One saying that Nave has is, “Athletes play through injury, but we don’t let injured athletes play.”
Ayap, Goehner and Nave all said that they are trying to keep the players healthy for life after college.
“As sad as it will be when their career ends, we’re just trying to make sure that they can understand and know that this is going to be a great part of your life, but you’re going to have great parts of your life after,” Ayap said. “Our top priority is to make sure that they can get to that point, they can enjoy the life once this life is over.”
Luther Yoder can be reached at 5812812 or at lyoder@eiu.edu.
Eastern’s beach volleyball fell to Morehead State University 4-1, and Tennessee Tech University 4-1 on March 23. The Panthers were a lot closer in scores that day than March 22, where they lost 5-0.
Sophomore Layne Witherspoon and junior Catalina Rochaix were the only pair to take a win against Morehead State while juniors Tori Mohesky and Sylvia Hasz were the only pair to defeat Tennessee Tech.
Here are how some facts about the program and how Panther head coach Sara Thomas and the team are doing this season:
• The duo of sophomore Masyn Navarro and graduate student Natalie Mitchem were named the Ohio Val-
ley Conference pair of the week on March 12. This came after the duo went 4-0 against McKendree (21-13, 21-12) (21-16, 21-17).
• After going on a three-game win streak, the Panthers have lost four straight games during the OVC weekend at Chattanooga event. The Panthers lost to both University of Tennessee at Martin and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on March 22 (5-0, 5-0) and Morehead State and Tennessee Tech the following day (4-1, 4-1).
• Thomas is in her second year of being the head coach for the beach volleyball program. Currently, Thomas is 5-19 throughout her time as the head coach.
• Eastern is the first Division I school in the state of Illinois to offer beach
volleyball.
This program is only in its third year at Eastern.
When the program first started in 2022, the program went winless with a final record of 0-15.
In 2023, the team improved to 2-12 record.
In 2024, the Panthers are continuing to improve with a current 3-7 record.
Eastern’s three wins were against Oklahoma Wesleyan University on March 2 (41) and against McKendree two times on March 7 (3-2, 3-2).
Although the Panthers are in last place in the OVC, there is still room for Eastern to win, with six more games before the OVC Championship April 25 to April 27 in Morehead, Kentucky.
Other teams in the OVC include UT Martin, Chattanooga, Lindenwood, Morehead
State and Tennessee Tech.
Besides the two games against Lindenwood, the Panthers will travel to Martin, Tennessee, for the OVC Weekend at UT Martin April 19 and April 20.
Eastern will travel to Evans Court in St. Charles, Missouri, to play Lindenwood Friday at 1 p.m., as they will follow up and play the Lions again at Sister City Park in Charleston on April 10 at 11 a.m.
Eastern’s beach volleyball is currently 3-7 overall and 0-4 in the conference, while Lindenwood is 8-5 overall and 2-2 in the conference. Thomas and the team are looking for their fourth win of the season on Friday.
Chloe Proffitt contributed to this article.
Zaria Flippin can be reached at 5812812 or zhflippin@eiu.edu.