Eastern Illinois University boasts some of the top track & field facilities in the nation both indoors and out.  In January 2001 work was completed on the Panthers indoor home at Lantz Fieldhouse.  The fieldhouse offers raised seating for 600 spectators with excellent sightlines for field events as well as the action on the track.  Field events such as the pole vault, high jump and the throws take center stage inside the oval while the jumps are competed alongside the 8-lane front straightaway.  A  large Daktronics scoreboard (pictured below) is capable of scrolling times and text for up to 8 placers.  The 200-meter oval has alternating blue and gray lanes made of Mondo Super X track surface, which is widely considered to be the fastest track surface available.  This is the same surface that the NCAA Indoor National Championships have been held on for since 1999.  Mondo also was the choice for the track surfaces at both the 1996 and 2000 Olympics.    

O'Brien Stadium, a 10,000 seat venue, has a new blue Rekortan poured-in-place synthetic track surface installed in the spring of 2002.  Rekortan is a state-of-the-art "energy return" polyurethane system that was used in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and is currently the surface for both the Penn and Texas Relays.  In addition to the blue nine-lane track, O'Brien Stadium also has six long/triple jump pits, 2 pole vault pits that can run simultaneously, a high jump area and five shotput/discus rings.  Eastern Illinois is proud to host the Illinois state track & field championships, which brings 4,000 competitors and 20,000 spectators to EIU every May. 

During the cross county season, Eastern's harriers compete on the 8,000 meter course that winds around the campus pond and several other Panther sports venues. This course has been affectionately named the "Panther Trail."  Strength and conditioning play a large part in any collegiate program and Eastern is no different.  Panther track and field athletes also have access to a number of weight training rooms located both in O'Brien Stadium and Lantz gymnasium.  The facilities are fully-equipped with Olympic weight training systems, Nautilus-style machines  and sport specific devices.

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