Friday, August 15, 2008 11:11 PM CDT
Dau, Arthur to run at Eastern
By MIKE MONAHAN, Staff Writer
mmonahan@jg-tc.com
Two area tracksters, who participated in the IHSA state track meet at Eastern Illinois, plan to stay in the area as Brittany Arthur, a recent Arcola graduate; and Claire Dau, a recent Charleston graduate are to run cross country and track at EIU. Both received a partial scholarship for the teams that compete in the Ohio Valley Conference at the Division I level.
Both runners have been coached by former Eastern Illinois University runner Jason Retz, who is now an assistant coach at Arcola after serving as an assistant coach at Charleston.
“Brittany Arthur ran track for four years (no cross country at Arcola), but is knew to distance running of this caliber,” said Retz. “She has a lot of good mileage in her legs. She ran the Panther Prowl (15K) and when she got done she said it was a lot easier than she thought it was going to be. For not running over two miles most her life she did really well “
Eastern’s cross country coach is Geoff Masanet, who also coaches the distance runners on the track team, coached by Mary Wallace. Masanet is a 1992 graduate of EIU and earned OVC Coach of the Year honors in 2005.
“I really never thought I could run at the collegiate level until this year,” said Arthur, who placed 13th in the IHSA Class A state track meet in the 3,200 with a time of 12:02.2, which was the best time in the Journal-Gazette/Times-Courier area last spring. “I like that it (Eastern) is small, but not too small. It is the perfect size especially coming out of a small school.”
Dau said she didn’t think she was going to run at the collegiate level.
“At the beginning of the year I had done it just to stay in shape (cross country),” said Dau. “Coach Retz told me it is still possible to do.”
Dau, who made the decision to run at EIU at the end of April, had looked at Gardner Webb in North Carolina.
“It was a nice school, but I didn’t want to go that far away,” said Dau. “I am really excited about it. I like the coaches at Eastern. They are really helpful and really care about you and want you to improve and run the best you can.”
Dau and Arthur are to be roommates and both have spent some of the summer running with Retz.
“For me track was number two and cross country was my passion,” said Retz, who coached Dau her sophomore and junior years. “It was fun for me. We go different places and run-normally five days a week. Running together makes it easier to get her mileage in.”
Dau plans to major in communication and minor in political science and do broadcast journalism as well, while Arthur is looking to go into psychology. Both also played volleyball and basketball as well, while Dau was also in cross country.
Arthur, who was coached by Jennifer Jones, was second in the area in the 1,600 with a time of 5:47.3 last year, while Dau, coached by Barb Heitka, finished fifth with a time of 5:58.8. Dau was third in the area in the 3,200 in 12:38.7.
Arthur placed 19th in the 3,200 as a junior and 24th as a sophomore, while Dau was 38th in state her junior year in the 3,200 and was named the Charleston Female Athlete of the Year for the 2007-08 school year.
Dau and Arthur join three other JG/TC standouts in Arthur’s Megan Gingerich, Casey-Westfield’s Terasita Williams, and Charleston’s Gena Nance who are to be sophomores for the Panthers.
Contact Mike Monahan at mmonahan@jg-tc.com or 238-6854.
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