The meet kicks off at 8 a.m. with the women's collegiate 5,000-meters (3.1 miles) followed by the men's collegiate 8,000-meters (4.96 miles) at 8:15 a.m. High School action is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. with the boy's junior varsity race. The girl's 5,000 varsity race is scheduled for 9:45 a.m. and the meet concludes with the boy's varsity 5,000 at 10:30 a.m.
This season will be the third time that the event has been held at Milliken after being at The SCSDB near downtown Spartanburg.
Last season Jake Morris of Aiken High School finished first in the boy's race with a time of 16:29.99. Milos Mitric of Asheville (N.C.) High School holds the course record of 15:50 (Eye Opener, 2000). Graham Lovett (Summerville) holds the second best overall time (16:04, 2000). Michael Hatch (J.L. Mann/Duke) holds the third all time best of 16:17. T.C. Roberson High School finished first in the 2002 boys event with Summerville finishing second. Spartanburg High School rounded out the top three.
On the girls' side Aiken High alumna Michele Milner (freshman, Gardner-Webb) finished first with a course record time of 19:20 in 2002. Milner is set to compete at The Gamecock Invitational on Friday, Sept. 5 with twin sister Marcie Milner and Dreher alumna Katherine Warden for Gardner-Webb. Angelina Blackmon of Northwestern holds the second best overall time at Milliken (19:24, 2001 Eye Opener). Vicky Echeverria (Riverside/Harding) finished behind Michele Milner with a time of 19:34.82 at the 2002 Eye Opener. Echeverria's time places her in the number three all time spot at the Milliken course. Spartanburg, Summerville, and South Aiken High school rounded out the top three scores in girls team scoring in 2002.
The collegiate race consists of colleges from North Carolina and South Carolina. Last year's event was the first time that The Eye Opener included collegiate races.
Coming up next in South Carolina is the 2003 SCTCCCA Coaches Classic on Sept. 13. The event, formerly held at Sandhills Research Center for the past two seasons is making a return to Fort Jackson in Columbia. The state meet is also being held at Fort Jackson this season on November 8.