Eastern Illinois Panthers

The Eastern Illinois Panthers are the intercollegiate athletic programs of Eastern Illinois University (EIU) located in Charleston, Illinois, United States. The Panthers athletic program is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC)[2] and competes at the NCAA Division I[3] level in the Football Championship Subdivision. EIU's colors are blue and gray. Selected as the team mascot in 1930, EIU's panther, was informally known as "Billy" for many years and was officially named "Billy the Panther" in 2008.[4] Panther teams have won five NCAA national championships in three sports.[5] The Panthers also won the 1969 NAIA men's soccer title.[6]

Eastern Illinois Panthers
UniversityEastern Illinois University
ConferenceOhio Valley Conference
Summit League
  (Men's soccer, m/w swimming)
NCAADivision I / FCS
Athletic directorTom Michael
LocationCharleston, Illinois
Varsity teams20 (10 men's and 10 women's)
Football stadiumO’Brien Field
Basketball arenaLantz Arena
Baseball stadiumCoaches Stadium at Monier Field
Softball stadiumWilliams Field
Soccer stadiumLakeside Soccer Field
MascotBilly the Panther
NicknamePanthers
Fight songEastern State March
ColorsBlue and Gray[1]
         
Websitewww.eiupanthers.com

History

Eastern Illinois athletics began in the school's very first year, with the inaugural football team taking the field only three weeks after the first students arrived on campus in 1899.[7]

Eastern Illinois was a member of the Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 1912 to 1970. From 1978 to 1982 they were members of the Mid Continent Athletic Association which was absorbed by the Association of Mid-Continent Universities later known as the Mid-Continent Conference now the Summit League till 1996. In 1996 they joined the Ohio Valley Conference which is their current conference.

A member of the Ohio Valley Conference since 1996, Eastern Illinois University sponsors teams in ten men's and ten women's NCAA sanctioned sports.[8] The Panthers' men's soccer team and men's and women's swimming teams compete as associate members of the Summit League since those sports are not sponsored by the OVC.

Sports sponsored
Men's sports Women's sports
BaseballBasketball
BasketballCross country
Cross countryGolf
FootballSoccer
GolfSoftball
SoccerSwimming and diving
Swimming and divingTennis
TennisTrack and field†
Track and field†Volleyball
† – Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor
Ohio Valley Conference logo in Eastern Illinois' colors

Baseball
Main article: Eastern Illinois Panthers baseball
  • 1973 NCAA Division II World Series Third Place.
  • 1978 NCAA Division II World Series Fifth Place.
  • 1981 NCAA Division II World Series Runner-Up.[9]

The Panther baseball team has appeared in two NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, in 1999 and 2008.

Basketball

Men's basketball
Main article: Eastern Illinois Panthers men's basketball
  • NAIA Tournament appearances (6) 1947, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1957. With a combined record of 7–7. Highest finish, 4th: 1957.
  • NCAA Division II Tournament appearances each year from 1975 to 1980. Highest finish, 3rd: 1976 and 1978.
  • NCAA Division I Tournament appearances (1992 and 2001).
  • All time tournament results[10]
YearSeedFirst Round WinnerFirst Round Loser
199215Indiana94Eastern Illinois55
200115Arizona101Eastern Illinois76

Women’s basketball
Main article: Eastern Illinois Panthers women's basketball
YearSeedFirst Round WinnerFirst Round Loser
198810Colorado78Eastern Illinois72

Men's cross country

Team Championships:

  • 1968 – NCAA College Division National Champions
  • 1969 – NCAA College Division National Champions
  • 1977 – NCAA Division II National Champions

Football
Main article: Eastern Illinois Panthers football
  • 1978 Division II National Champion
  • 1980 Division II National Runner-Up.
  • NCAA Division I Football Championship tournament appearances: 1982, 1983, 1986, 1989, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2015.
  • Conference Titles: 1912, 1913, 1914, 1928, 1948, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1995, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2013
  • All time tournament results[11]
YearFirst Round Home TeamFirst Round Away Team Second Round Home Second Round AwayQuarterfinal HomeQuarterfinal Away
1982 OTEastern Illinois16Jackson State13 Tennessee State20Eastern Illinois19
1983 2OTIndiana State16Eastern Illinois13
1986Eastern Illinois28Murray State21 Eastern Illinois22Eastern Kentucky24
1989Idaho21Eastern Illinois38 Montana25Eastern Illinois19
1995Stephen F. Austin34Eastern Illinois29
1996Northern Iowa21Eastern Illinois14
2000Montana45Eastern Illinois13
2001Eastern Illinois43Northern Iowa49
2002Western Illinois48Eastern Illinois9
2005Eastern Illinois6Southern Illinois21
2006[12]Eastern Illinois13Illinois State24
2007Southern Illinois30Eastern Illinois11
2009Southern Illinois48Eastern Illinois7
2012 South Dakota State 58 Eastern Illinois 10
2013 Bye Bye Eastern Illinois 51 Tennessee State 10 Eastern Illinois 39 Towson 49
2015 Northern Iowa 53 Eastern Illinois 17

Men’s golf

National Finishes:[13]

  • 1969 - NAIA 4th Place
  • 1972 - NAIA 8th Place

Individual National Champions:[14]

  • 1972 - Gaylord Burrows - NAIA

Soccer

Men's soccer
Main article: Eastern Illinois Panthers men's soccer
  • 1969 – NAIA National Champion.
  • NCAA Division II runners-up in 1979, 3rd in 1978, and 4th in 1974.
  • Stripped of 1981 Division I 3rd-place finish.

Women’s soccer

The Panther women’s soccer team has appeared in four NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournaments in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004.[15]

Softball

The Panther softball team has appeared in two Women's College World Series, in 1971 and 1974.[16]

Men’s swimming and diving

Individual National Champions:[17]

  • 1973 - Bob Thomas, NCAA Division II 200 yard backstroke
  • 1973 - Bob Thomas, NCAA Division II 400 yard IM
  • 1973 - Jon Mayfield, NCAA Division II 200 yard breaststroke
  • 1973 - NCAA Division II 400 yard medley (Bob Thomas, Jon Mayfield, Dan Cole, Dave Toler)
  • 1974 - Bob Thomas, NCAA Division II 200 yard backstroke
  • 1974 - Bob Thomas, NCAA Division II 400 yard IM
  • 1974 - Jon Mayfield, NCAA Division II 200 yard breaststroke
  • 1974 - NCAA Division II 400 yard medley (Bob Thomas, Jon Mayfield, Brian Forsberg, Dave Toler)
  • 1975 - Jon Mayfield, NCAA Division II 200 yard breaststroke

Track and field
Main article: Eastern Illinois Panthers track and field

Team Championships (men's):

  • 1974 – NCAA Division II National Champions
  • 1976 — NCAA Division II National Runner-up

Individual Champions:

  • 1955 – Ray White, NAIA Long Jump
  • 1967 – John Craft, NAIA Triple Jump
  • 1969 – John Craft, NCAA College Division Triple Jump
  • 1972 – Rodney Jackson, NCAA College Division 400 hurdles
  • 1973 – Rodney Jackson, NCAA College Division 400 hurdles
  • 1974 – Darrell Brown, NCAA Division II Long Jump
  • 1975 – Toni Ababio, NCAA Division II Long Jump
  • 1975 – Toni Ababio, NCAA Division II Triple Jump
  • 1976 – Ed Hatch, NCAA Division II 400 Meter Dash
  • 1979 – Robert Johnson, NCAA Division II 110 hurdles
  • 1981 — 4x400 Relay, Women’s Track & Field AIAW II
  • 1981 – Augustine Oruwari, NCAA Division II 110 hurdles
  • 1988 – Jim Maton, NCAA Division I 800 meter run (Indoor)
  • 1992 – Dan Steele, NCAA Division I 400 hurdles

Volleyball

The Eastern Illinois volleyball team has been the Ohio Valley Conference champions in 1998 and co champions in 2004. The volleyball team has made one NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament appearance in 2001.[18]

Athletic facilities

Current facilities

Facilities are housed on the west side of the EIU campus between 4th Street and Grant Avenue.[19]

  • Coaches Stadium at Monier Field — Baseball
  • Darling Courts — Men's and women's tennis
  • Lakeside Field — Men's and women's soccer
  • Lantz Arena — Men's and women's basketball, Volleyball
  • Lantz Field House — Men's and women's indoor track and field
  • O’Brien Field — Football, Men's and women's outdoor track and field
  • Ray Padovan Pool — Men's and women's swimming and diving
  • Tom Woodall Panther Trail — Men's and women's cross country
  • Williams Field — Softball

Men's and women's golf practice at four local courses including Charleston Country Club, Mattoon Country Club, Meadowview Golf Course and Bent Tree Golf Course.[20]

Former facilities

Club and intramural facilities
  • Student Rec Center — Intramural sports

Notable former athletes

Baseball

Basketball

Football

Handball

MMA

Rugby

Soccer

Track
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References
  1. "Eastern Illinois University Panthers - Media Relations". October 15, 2015. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
  2. "OVC Member Institutions". Ohio Valley Conference. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  3. "Eastern Illinois University". NCAA. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  4. "EIU Panther Mascot". Eastern Illinois University Athletics. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  5. "EIU National Championships". Eastern Illinois University Athletics. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  6. "Men's Soccer Championship Records" (PDF). National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  7. "History". Eastern Illinois University Athletics. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  8. "FB_familyweekend_2014". Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  9. "Eastern Illinois Panthers - Turn Back the Clock Tuesday - May 16, 1981". Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  10. Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  11. "Eastern Illinois Panther Football : Panthers - Salukis Meet For Third Time In Five Years EIU Opens FCS Plays At Southern Illinois" (PDF). Eiupanthers.com. Retrieved 2015-04-23.
  12. Archived September 22, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  13. "Eastern Illinois Men's Golf Record Book" (PDF). Retrieved April 30, 2019.
  14. "EIU Individual National Champions". Retrieved April 30, 2019.
  15. "EIU Women's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). p. 4. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
  16. Plummer, William; Floyd, Larry C. (2013). A Series Of Their Own: History Of The Women's College World Series. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States: Turnkey Communications Inc. ISBN 978-0-9893007-0-4.
  17. "EIU National Championships". Retrieved April 30, 2019.
  18. "EIU Volleyball Record Book" (PDF). p. 57. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
  19. "Eastern Illinois Athletic Facilities" (PDF). Eastern Illinois Panthers. p. 3. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  20. "Eastern Illinois Facilities". Eastern Illinois Panthers. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  21. "Buildings and Grounds of EIU". Eastern Illinois University. p. 35. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  22. "Nostalgia Surrounds O'Brien" (PDF). Eastern Illinois University. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  23. "Stan Royer". Baseball Reference.com. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  24. "Kevin Seitzer". Baseball Reference.com. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  25. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Tim Dykstra". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
  26. "Schellas Hyndman". Southern Methodist University. Retrieved October 3, 2013.
  27. "Dan Steel". Journal Gazette and Times-Courier. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  28. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Darrin Steele Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
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