Eastern Illinois Panthers

Eastern Illinois Panthers
University Eastern Illinois University
Conference Ohio Valley Conference
Summit League
  (Men's soccer, m/w swimming)
NCAA Division I / FCS
Athletic director Tom Michael
Location Charleston, Illinois
Varsity teams 20 (10 men's and 10 women's)
Football stadium O'Brien Stadium
Basketball arena Lantz Arena
Baseball stadium Coaches Stadium at Monier Field
Softball stadium Williams Field
Soccer stadium Lakeside Soccer Field
Mascot Billy the Panther
Nickname Panthers
Fight song Eastern State March
Colors Blue and Gray[1]
         
Website www.eiupanthers.com

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]

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

  • 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.

Men's basketball

YearSeedFirst Round WinnerFirst Round Loser
199215Indiana94Eastern Illinois55
200115Arizona101Eastern Illinois76

Women’s basketball

YearSeedFirst Round WinnerFirst Round Loser
198810Colorado78Eastern Illinois72

Football

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 soccer

  • 1969 – NAIA National Champion.
  • NCAA Division II runners-up in 1978, 3rd in 1977, and 4th in 1974.
  • Stripped of 1981 Division I 3rd-place finish.

Men's cross country

Team Championships:

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

Men's track and field

Team Championships (men's):

  • 1974 – NCAA Division II National Champions

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 – 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

Softball

The Panther softball team has appeared in two Women's College World Series, in 1971 and 1974.[13]

Notable former athletes

Baseball

Basketball

Football

MMA

Soccer

Track

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. ↑ 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.
  14. ↑ "Stan Royer". Baseball Reference.com. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  15. ↑ "Kevin Seitzer". Baseball Reference.com. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  16. ↑ "Schellas Hyndman". Southern Methodist University. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  17. ↑ "Dan Steel". Journal Gazette and Times-Courier. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
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