Meet Results  |  Podium Photos (by Kyle Crider)

Another Ohio Valley Conference Championship is coming home to Charleston as the Eastern Illinois men's track & field program won the 2026 OVC Outdoor Championship on Saturday afternoon marking the 18th overall trophy for the program and first since the 2021 season.

The EIU women finished second at the OVC championship, their best outdoor championship performance since the 2017 season as Southeast Missouri was the women's team champion with Tennessee Tech placing third.

Jame Gildon was named the OVC Men's Coach of the Year as the Panthers scored 204 points followed by SEMO with 186.50 and Little Rock in third.

A true team performance for the Panthers as EIU had 15 individual podium finishes on Saturday's championship day along with medals in both the men's and women's 4x100 relay. Additionally, 20 individuals and both 4x400 relay teams scored points with fourth through eighth place finishes.

Shawn Lacy led a dramatic 1-2-3 finish in the men's javelin which helped turn the point tide in EIU's favor on Saturday as Lacy won the event with a throw of 213'11", the fifth best throw in school history. Teegan Simmons (181') and Maliek Bush (179'11) picked up silver and bronze in the event.

Alex Stout gave the Panthers another key win in throws taking home gold in the men's shot put with a throw of 55'4.50". Jacob Maxwell added a bronze in the event with a throw of 51'7.75".

Analena Peterson walked away with a pair of gold medals on Saturday. The freshman set the school record in the 200-meter dash with a winning time of 23.62.   She opened the day anchoring EIU's gold medal 4x100 relay team that had a winning time of 45.49.  Peterson was joined by Abby Venhaus, Kenyetietta Quinn and Annabelle Coudron on the relay.

The men's 4x100 relay team picked up a silver medal finish with its time of 40.19 ranking as the sixth best in school history. Ayden Cothern, Shawn Lacy, Israel Jackson and David Tuala manned the relay squad.

The relay was the first of three podium visits for Cothern as he was second in the men's 200-meter run (21.00) and third in the 100-meter dash (10.43).

Ashlyn Denney was second in the women's 800 meter run with a time of 2:08.76 which moved the freshman up to fourth on the EIU career list for the event.

Devin Johnston, NeVaeh Bryant, Emily Sykes and Layla Bonilla closed out the event medalists for the EIU women. Johnston was third in the 400-meter run at 55.89.  Bryant was third in the 400 hurdles with a time of 1:02.40. Sykes placed third in the shot put with a throw of 43'5.75". Bonilla was third in the triple jump landing at 40'11.75".

EIU's final two men's medalists on Saturday included Weston Averkamp and Enoch Appiah-Kubi. Averkamp was third in the 400 hurdles at 52.96.  Appiah-Kubi was third in the triple jump with a mark of 48'4.25".

The Panthers will find out if any individuals advanced to the NCAA West Regional next week as the top 48 individual event performers plus scratches and top 24 relay teams plus scratches earn a trip to Fayetteville, Arkansas.