Eastern Illinois athletics has announced contract extensions for baseball head coach Jason Anderson and director of track & field/cross country James Gildon.
 
The multi-year extensions were approved by the Eastern Illinois Board of Trustees in early June and provide stability on the coaching staffs in both of those programs.
 
Anderson was given an extension to his current contract which will keep him as the Panthers baseball program leader through June 2031.  He has led the Panthers program to the OVC Tournament Championship game in back-to-back seasons winning the OVC regular season title in 2025 before finishing second in the OVC regular season standings this season.  EIU won 33 games this season marking the fourth time in the last five seasons that EIU has won 30 or more games.   As a league the OVC finished 10th in the NCAA Conference RPI, the highest ever finish for the league.
 
Gildon was given an extension which provides stability to the Panthers track & field / cross country programs with his extension through June 2029.   Gildon led the EIU men's program to the OVC Outdoor Championship this past spring earning OVC Coach of the Year honors.  The women's program finished second at the OVC Outdoor Championships, their highest finish since the 2017 season.   Gildon had three athletes advance to the NCAA West Regional in track & field this year and has coached two All-Americans in his three seasons with the Panthers. 
 
Anderson and Gildon are the latest EIU coaches to receive contract extensions this season joining Marty Simmons (men's basketball) and Dirk Bennett (women's soccer) who both signed contract extensions with EIU back in April.