CHARLESTON, Ill. Eastern Illinois women's track and field added five athletes to its 2017 roster with four of them advancing to this year's IHSA State Championships held in May at O'Brien Field. In addition one previously signed cross country athlete wrapped up her senior track season with a team state championship. Mercedes Elliott, Billi Fox, Shannan Supan, Abby Nicholson and Sophia Keith all signed with the Panthers to compete next season. Cross country runner Brianna Bower closed out her prep career after signing with the Panthers in November. Elliott competed at Danville HS where she advanced to the IHSA Class 3A State Championships in the 1600m and 3200m runs. She helped her team win the Danville Sectional by placing first in the 3200m run and second in the 1600m run. Her sectional time for the 3200m run was 11:33.80. She ran 5:28.55 in the 1600m at the sectional meet. She was the Indoor Big 12 Conference Champion in both the 1600m and 3200m runs as a senior. Fox is from Glasford and competed at Illini Bluffs HS. As a senior she advanced to the IHSA Class 1A State Championships in the high jump. She cleared 5'1" in the finals to place ninth in the state. Fox was second at the El Paso-Gridley Sectional clearing 5'3". As a junior Fox placed fourth in the state clearing 5'4" at the IHSA Class 1A state meet. Fox also qualified for the state meet as a sophomore. Supan is from Carlock and competed at Normal University HS. She ran the 800m during the season while competing as a member of the 4x400 and 4x800 relay teams. Her season best 800m time was 2:33.32 at the Corn Belt Conference meet. As a junior she ran the 1600m and 3200m events as an individual. She was a member of the 4x800m team that advanced to the IHSA Class 2A State Championships and placed third with a time of 9:37.90. Supan was a three-time IHSA Class 2A Cross Country state qualifier placing 14th as a freshman with a time of 17:40. Nicholson is from Catlin and helped Salt Fork HS win the IHSA Class 1A State Championship as a senior. She advanced to the IHSA state meet in the discus and shot put. Nicholson placed fourth in the state in the shot put with a finals mark of 41'8". She was sixth in the discus with a finals throw of 128'2". As a junior Nicholson helped Sidell Jamaica (Coop) place second in the IHSA Class 1A State Championships by placing third in the discus with a finals throw of 131'3". She was fourth in the state in the discus as a sophomore while placing tenth in the state in the shot put. As a freshman Nicholson placed eighth in the state in the discus. Keith is from DuQuoin and competed at Pickneyville Community HS advancing to the IHSA Class 1A State Championships in three events. Keith competed in the 200m dash, 400m dash and as a member of the 4x100 relay. She was the state champion in the 400m as a senior with a finals time of 57.97. Keith placed seventh in the 200m finals with a time of 26.28. She reached the awards podium all four years in the 400m dash placing fourth as a junior, fifth as a sophomore and seventh as a freshman. In addition Keith earned All-Conference honors in cross country, volleyball and basketball. Bower signed with the Panthers in May following a standout cross country career at Kaneland HS in Maple Park. Bower advanced to the IHSA State Cross Country Championships all four seasons. As a senior she was the Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference Individual Champion going on to finish ninth at the IHSA Class 2A State meet. She closed out her prep career advancing to the IHSA Class 2A State Track meet in the 4x800m relay. She helped Kaneland tie for the Class 2A State Championship title as the relay team placed fifth. Bower ran the third leg as the 4x800 squad posted a time of 9:46. EIU women's track finished the 2016 season winning the OVC Outdoor Track Championship and sending two athletes to the NCAA West Regional. The EIU women were second at both the OVC Indoor Track Championships and OVC Cross Country Championships.