Senior Denise Jones cleared 5 feet, 8 inches in the high jump Saturday at the Pace Setter meet in Terre Haute, Ind.

The height represents her personal best and qualified her for the Regional Championships.

Jones isn’t new to Eastern’s track team but she is new to the official roster for the outdoor season. While her coaches and the NCAA worked out a sixth season of eligibility for Jones during indoor season, she practiced with the team and competed as unattached.

In many meets she was the best competitor in her event from Eastern, but she never earned points for her team because of her status.

Now the Panthers have officially added Jones to the roster and she has proven to be an asset.

She was Eastern’s top female finisher in the Pace Setter Meet Friday and Saturday at Welch Track Complex, where the Panthers faced Purdue, Valparaiso, Murray State and Indiana State.

At the meet she placed first in the high jump and earned 10 points for her team. Jones also placed eighth in the javelin throw.

“It means a lot more to be to be with the team, I really enjoy the support from the other players,” she said. “I encourage them, they encourage me.”

Jumps coach Nate Davis said Jones has set a great example this season and predicts her performance this weekend to be just the “tip of the iceberg.”

“We’ve jumped higher bars in practice,” said Davis.

At the end of the first day of competition Friday, Eastern’s women were in fourth place and the men were in third but by the second day, both teams had improved their standings.

The women ended the meet in third and the men took second.

Jones wasn’t the only Panther who made qualifying efforts on the weekend.

Senior Dan Strackeljahn also qualified for the Regional Championships this weekend when he ran a personal record 3 minute, 47.32 second mile on Thursday during the Sea Ray Relays at the University of Tennessee.

Freshman Dorian White became a qualifier with his second place vault of 16 feet 3/4 inches. He qualified for junior nationals, which will be held this summer.

Amy LeJuene and Chris Wesson also reached personal bests.

LeJeune ran 2:18.48 in the 800-meter run and Wesson ran two personal bests in the 1500- and 800-meter runs.

Head coach Tom Akers admired the effort.

“His 1500 meter was 8 seconds better (than his previous best time) and his 800 was around .4 better, but a personal record in the 800 after running the 1500 is pretty outstanding,” he said.

Wesson was the only Panther on the men’s squad to earn a first-place finish during the weekend.

Eastern had originally scheduled a split last weekend, and would have sent partial squads to Western Illinois and Indiana State.

Akers opted to keep the team together, however, and chose the closer of the two schools, Indiana, to bring his team.

“The competition was a little better,” he said.

Coach Mary Wallace said with indoor season out of the way, her athletes are right where the need to be to head into conference.

The Panther’s will send partial squads to University of Illinois and Kansas for midweek meets and continue to work on improving with an eye on conference in Richmond, Ky., on May 5-6.