Five athletes, including three competitors from this year’s IHSA State Finals, will join the Eastern track and field program after signing national letters of intent.

Bryce Hogan (Moweaqua Central A&M High School), Graham Morris (Lawrenceville High School), Matthew Page (Bloom Township High School), and Darren Patterson (Rend Lake College) will join the men’s team, while Paige Biehler (Shelbyville High School) signed with the women’s squad.

All five are former IHSA state qualifiers.

The standout of the class is junior college transfer Patterson, a sprinter who aided Rend Lake College in winning the 2008 National Junior College Athletic Association Indoor National Championship. In 2009 he placed sixth at the NJCAA Indoor Nationals in the 200-meter dash, and also qualified for the NJCAA Outdoor Nationals in the same event.

Patterson won the 2007 IHSA class AA state title in the 200-meter. His time of 21.51 in the event ranks him 27th-best all-time in IHSA history.

Three of the recruits recently competed at the 2009 IHSA State Finals at O’Brien Stadium, all in class 1A.

Hogan placed fifth in the triple jump with a mark of 44’4.75. He was a state qualifier in four events in 2009, and also finished ninth at the 2008 state meet in the long jump and qualified for state in the triple jump in 2007.

Morris qualified for the state finals in both the 1600-meter and 3200-meter runs. The distance runner posted a 4:23.31 in the finals of the 1600-meter, good enough for fifth place. Morris was a three-time state qualifier in the 1600-meter, and also finished fifth at the 2008 IHSA Cross Country State Meet with a 15:27 three-mile.

Biehler, who joins four other IHSA state qualifiers to round out the women’s 2009 recruiting class, was the runner-up in the 800-meter run at the state finals with a time of 2:16.64, and also qualified in three other events.

Page qualified for the 2008 state meet as a junior in the pole vault, where he finished in 14th place after clearing 14′.