Hall of Fame
In 23 years with the Eastern Illinois track and field program, Akers built the Panthers program into one of the most successful in OVC history, helping the program win a combined 45 indoor and outdoor men’s and women’s championships. Akers took over as the men’s track and field coach in 1995 and in 2009 also took over the reigns of the women’s program; he retired from coaching following the 2018 season.
Akers led Eastern Illinois to 32 men’s and 13 women’s championships and was named OVC Coach of the Year 45 times. That included winning eight-straight men’s outdoor crowns (1997-2004) and seven-straight men’s indoor crowns (2001-07). Along the way he coached 200 individual OVC champions, 26 OVC Athletes of the Year, seven OVC Championship Meet MVP’s and eight OVC Freshmen of the Year recipients.
Twenty of his athletes would go on to earn All-American status, including nine being first-team honorees. In addition seven would go on to compete in the Olympic Trials. Akers was inducted into the Illinois Track & Field Hall of Fame in December 2015.