Redhawks lap field on major OVC awards

Southeast Missouri State nearly made a clean sweep of the Ohio Valley Conference's indoor postseason track and field awards heading into this weekend's OVC Indoor Championships in Charleston, Ill.

Four Southeast athletes took home five of the six awards based on voting by the OVC's head coaches, the league announced Wednesday.

Kathy Coleman grabbed two awards on the women's side as she was named field athlete of the year and freshman of the year.

Brooke Woodruff rounded out Southeast's sweep of the women's awards by winning track athlete of the year.

On the men's side, Miles Smith was named track athlete of the year, while Brian Knippen gained field athlete of the year honors.

Only Eastern Kentucky's Jacob Korir prevented an overall clean sweep as he won the men's freshman of the year award.

"It's a great honor for our program to win almost every award, but all four athletes are very deserving," Southeast coach Joey Haines said. "All four have just been super this year."

Coleman, a jumper and runner, ranks among the league's best in several categories this season.

A St. Louis native (Gateway Tech High School), Coleman holds the top spot in the 55-meters (7.04 seconds), the long jump (20 feet, 2 inches) and the triple jump (40-1 1/2). She also ranks second in the 55-meter hurdles (8.21).

Coleman, in addition to provisionally qualifying for the NCAA Championships in the long jump as she ranks among the top 20 nationally, has set a school record in the triple jump and ranks among Southeast's top five all-time performers in her other three events.

"I'm surprised I won this," Coleman said. "I didn't really think too much about it. Hopefully I can help the team win."

Woodruff, a junior middle distance runner from St. Charles, Mo. (Francis Howell North High School), will be looking to win her third straight OVC 800-meter indoor title this weekend.

Woodruff holds the top 800-meter time in the league (2:08.71), a mark that meets the NCAA's provisional qualifying standard and ranks among the top 20 nationally. She also has the third-best mile time in the conference (5:08.54).

"The award is nice, but I'm more excited about the conference meet," Woodruff said. "If everybody does their job, we should be able to win it."

Smith, a sophomore sprinter from St. Louis (Riverview Gardens High School), has set school records in the 200-meters (21.42) and 400-meters (46.61), provisionally qualifying for the NCAA Championships in the 400-meters with a time that ranks 12th nationally.

Smith also anchors the Redhawks' 4x400-meter relay team that has set a school record and provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships with a top-20 national ranking. He ranks first in the OVC in the 400-meters and is second in the 200-meters, while the relay also ranks first.

"It's exciting to be running the way I am, but I try to stay humble," Smith said. "The main thing is, I want to help the team win the OVC title."

Knippen, a senior thrower from Ottoville, Ohio, ranks first in the OVC in the shot put (55-7 1/4), and he is third in the weight throw (53-6 1/2). Knippen, who transferred to Southeast from fellow league member Murray State, took home the OVC weight throw title in 2003 as a Racer.

"I'm surprised I won this because my teammate Daniel Jones is having such a good year, and he has the top weight throw in the OVC," Knippen said. "Hopefully we can all contribute and win the meet as a team."