Smith, Poindexter part of two top relay efforts

Southeast Missouri State's 400-meter relay team placed fourth in the final at the Drake Relays on Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa.

The team of Jon Jefferson, Miles Smith, Seth Schuster and Chris Poindexter posted a time of 40.66 seconds in the final to qualify for the NCAA regionals. They had won their heat with a time of 40.91 on Friday.

Oregon placed first with a time of 39.88 on Saturday. Wisconsin was second at 40.08 and North Dakota State was third at 40.54.

Smith, a sophomore, and Poindexter, a freshman, also were part of the 1,600-meter relay team that placed sixth on Saturday in Southeast's second-best finish for the day. Smith and Poindexter teamed with juniors Walt Washington and Alonzo Nelson for a time of 3:10.30.

Baylor was first in 3:05.19, and Oregon was second in 3:05.72.

The Southeast men's distance medley team of Kirk Nesbit, Washington, Danny Stults and Kevin McNab finished 10th in a time of 10:20.52. Illinois won in 9:40.80.

First-year javelin thrower Jason Theodorakos placed ninth in the javelin with a distance of 190 feet, 9 inches. Emporia State's Andy Vogelsberg won with a distance of 214-8.

For the Southeast women, the 1,600-meter sprint medley team of Donniece Parrish, Kathy Coleman, Laquita Andrews and Jen Burke teamed up for an eighth-place finish in 4:00.46. Rice University's foursome won the race in 3:52.77.

Freshman Kathy Coleman was 15th in the long jump with a jump of 18-7 1/4. The winning jump of 21-0 was posted by Eastern Michigan's Lela Nelson.

"The weather wasn't very good, but we had some really good performances," Southeast coach Joey Haines said. "We were really happy about the 400 relay qualifying for regionals."

Southeast competes in the Ohio Valley Conference meet Friday and Saturday at Austin Peay in Clarksville, Tenn.