West wins triple jump at Indiana Invitational

Southeast Missouri State University's track program had several strong performances at the University of Indiana Invitational held over the weekend.

Heather West, a Jackson High School graduate, won the triple jump with a distance of 38 feet, 7 3/4 inches.

"Indiana is not really a good place to jump because the surface is kind of soft, but Heather really did a great job," Southeast coach Joey Haines said.

Southeast's other victory came from the men's 1,600-meter relay team as Walter Washington, Chaz Brown, Alonzo Nelson and Miles Smith clocked 3:15.63.

Southeast had two second-place finishes, from Brooke Woodruff in the 800 (2:14.01) and Brown in the 600 (1:21.22).

Smith's third-place performance in the 400 (47.49) marked the best time in the Ohio Valley Conference this season and met the provisional qualifying standard for the NCAA championships.

Placing fourth were Walter Washington in the 600 (1:21.56) and Megan Rosenkoetter in the open pole vault (10-0).

Andrew Lambert, a Sikeston High School product, was fifth in the long jump (22-3 3/4) and sixth in the high jump (6-6). Also placing fifth were Kathy Coleman in the long jump (18-6 1/2) and Michele Jett in the invitational pole vault (10-11 3/4).

Others in the top eight were Jen Burke (sixth, 800, 2:20.45); Lindsay Zeiler (seventh, 3,000, 10:29.97); Taryn Phillips (eighth, 600, 1:42.60); and Brian Whitehead (eighth, 5,000, 15:53.46).

"We had a lot of very good performances," Haines said.

Southeast's men and women compete this weekend at Southern Illinois.