All-American Smith pulls up lame in 200

Miles Smith would have had every reason to shed some tears of sorrow Saturday.

But it was obvious that the tears flowing from Smith's eyes were inspired by joy.

A little more than an hour earlier, Southeast Missouri State's senior track and field All-American had pulled up lame while running the 200 meters during the Ohio Valley Conference outdoor championships.

Smith missed all of last season as a redshirt because of hamstring problems, and he immediately grabbed his left hamstring after going down with about 50 meters remaining in the 200.

Southeast coach Joey Haines was hopeful Smith had suffered nothing more than a cramp, while Smith seemed certain it was a bit worse than that.

Regardless, Smith — who earlier in the day easily won his specialty, the 400, and helped Southeast's 400 relay team to a title — would not be able to finish off the meet by anchoring the Redhawks' 1,600 relay squad.

So why was Smith so overcome with joy just seconds after the meet ended?

Because the Redhawks were able to overcome Smith's absence by winning the 1,600 relay, which lifted Southeast's men to the championship in the meet it hosted.

Southeast edged defending champion Eastern Illinois by 2 1/2 points as the Redhawks finished with 174 1/2 points.

Immediately after fellow senior Chris Poindexter — who took Smith's place as the 1,600 relay anchor — crossed the finish line first ahead of Eastern Illinois, Smith embraced Poindexter in an emotional hug that seemed like it never would end.

Smith also hugged the other relay members and seemingly everybody else on the team. It's hard to imagine him being any happier had he been able to run the race.

"I'm real proud of everybody," said Smith, still crying a good 15 minutes after the meet had ended. "We really wanted to get coach Haines this last championship."

Haines is retiring following this season after 26 years as Southeast's coach. He now has led Southeast squads to 21 OVC titles (indoors and outdoors), 15 by the women and six by the men.

"Miles being hurt puts a damper on it," Haines said. "But I'm proud of everybody."

A four-time All-American, Smith entered the weekend ranked sixth nationally in the 400. He earned a gold medal at the 2005 World Championships as a member of the U.S. 1,600 relay team.

Smith cruised to victory in Saturday's 400 in 46.25 seconds to beat runner-up Poindexter by more than 2 seconds. It was Smith's sixth OVC 400 title, and he also has anchored four 1,600 relay squads to conference crowns.

"The shame of it, Miles was just starting to really get in shape," Haines said. "He just jogged that 46.25.

"Hopefully it's a cramp."

Smith, who spent about an hour in the meet's medical tent being worked on by several trainers after the injury, said he thinks he suffered "something more than a cramp. Maybe a strain."

Smith, who already has met the NCAA regional qualifying standard, figures he'll take some time off but hopes to be ready when the Mideast Regional is held May 30-31 in Fayetteville, Ark.

The top five finishers at the regional qualify for the NCAA meet, and Smith has his sights on his first national title.

Haines said even if Smith's ailment prevents him from competing in the regional and qualifying for nationals, Smith has plenty of time to get ready for the Olympic Trials that begin in late June.

"This might hurt him for the NCAAs, but he has a long time to the Olympic Trials," Haines said. "We'll rest him for a while and see how the leg responds."

Haines honored

Haines was recognized during Saturday's opening ceremony before the start of the final day's events.

Much to Haines' surprise and delight, Southeast officials announced that beginning next season the annual spring meet the university has hosted for the past 27 years — it most recently has been called the SEmotion Relays — would be named the Joey Haines Invitational.

"I didn't know it was coming. I'm really proud of that," Haines said.

After Southeast's men won the title Saturday, Haines received the OVC outdoor men's coach of the year award. He has captured 20 such OVC awards — men's and women's — since the program joined the conference in 1992.

Tennessee State's Chandra Cheeseborough won the OVC outdoor women's coach of the year award after the Tigers claimed the championship.

Cheeseborough is a former Olympic gold medalist, running on two victorious relays during the 1984 Los Angeles Games while earning a silver medal in the 400.

Vote for Crumpecker

A decision on Haines' successor is expected to be announced soon, perhaps as early as the coming week.

Haines openly has lobbied for Eric Crumpecker, his longtime right-hand man who is in his 17th season as a Southeast assistant coach.

Crumpecker, a former standout weight thrower at Missouri-Rolla, works with the Redhawks' throwers in addition to performing a myriad of other duties.

"What a great job Eric has done for this program," Haines said.