Colbert, Smith win OVC season honors

~ Redhawks athletes collect awards on eve of OVC indoor meet.

The Southeast Missouri State men's track and field program swept the two major Ohio Valley Conference indoor awards.

Senior Miles Smith and sophomore Brandon Colbert were named track athlete of the year and field athlete of the year, respectively.

Voting was done by the league's head coaches and announced Thursday on the eve of the OVC indoor meet in Nashville, Tenn.

"They certainly deserve it," Southeast coach Joey Haines said. "They have both had outstanding seasons so far."

Smith is tied for the nation's fastest time in the 400 meters at 46.13 seconds, and he will be among the favorites at next month's NCAA championships.

A gold medalist in the 1,600 relay at the 2005 World Championships, Smith already has been a three-time All-American and has won five OVC titles in the 400 during his brilliant career.

Smith missed last season with an injury, but the St. Louis native was the 2006 OVC male track athlete of the year both indoors and outdoors.

"You couldn't have had a better year than Miles has had, being No. 1 in your event in the NCAA," Haines said.

Colbert, an NCAA provisional qualifier in the shot put, has the OVC's best distances in the shot put (58-4 1/2) and weight throw (59-11 3/4). He recently broke the school's shot put record.

Colbert, a native of Troy, Mo., was last year's OVC outdoor male field athlete of the year.

"You always feel good when you have somebody that wins an award as a freshman and just grows," said Haines, who credited throws coach Eric Crumpecker for "doing a great job with Brandon, who is only going to keep getting better."

Southeast eyes title

For the first time in several years, Southeast did not bring home an OVC team championship last season.

Haines expects that to change when the indoor meet is held today and Saturday.

Southeast's women rode a string of seven straight OVC titles -- four outdoors and three indoors -- into last season, but were shut out as they placed third both indoors and outdoors.

Southeast's men had won two straight OVC outdoor titles entering last season, which saw them finish second both indoors and outdoors.

"It's the first time we didn't win something in a long time," Haines said of last season. "We're looking to change that this year."

If everything goes right for Southeast this weekend, Haines believes his program might sweep the meet.

At worst, Haines is looking for a championship from his men's squad. And he expects the women to be in the hunt.

"We're going to be really disappointed if we don't win the men's championship," Haines said. "We'll be very disappointed if we don't compete for the women's championship."

Haines said Eastern Illinois and Eastern Kentucky should challenge the Redhawks for the men's title, with Eastern Illinois and host Tennessee State joining Southeast as top contenders for the women's crown.

Eastern Illinois is the defending champion in both divisions.

"We're probably a little favored on the men's side," Haines said. "We've got six events where we're the clear favorite.

"Our women are very young, with no seniors competing indoors. We'll have to have a very good meet all around. We don't really have any clear favorites, but we've got people who can win and do well. We'll have to score a little bit everywhere."

Southeast's men enter the conference meet with the top seed in six events, led by Smith and Colbert.

Senior John Berry, an NCAA provisional qualifier, leads the OVC in the long jump (24-10 1/2).

Junior Chris Gill leads the conference in the 200 (21.87), while Southeast's 1,600 relay team has the OVC's best time of 3:09.68, which ranks 10th nationally.

On the women's side, junior Orie Ibe is the only top-seeded Southeast athlete entering the meet as she leads the 55 hurdles (8.22), but the Redhawks have several other athletes who should challenge for titles or place high.