Defending the home turf

Southeast Missouri State hopes to soon add to its large bounty of Ohio Valley Conference track and field titles --this time without having to leave home.

The OVC outdoor championships will be in Cape Girardeau for the first time since 2002. Competition on Friday and Saturday will take place at the Abe Stuber Complex. Events begin at 1 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday.

Admission is $5 for a full-meet adult pass, $3 daily for adults, $1 daily for children under 18, and free for students of participating schools with student identification.

"It rotates around the conference, and we haven't hosted it in a while, so we're really looking forward to it," Southeast coach Joey Haines said. "Our athletes always compete very well at home and hopefully that will give us an added boost."

Haines believes the home-track advantage could prove important as Southeast's women try to continue their OVC dominance and the men try to repeat as outdoor champions.

Southeast's women will be gunning for their fourth consecutive OVC outdoor championship and their seventh straight conference title overall. That string includes the last three indoor crowns.

"To have that kind of consistency says a lot for our program," Haines said. "We're really proud of it."

Southeast's women had coasted to the last few conference championships, but in February they had to hold off a challenge from host Tennessee State to prevail indoors. The Redhawks scored 137 points and the Tigers had 123 points.

"I expect things to be very tough again," Haines said. "The conference is as balanced as it's ever been on the women's side.

"Some schools on paper that haven't competed at this level very well before, like Samford and Jacksonville State, look very good."

But, the way Haines sees things, it won't be easy for another team to snatch the crown from the Redhawks.

"Tradition means a lot. Our girls believe they can win," Haines said. "I don't know if the other teams think they can take it away from us."

Southeast's women feature senior thrower Heather Jenkins from Central High School, who has won 11 OVC titles and has the league's top performances in both the shot put and discus this season.

Jenkins' throw of 166 feet in the discus is ranked 42nd nationally and eighth in the Mideast Region.

Also ranked first in the OVC are Lindsay Zeiler in the 1,500 meters and Kris Woolf in the 10,000 meters. Zeiler won the 3,000 and the mile during the conference indoor meet.

"We've got a lot of people who will score well," Haines said. "We know it won't be easy to win it again, but we're confident."

Men bid for repeat

While Southeast's women have dominated the OVC the past several years, the men broke through to capture the 2005 conference outdoor title, denying Eastern Illinois a ninth consecutive outdoor championship.

Eastern Illinois came back to win its sixth straight OVC indoor title in February, as the Redhawks finished a distant second. The Panthers had 208.5 points to 142 for Southeast.

Haines believes the Redhawks are a better team outdoors than indoors and should challenge Eastern Illinois again.

"Eastern Illinois is always the favorite. They're very good," Haines said. "But we're going to compete hard and get after them."

The men's meet will feature two world-class competitors, including Southeast junior Miles Smith in the 400.

Smith, a gold medalist as part of the U.S. 1,600 relay team at last summer's world championships in Finland, is ranked third nationally in the 400 with a top time of 45.74 seconds.

Smith has been out for several weeks with a hamstring injury, but Haines said Smith's health has improved and he is ready to run a fast open 400 and relay split, although his status for the 200 and 400 relay is not yet determined.

"Miles has had some really, really good workouts, but in workouts we don't run 100 percent," Haines said. "We just don't know yet how many events we'll put him in, but he'll definitely run the 400, and he's ready to run fast."

Smith has won the 400 the last two seasons, and at this year's indoor OVC meet, he won the 200, 400 and anchored the victorious 1,600 relay to claim athlete of the meet honors.

The other world-class performer is Eastern Kentucky's Jacob Korir, who is one of Kenya's top distance runners and is ranked eighth nationally in the 5,000 with a top time of 13:40.14.

Southeast athletes joining Smith as having top times in the OVC this year are Alonzo Nelson in the 400 hurdles, Kevin McNab in the 3,000 steeplechase and the 1,600 relay of Chris Poindexter, Nelson, Walt Washington and Smith.

Nelson's best time of 51.44 seconds in the 400 hurdles is ranked 24th nationally and sixth in the Mideast Region. He won both hurdles at least year's OVC meet.