Field events to highlight Southeast's home meet

~ All-American Miles SMITH will not compete in Friday's meet.

The Southeast Missouri State track and field teams will tune up for the Ohio Valley Conference championships by holding their only home meet of the indoor season.

Southeast's Broadway Prescription Invitational will take place Friday at the Student Recreation Center, with field events beginning at 5:30 p.m. and running events at 8 p.m.

"Our athletes always look forward to competing at home," Southeast coach Joey Haines said. "It's a good chance for their family and friends to come out and watch them."

Joining Southeast in the meet will be the University of Memphis, Lipscomb University and Bethel College, along with women's squads from OVC rivals Murray State and Austin Peay.

Haines said the field events will be the focus of the meet, with only a handful of running events held because the track is not conducive to sprint distances longer than 55 meters.

Memphis has several All-American throwers, while Southeast also has its share of talented field-event performers.

Southeast senior John Berry will be looking for his fifth long jump title of the season.

Berry also will be looking to boost his NCAA qualifying stock. He currently is a provisional qualifier, but Haines said he likely will have to increase his distance over the next few weeks to automatically make the national field.

Southeast sophomore Brandon Colbert will lead the men's shot put and weight throw competitions. He is ranked first in the OVC in both events.

Teammates Andy Glass (Jackson High School) and Josh Uchtman will join Colbert in the shot put. They hold the second and third spots on the OVC best list.

"It's going to be a really good field event meet," Haines said. "Memphis has some of the best throwers in the country, several All-Americans, and we've got some very good field event people. This is a real good venue for field events."

Many of Southeast's track athletes will not compete as they will train throughout the week in preparation for next weekend's OVC indoor meet in Nashville, Tenn.

That includes Southeast All-American 400-meters runner Miles Smith, who already has automatically qualified for the NCAA indoor championships, and will be among the favorites to capture the title next month.

"It takes a lot of pressure off Miles, knowing he's already qualified [for nationals]," Haines said.

Smith earns OVC honor

Smith has won the OVC's male track athlete of the week award for the second straight time after his performance at the Iowa State Cyclone Classic last weekend.

Smith tied for first in the meet with a career-best time of 46.13 seconds. He shares the nation's top time with Andretti Bain of Oral Roberts, who matched Smith in the Iowa State event.

Smith also anchored Southeast's 1,600 relay team to a season-best 3:09.68, which ranks 10th nationally.