Miller ties for 17th at national meet

Sophomore Reggie Miller Jr. missed out on All-American honors by one spot Friday night as the Southeast Missouri State track & field program concluded its run at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore.

Miller tied for 17th in the high jump with a height of 6 feet, 10 3/4 inches.

The top eight in each event are designated first-team All-American, with the next eight making second-team All-American.

Miller, who holds the school's indoor high jump record, cleared his first two heights in Thursday's preliminary round (6-8 3/4 and 6-10 3/4) with ease. He then missed his three attempts at 7-0 1/2.

"Reggie looked good on his first two jumps. He just barely missed his first attempt at 7-0 1/2," Southeast coach Eric Crumpecker said in a release.

Southeast's other two qualifiers for the national meet both reached All-American status earlier in the week.

Sophomore Kevin Farley stamped himself as a first-team All-American Wednesday by placing seventh in the shot put. He broke the school record for the third straight meet.

Sophomore Blake Carter nabbed second-team All-American accolades Thursday with a 10th-place finish in the long jump as he set his third school record this year. His other marks were the indoor long jump and indoor 60-meter dash.

Carter also was a second-team All-American indoors as he finished 13th at the NCAA meet.

"I'm really proud of all three of the kids here this week. None of them backed down," Crumpecker said. "I'm looking forward to those three coming back next year, hopefully with more joining them."

Southeast now has six outdoor track & field All-Americans since the program moved to Division I prior to the 1992 outdoor season.

Before this year, Southeast's most recent outdoor All-American had been world-class 400-meter runner Miles Smith in 2008.

Southeast's three national qualifiers were its most since 2006. Farley's seventh-place finish netted Southeast two points in the NCAA team standings, the Redhawks' first points at nationals since 2008.