OTAHKIAN TRACK TEAM DETHRONED AT OVC MEET

RICHMOND, Ky. -- Southeast Missouri State University's women's track and field team failed to bring home a third consecutive Ohio Valley Conference outdoor championship.

But the Otahkians' second-place performance here Saturday served the school's entire women's sports program well.

By virtue of placing second, Southeast was able to secure its fifth straight OVC Women's All-Sports Championship.

The Otahkians scored 114 points to place behind pre-meet favorite and host Eastern Kentucky, which had 142. Eastern Illinois was third with 90.5.

Southeast's men had a solid meet, placing third with 137 points. Eastern Illinois was first with 206 and Middle Tennessee finished second with 144.

Otahkian sprint standout Heather Keltner won both the 200-meter and 400-meter dashes. She also ran on the 4x100 relay team that placed first. Other relay members were Shauna Birge, Natalie Talley and Kim Stewart.

The Otahkians also got victories from Lutricia Purham, who defended her title in the shot put, and Rebecca Shull in the javelin.

Placing second for the Otahkians were Birge in both the 100 and 200, and the 4x400 relay team.

On the men's side, Bryan Alfultis had a big meet. He defended his title in the discus while also capturing the javelin and finishing second in the shot put.

The Indians' only other champion was Jaret Willi in the pole vault.

Also placing second for the Indians were Garvin Ambrose in the high jump, Brandon Myer in the discus, Derrick Brown in the 100 and Tyson Brown in the 800. T. Brown is a freshman out of Perryville High School.

Myer, another freshman, also placed third in both the shot put and javelin.

For more Southeast results in the meet, see `Scoreboard' on Page 2B.