Redhawks host indoor track meet Friday night

Southeast Missouri State's track and field program will tune up for the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Championships by hosting its only meet of the indoor season.

The annual Redhawks Invitational will take place at the Student Recreation Center on Friday with field events beginning at 5 p.m. and running events starting at 7 p.m. There is no admission charge.

Also competing will be Murray State, Arkansas State and Memphis. No team scores will be kept.

"We're pretty much just using this as a final tuneup for the OVC Championships [Feb. 24 and 25 in Nashville, Tenn.]," Southeast coach Joey Haines said. "All of our athletes won't compete, but we'll have a pretty fair number.

"It's just nice to let some of our athletes compete at home, in front of their family and friends. We'll have two outdoor home meets [the annual Gatorade Classic and the OVC Championships] this year, so the athletes that don't compete Friday, people will be able to see them in the spring."

One of those who won't be competing Friday is junior standout Miles Smith, part of the gold medal 1,600-meter relay team at last summer's World Championships.

Haines said Smith, a top 400- and 200-meter runner, won't be in action Friday partly because the track at the Student Recreation Center is small, so the curves are tighter and that increases the chance of potential injury when middle-sprinters are bunched together.

"The curves are just sharper. It's like at a race track, the bigger the track, the faster you can go around the curves without having an accident," Haines said. "With the OVC coming up, we just can't afford Miles or some of our other runners getting hurt.

"We don't want people to think we're holding Miles out because he's too good for this kind of meet. He'll be running at both our outdoor home meets, so people in the area will get to see him twice in the spring."

Haines said many of Southeast's better distance runners and field event athletes will compete Friday. He said the field events should be especially strong.

"The throws and jumps should be very good," Haines said. "It should still be a good meet for people to come out and watch."

* Smith and Lindsay Zeiler have been honored as the OVC male and female track athletes of the week.

Smith won the 200 and was fifth in the 400 at last weekend's Iowa State Classic with times of 21.21 and 46.67 seconds, respectively. Both times provisionally qualify him for the NCAA Championships and are the best in the OVC this season.

Zeiler ran the mile in 5:04.32 at the Iowa State Classic. That time is the best in the OVC this season.

Soccer to play at Savvis

The Southeast women's soccer team will play an indoor exhibition game against Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville on April 1 at the Savvis Center in St. Louis.

The game will be part of a soccer tripleheader that also includes a Southeast alumni squad playing the SIUE alumni, along with a professional contest between the St. Louis Steamers and Milwaukee Wave.

The alumni game, featuring former Southeast and SIUE players, will begin at 4:30 p.m. The current Southeast and SIUE squads will square off at 5:30 p.m., followed by the Steamers and Wave at 7:05 p.m.

Tickets for the tripleheader are $12, but to obtain them at that discount price, they must be purchased by March 17 from the Southeast ticket office at Houck Field House. For more information, call 651-2113.

Gymnastics at home

The Southeast women's gymnastics team will return to action Friday, hosting Illinois State at 7 p.m. at Houck Field House.

Southeast (3-3) had a two-dual winning streak snapped Saturday at 30th-ranked Illinois-Chicago, falling 194.200-191.725.

Tennis hits the road

The Southeast women's tennis team will look for its first win of the season as the Redhawks travel to Fort Wayne, Ind., for three dual matches.

Southeast (0-3) will play two matches Friday, against Cleveland State and Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne. The Redhawks take on Oakland Saturday.

The Redhawks have so far lost on the road to Louisville, Arkansas-Little Rock and St. Louis University.

"We've faced three really strong teams so far," Southeast coach Jay Pacelli said. "We should be a lot more competitive with these teams coming up, and hopefully we can get some wins."