SE NEEDS STRONG KICK IN FINAL LEG; OTAHKS SIT 3RD IN ALL SPORT RELAYS

When Benton resident Amy Arteme says she needs to run to Cape real quick, don't assume the Southeast Missouri State freshman is going to hop in a car.

The Kelly High School graduate, who says she logs more miles by foot than by car, took first place in the 5,000-meter run Friday in the 18th Annual ALL SPORT Relays at Abe Stuber Track and Field Complex.

Southeast's women stand in third place with 48 points after the first of two days of competition.

The Southeast men are in fifth place with 54 points. Marquette University's men's and women's teams are both currently in first place.

Arteme was the only Southeast female to take first in an individual event.

The Otahkians' 4 X 200 and distance medley teams both took first place.

Also for Southeast, Shauna Birge and Natalie Talley recorded the top two times in the 100 preliminaries. They will compete in the finals today.

Garvin Ambrose recorded a high jump of 6 feet, 8 inches for Southeast's only first-place finish on the men's side.

Derrick Brown's time of :10.85 in the 100-meter dash was the fastest preliminary time.

Jackson graduate Ryan Steck, along with Chris Donze, Jarod Rybacki and Derrick Brown took first in the 4 X 200 for Southeast with a time of 1:27.38.

As for Arteme, the odds seemed to be stacked against her.

She was competing in the 5,000 for the first time outdoors and, as probably the smallest competitor in the race, the gusty wind probably affected her petite frame more so than the other runners.

"It was a little windy," said Arteme, who completed the race in 18:30.00. "But it was at my back in the back stretch. I felt pretty good. I didn't know what the girl behind me was going to have."

That girl behind her was Marquette's Anne Schneider, who trotted in Arteme's wake for 11 laps until Arteme increased her tempo and put a seven-second distance between herself and the runner-up in the 12th and final lap.

The biggest disappointment for Southeast on Thursday was Lutricia Purham's triple foul in the discus. Purham took first in the discus at the ALL SPORT Relays last year.

"The discus is one of those events that if you're just a little bit off, you can foul and she was just trying too hard," Haines said. "Lutricia is going to win the shot put (today). That's her strongest event."

One of the more exciting events of the day was the women's distance medley relay.

The lead was swapped between two or three teams several times.

Southeast ended up winning it in 11:59.08 thanks to a gutsy third-leg performance by Heather Keltner.

Keltner, who is accustomed to running the 200 in individual events, was given the responsibility of running the 800.

Keltner -- who followed Tammy Wenkel and Hannah Stuckenschneider -- took the baton in third place and immediately sprinted to the front of the pack. A Marquette runner eventually caught up to her, but Keltner regrouped and pulled away again.

Janelle Quigley anchored the relay.

"In the distance medley, we put our best four athletes out there and just kind of hoped," Haines said. "When people are great athletes, they usually have heart. And their heart takes care of it."

Haines said he wasn't surprised after Kim Stewart, Talley, Sarah Junkin and Birge took first in the 4 X 200.

"I thought we were pretty safe in that one," Haines said.

The relays are important because a first-place score for a relay event is 16 points as opposed to eight for an individual event.

"It's really hard to get a good score in this meet if you don't do well in the relays," Haines said.

Southeast's men's team isn't as relay-oriented as the women's team, thus the fifth-place position.

"The men's team is better individually than in the relays," Haines said. "That's a disadvantage in an event like this."

In addition to Ambrose's high jump and Brown's qualifying time in the 100, Bryan Alfultis was a highlight for the Indians with his second-place finish in the shot put.

Alfultis' shot of 56-1.5 -- six inches more than the third-place result -- was second only to Dan Fax, Marquette's All-American.

Fax recorded a distance of 59-8.

Today, Haines said the men should perform well in the field events and the sprint medley.

Haines figures the Otahkians -- who have won the competition the last two years -- should take first in the 4 X 100, the sprint medley and the 4 X 400.

"We're going to be very disappointed if we (the women) don't win," Haines said. "Marquette and Southern Illinois are very good ... but we feel good about our chances."

Field events are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. today.