Smith heads back to Europe for meet

Southeast Missouri State junior Miles Smith is not yet done with his world travels for this year.

Smith, a member of the United States 1,600-meter relay team that won a gold medal at the recent IAAF World Championships for track and field in Helsinki, Finland, will run the 400 meters for the USA in the eight-team Decca Nations meet in Paris, France, on Saturday.

"USA Track and Field was really impressed by the way Miles ran at the World Championships and selected him to run in the Paris meet," Southeast coach Joey Haines said in a press release from the university.

The Decca Nations meet will feature teams from the U.S., France, England, Italy, Spain, Poland, Russia and China. The meet will have 10 events, the same events as in the decathlon, with each country having one entry in every event.

Smith, who led off the preliminary round of the 1,600 relay at the World Championships and had the fastest split time of 44.81 seconds, will be the U.S. entry in the 400.

"We consider Miles Smith to be one of the up and coming stars of the United States team," Steve Simmons, who will be the head coach of the USA team in Paris, said in the release. "This meet is an outstanding international event, and we are excited to have Smith run for Team USA."

Three survive NFL cuts

Three Southeast football products survived Tuesday's initial cutdown to 65 players, as NFL teams continue to finalize their 53-man rosters for the season openers.

While Willie Ponder and Eugene Amano appear to be relatively safe as they continue their NFL careers, Dan Connolly is making a strong push to join football's highest league.

Connolly, who completed his eligibility with the Redhawks in 2004 and signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent this year, is listed as a second-team offensive guard.

Ponder, already a two-year NFL veteran, is the New York Giants' top kickoff return man after leading the NFL in that category last season. He also is No. 3 at a wide receiver spot.

Amano is No. 2 at center for the Tennessee Titans, for whom he played as a rookie last season.

Rosters have to be trimmed to 53 by Sunday.

Baumstark nabs OVC honor

Southeast junior setter Jamie Baumstark has been named the Ohio Valley Conference offensive player of the week for the her performance at last weekend's Missouri State Invitational, in which the Redhawks lost all three matches.

Baumstark had 27 kills, 110 assists and 10 service aces, highlighted by her first career triple-double. Against Arkansas-Little Rock, she had 49 assists, 12 kills and 15 digs to become the first Southeast player to record a triple-double since 2002.

The Redhawks play in the Air Force Tournament this weekend.

Football's Perez cleared

Sophomore Francisco Perez, a returning starter at offensive guard, has missed much of the preseason with a shoulder injury, but he has been cleared to play and should see action when Southeast opens its football season Thursday night at home against SIU, although he is not scheduled to start.