Southeast men win OVC title

Southeast Missouri State track and field coach Joey Haines could not have scripted a better way to end his final Ohio Valley Conference meet.

Neither could his athletes, especially those on the 1,600-meter relay team.

That's what the men's division came down to at the OVC outdoor championships at Southeast's Abe Stuber Complex.

Southeast led defending champion Eastern Illinois by a scant half point heading into Saturday afternoon's final event.

It wasn't necessary for either squad's relay to win the race, but whoever finished ahead of the other would capture the team title.

Complicating matters for the Redhawks was that they would have to run the 1,600 without anchor Miles Smith, a senior All-American who pulled up lame in the 200 a little more than an hour earlier.

But Haines and Smith both had confidence in the relay members as Southeast looked to continue its OVC domination in the event.

KIT DOYLE ~ kdoyle@semissourian.com Southeast junior Funtasia Clark tried for distance in the triple jump finals Saturday during the OVC Championships.

"I told them to just go out and do it," Smith said.

Do it the relay team did.

The Redhawks won a dazzling showdown with Eastern Illinois. Southeast clocked 3 minutes, 15.22 seconds compared to the Panthers' 3:15.76.

Those 10 points gave the Redhawks 174 1/2 points. Eastern Illinois, which received eight points for its second-place relay finish, wound up with 172 points in the six-team field.

"I felt good going into the last race," said Haines, who is retiring this year after 26 seasons as Southeast's coach. "The only thing I was worried about is somebody getting too excited, maybe getting out too fast and then dying."

The Redhawks' four relay runners felt confident as they attempted to win an unprecedented fifth consecutive title by Southeast in the event.

"It's our race. That's what we do," freshman Ryan Criglar said of Southeast's consistently strong 1,600 relay groups.

Southeast's 1,600 relay has been a patchwork unit most of the year.

Junior Chris Gill, one of the OVC's top sprinters, has been out all season with an injury. Criglar and fellow freshman Robert Delaria returned from injuries just in time for the OVC outdoor meet.

"We've used different combinations most of the year," Haines said.

Myron Pettigrew, a sophomore from Charleston, filled in for Smith, although not as anchor. Pettigrew led off and handed the baton to Delaria with the Redhawks in second place, behind Eastern Illinois.

Delaria briefly took the lead before falling into third place — Tennessee State led and Eastern Illinois was second — as he handed off to Criglar.

That's when the race began heating up. Criglar, from Malden, ran a solid 48.23 split to gain a slim lead over Eastern Illinois as senior Chris Poindexter took the baton.

Poindexter has been among the OVC's better 400 runners the past four years, but he has been overshadowed on his own squad by the brilliant Smith.

Not this time.

Poindexter carried the Redhawks home with a sizzling 47.85 split to hold off Eastern Illinois' David Holm, who ran a strong 48.09 split.

"I had confidence in Chris," Haines said. "He hasn't been anchoring because we have Miles, but he's very good."

Said Poindexter: "I just wanted to make sure I didn't kill myself in the first 200 meters. I felt strong."

Poindexter, who was met with an emotional hug from Smith after finishing the race, said Smith had words of encouragement for the relay group before the event.

"He's always uplifting us," Poindexter said. "He said we just have to keep our heads. ... This is our race."

Added Pettigrew: "He [Smith] told us to just run."

Poindexter said the Redhawks wanted to not only send Haines out with another title — Southeast has won 15 OVC women's championships and six men's crowns under his watch — but also the seniors.

"Coach Haines, for his last year, for Miles, for a lot of us," Poindexter said.

While the 1,600 relay team received the final glory, Haines pointed out that in a meet so close, every point the Redhawks accumulated mattered.

"What I'm most proud of is we did great things in the jumps, the throws, the sprints and the distances," Haines said. "Every area had a hand in it."

Junior Brandon Karcher, who Friday won the 10,000, put the Redhawks in position for the thrilling finish by placing third in the 5,000, the next-to-last event of the meet. That was worth six points.

Eastern Illinois got just one point in the 5,000.

"Brandon set it up in the 5,000," Haines said.

Southeast's men won five of Saturday's 13 events, after they captured four of the six finals contested Friday.

Before Smith was injured in the 200, he cruised to victory in the 400 in 46.25 seconds and helped the 400 relay squad to victory in 41.86. That group also consisted of freshman Ben Johnson, Criglar and Poindexter as the anchor.

Junior Bilal Hameed won the triple jump with a career-best 50 feet, 7 1/2 inches. Hameed was also the OVC indoor champion.

"It's my first time winning the OVC," Hameed said of this year's two meets. "That was my first goal."

Of the entire squad's performance, Hameed said: "We got a lot of unexpected points. A lot of people stepped up."

That included redshirt freshman Paul Stemmerman, who missed the last outdoor season with an injury. Stemmerman was the surprise winner of the 1,500, clocking 3:59.29.

"I wasn't supposed to win," he said. "It feels really good. I can't stop smiling.

"But it wasn't about me. I just wanted to run for the team. I wanted to do good and get some points for coach Haines' last year."

Poindexter was second behind Smith in the 400 and placed third in the 200. The Redhawks grabbed four of the top five spots in the 400.

Freshman Josh Uchtman was second in the discus.

Freshman Tyler Terry from Central High School had a strong meet. He was fourth in Saturday's triple jump, after placing third in Friday's long jump.

Southeast's injury-plagued women were fourth among 10 teams. The Redhawks had 95 points. Tennessee State won handily with 164 1/2 points.

"I thought they competed really well. I was happy with their performance," Haines said of his women's squad. "We just had too many injuries to our distance people."

Southeast's women won no events. They had two second-place finishes Saturday, from sophomore Ashley Brewer in the discus and the 400 relay of junior Precious Elliott, freshman Rachel Kahle, junior Whitney Thomas and freshman Melina Lewis.

Kahle, a Jackson High School graduate, had a strong meet as she placed fourth in the 100 and seventh in the 200.