Southeast men's team wins OVC track and field title

The Southeast Missouri State men's track and field team won the Ohio Valley Conference indoor championship for just the second time in school history on Saturday at Tennessee State University in Nashville, Tenn.

The Redhawks finished with 161 points ahead of perennial power Eastern Illinois (144 points) and host Tennessee State (118) to win their first indoor title since 1996.

Chris Navvarro and Central graduate Chris Martin, who was named the Co-Freshman of the Year in the conference, finished first and second in the heptathlon, respectively, while Jackson graduate Blake Smith won the 55-meter dash in 6.27 seconds and the long jump with a distance of 7.73 meters.

"We went in to day two knowing exactly what we needed to do to win it all," said Southeast coach Eric Crumpecker, who was named OVC men's coach of the year, in a press release from the university's athletic department. "We came out today and did exactly that. We worked hard and did everything we were capable of doing the last two days. To me, Blake Smith, Chris Martin and Chris Navarro were our MVPs this weekend. Both Chris's worked extremely hard the last two days in the heptathlon and in their individual events."

Navarro also finished second in the 55-meter hurdle race in 7.55 seconds while Martin finished fourth in the triple jump.

Reggie Miller Jr. won the high jump for Southeast and finished second in the triple jump. Kevin Farley and Kyle Shone finished 1-2 in the shot put and second and third in the weight throw. Christian Locke was second in the pole vault.

The Southeast women, who were the defending indoor champions and leaders after the first day of competition slipped down to a fourth-place finish on Saturday.

Courtney Gapelu won the shot put for the Redhawks with an OVC-record throw of 51 feet, 4 1/2 inches, and Kayla Gutierrez won the weight throw.