Southeast Missouri State athletes capture six individual titles at Ohio Valley Conference outdoor track and field meet

Brian Grote was the most unlikely of Southeast Missouri State's six individual champions at the Ohio Valley Conference outdoor track and field meet.

Grote came to Southeast three years ago never imagining he would participate in the sport.

Grote actually wanted to try his hand at baseball and went out for the Southeast team as a freshman but failed to make the cut.

The native of St. Charles, Mo., instead has been playing club baseball at Southeast before his athletic endeavors took a dramatic turn.

"One of my friends on the cross country team told me about maybe trying out for the javelin," Grote said. "I thought I'd give it a shot."

Grote walked on to the Southeast track squad earlier this year, and he became an OVC champion Saturday by winning the javelin with a distance of 178 feet, 2 inches, nearly 10 feet more than second place.

"I didn't expect it," said Grote, a junior. "But coach said I could do it."

The throwing motion for the javelin has some of the same components of throwing a baseball or softball. In fact, some of Southeast's top female javelin throwers over the years have been former softball players.

"If you've got a good arm, you can throw the javelin," Southeast coach Eric Crumpecker said.

Added Crumpecker, who was happy to have Grote onboard: "He's worked at it and done a good job."

Southeast's five other individual winners during the meet hosted by the Redhawks took more conventional paths to titles, including two freshmen.

Freshman Mohamed Souleiman went out strong in the 800 meters but appeared to be fading near the stretch when he was passed by several runners.

Undaunted, he put on a kick that netted him first place in a time of 1 minute, 53.49 seconds.

"When they passed me, I thought the race was over," said Souleiman, a native of Ontario, Canada. "But I had a dream about the gold medal around my neck.

"When they passed me, I knew I had a little bit left. It was all heart at the end."

Reggie Miller Jr., who is among numerous standout Southeast freshmen like Souleiman, had one of the Redhawks' more impressive meets.

Miller, who is from Kansas City, Mo., won the high jump while placing second in the triple jump and fifth in the long jump.

Miller's high jump of 6-11 1/2 cracked the program's all-time top-10 list.

"It felt good," said Miller, whose previous career best was just less than 6-10. "I was just going for 6-11 -- what I needed to qualify for regional. That was a big goal. And I was able to score about 20 points for the team."

Junior Craig Robinson claimed his second OVC shot put title to go with the indoor crown from last year.

Robinson, whose winning distance was 57-2 3/4, was elated that Southeast captured the top three spots in the shot put.

"It wouldn't have mattered who won as long as we went 1-2-3," said Robinson, referring to runner-up Josh Uchtman and third-place Kevin Farley. "We all feed off each other."

Robinson, who also was third in the hammer throw and sixth in the discus, came to Southeast as a football player. He dropped that sport before participating in a game and joined the track team.

"Don't get me wrong, I miss football," said Robinson, who is from Hayti, Mo. "But I think I made the right decision."

Southeast's two female champions were senior Jessica Bollinger in the 10,000 (38:17.71) and senior Shemeika Brewer in the triple jump (41-5 3/4).

Bollinger, who is from Ste. Genevieve, Mo., had come up just short of titles in several previous OVC meets.

"I wanted to win the 10K for sure," she said.

Bollinger entered the meet with the top times in both the 10,000 and 5,000. She hoped to pull off the difficult double, which was made even more daunting by the extreme heat, but she fell short.

Bollinger also participated in Saturday's 1,500 before the 5,000 after winning the 10,000 on Friday. She said that was the problem.

"I was worn out from the 1,500. It just killed me," she said.

Brewer captured her second straight triple jump title and also finished second in the long jump.

"It was a big goal of mine," the Clarksdale, Miss., native said about her triple-jump repeat. "I wasn't far from my PR, so I was happy."