Southeast Missouri State freshmen to compete at national track meet

Farley and Smith will attempt to reach the IAAF World Junior Championships in Spain

Southeast Missourian

Two freshmen from the Southeast Missouri State track and field program will set foot on the national stage this weekend.

Kevin Farley and Blake Smith head to Indiana University, the host site for the 2012 USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

The meet runs today through Sunday at the Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex in Bloomington, Ind.

"It's a nice honor for them to compete against the top athletes in the country in their age groups," Southeast coach Eric Crumpecker said in a release. "They had great freshman years and they are ranked highly among the athletes in their age."

Farley was named the Ohio Valley Conference's male freshman of the year after a strong outdoor season. He launched the league's second-best throw in the shot put (58 feet, 2 inches), ranked third in the hammer throw (180-3) and fourth in the discus (164-10).

Farley, a native of Springfield, Ill., qualified for the NCAA West Regional in the shot put. He will compete in the shot put, discus and hammer throw this weekend.

Smith, a Jackson High School graduate, placed fourth in the long jump at the OVC outdoor championships with a season-best of 24-1. Smith will compete in the long jump today.

The top two finishers in each event secure bids to the IAAF World Junior Championships next month in Barcelona, Spain.

Redhawks Club

The Southeast department of athletics officially introduced the Redhawks Club during its recruitment kickoff event Wednesday night at Kem Statuary Hall.

Approximately 100 people attended as Southeast athletics rebranded its Booster Club to the Redhawks Club. The name change will not affect the mission, which is to support and promote Southeast athletics throughout the region.

"I want to thank everyone who attended Wednesday's event to support the Redhawks Club," Southeast director of athletics Mark Alnutt said in a release. "We are proud to honor the success and dedication of the Booster Club and look forward to the start of a new era with the Redhawks Club."

The Southeast Booster Club was first established in 1952 and is celebrating 60 years of support to Southeast athletics. Southeast's department of athletics recognized that milestone with a special plaque that will be displayed permanently at the Show Me Center.

Southeast athletics is working to achieve goals of 500 new members and over $200,000 through its Redhawks Club fundraising efforts this upcoming season.

Academic honors

The Southeast women's gymnastics and men's cross country teams are among 954 Division I squads to receive public recognition awards for top academic performance from the NCAA.

The awards are given to teams scoring in the top 10 percent of the multi-year Academic Progress Rates (APR), which is part of the NCAA's academic reform program.

This year's honor marks the second straight for the Southeast gymnastics squad, which led all Southeast sports with a 3.82 grade point average. All of its athletes finished with a 3.0 or higher cumulative GPA.

The men's cross country team posted a 3.56 team GPA and had all but two of its athletes achieve a 3.0 GPA.

Eighteen OVC teams were recognized, led by six from SIU Edwardsville and three each from Eastern Illinois and Murray State.

Multi-year APR scores for all Division I teams will be announced June 20. That announcement also will include immediate and historical penalties for low-performing squads.