Southeast Missouri State men's and women's teams finish second at Ohio Valley Conference outdoor track and field meet

Southeast Missouri State track and field coach Eric Crumpecker had few complaints about the way his teams competed over the weekend.

But the Redhawks did not have enough firepower to end Eastern Illinois' Ohio Valley Conference dominance.

The Redhawks came up a bit short and finished second in both divisions during the OVC outdoor championships held under sweltering conditions Friday and Saturday at Southeast's Abe Stuber Complex.

"We had a lot of good things happen over the weekend," Crumpecker said. "Everyone competed very well, and we are all walking out of here with our heads held high."

Eastern Illinois' men and women both claimed their fourth straight OVC outdoor titles after also sweeping this year's OVC indoor meet. The Panthers have captured 13 of the last 16 men's championships.

Southeast Missouri State's DeAndre Simmons, left, finishes second behind Eastern Illinois' Zye Boey in the men's 200-meter race Saturday at the Ohio Valley Conference outdoor track and field meet at the Abe Stuber Complex. (Fred Lynch)

"It's very exciting," EIU coach Tom Akers said. "We've got a good run going."

Crumpecker was hopeful his teams, which both finished second at last year's OVC outdoor meet, could use the comforts of home to upset EIU.

Southeast gave EIU the best run for its money in the nine-team women's division. The Redhawks finished just 9 1/2 points behind the Panthers (179.5 to 170).

"The women's meet especially was pretty nip and tuck throughout," Crumpecker said. "The competition stayed tight until the end. We were right there. We just fell short. You have to tip our cap to EIU. They have a great program. I was happy that we made them work hard to get the win."

The Panthers had a bit more of a comfortable victory in the five-team men's division. They scored 246.5 points to 193 for Southeast.

Southeast Missouri State's Jerika Lewis finishes second in the women's 400-meter race Saturday.

Akers said he expected Southeast to present a major challenge to his squads.

"Southeast Missouri, being on their home track, they competed very well," he said. "They did a great job. We had to work our rear ends off. I thought we got off to a flat start yesterday. We had a heart-to-heart talk.

"In any track meets, there will be highs and lows. We're relieved to get out of here [with the titles]."

Southeast had six individual champions -- four by the men and two by the women. EIU's men captured 13 titles, while the women claimed five.

"I thought overall we did well," said Southeast senior Jessica Bollinger, who won the 10,000 meters. "There were just a few more things we could have done, but overall we put up a good fight."

Southeast men's champions were freshman Mohamed Souleiman in the 800 meters, freshman Reggie Miller Jr. in the high jump, junior Craig Robinson in the shot put and junior Brian Grote in the javelin.

Joining Bollinger as a women's champion was senior Shemeika Brewer in the triple jump.

Miller also was second in the triple jump. Other runner-up finishes for Southeast's men were by junior Jared Siemers (hammer throw), senior Josh Uchtman (shot put), freshman Kevin Farely (discus), freshman Jacob Kent (high jump), senior Joel Krause (javelin), senior DeAndre Simmons (200) and senior Chris Loseman (10,000).

Brewer also was second in the long jump, while freshman Rebekah Lawson had runner-up finishes in the 5,000 and 10,000.

Others placing second for Southeast's women were junior Jill Schnurbusch (pole vault), senior Cara Harbstreet (high jump), senior Angelica Larrier (100), junior Jerika Lewis (400), the 400 relay and the 1,600 relay.

"We had a lot of good marks on the weekend and a lot of young athletes stepped up for us, so many freshmen," Crumpecker said. "The future looks good for us."

All of the individual champions earned first-team all-OVC honors, while the runners-up made second-team all-OVC.

Siemers is a Central High School graduate, while Schnurbusch is a Notre Dame Regional High School graduate.

Other individual point scorers from local high schools were freshman Alex Eichhorn (Scott City, third in the javelin), freshman Blake Smith (Jackson, fourth in the long jump) and senior Tiffany Mead (Central, sixth in the 800).

Smith also was on the 400 relay team that placed third, while senior Max Wieser from Saxony Lutheran ran on the 1,600 relay squad that finished fourth.

Southeast still has two meets left before the NCAA West Regional from May 24 through 26 in Austin, Texas.

OVC Outdoor Championships

MEN

Team totals -- 1. Eastern Illinois 246.5; 2. Southeast 193; 3. Eastern Kentucky 90.50; 4. Tennessee State 66; 5. Morehead State 15

Individual results

(Event winners and Southeast point scorers)

Shot put -- 1. Craig Robinson (SE) 57-2 3/4; 2. Josh Uchtman 57-0; 3. Kevin Farley 56-2; 6. Steve Hendry 49-11 3/4

Discus -- 1. Jared Diaz (EIU) 165-8; 2. Kevin Farley 164-10; 4. Josh Uchtman 157-5; 6. Craig Robinson 151-9

Hammer throw -- 1. Donald Romero (EIU) 188-2; 2. Jared Siemers 182-4; 3. Craig Robinson 180-1; 4. Kevin Farley 179; 5. Josh Uchtman 170-5

Javelin -- 1. Brian Grote (SE) 178-2; 2. Joel Krause 168-8; 3. Alex Eichhorn 159-5; 5. Josh Uchtman 150-11

High jump -- 1. Reggie Miller Jr. (SE) 6-11 1/2; 2. Jacob Kent 6-8; 4. Kenny Hosp 6-4

Long jump -- 1. Bryce Hogan (EIU) 24-11 1/4; 3. Blake Carter 24-2 1/4; 4. Blake Smith 24-1; 5. Reggie Miller Jr. 23-8 3/4

Triple jump -- 1. Tyler Allen (EIU) 49-2 1/2; 2. Reggie Miller Jr. 48-8; 3. Blake Carter 48-1 1/4; 6. Jacob Kent 46-4 1/4

Pole vault -- 1. Joe Noonan (EIU) 15-5 1/2; 3. Jeff Wilfong 13-11 3/4; 4. John Musgrove 13-11 3/4

100 -- 1. Zye Boey (EIU) 10.31; 5. DeAndre Simmons 10.64

200 -- 1. Zye Boey (EIU) 20.94; 2. DeAndre Simmons 21.36

400 -- 1. Stefan Gorol (EIU) 47.39

800 -- 1. Mohamed Souleiman (SE) 1:53.49

1,500 -- 1. Bryce Basting (EIU) 4:05.37; 3. Alex Zisser 4:06.02

5,000 -- 1. Soufiane Bouchikhi (EKU) 14:50.68

10,000 -- 1. Alex Dreyer (EKU) 31:27.15; 2. Chris Loseman 31:32.26

3,000 steeplechase -- 1. Graham Morris (EIU) 9:27.47; 3. Brent Collins 9:33.16

110 hurdles -- 1. Dominique Hall (EIU) 14.46

400 hurdles -- 1. Arthur Combest (TSU) 52.82

400 relay -- 1. EIU 40.31; 3. SE (Blake Smith, DeAndre Simmons, Quentin Washington, Blake Carter) 42.09

1,600 relay -- 1. EIU 3:14.39; 4. SE (Curt Wood, DeAndre Simmons, Mohamed Souleiman, Max Wieser) 3:20.76

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WOMEN

Team totals -- 1. Eastern Illinois 179.5; 2. Southeast 170; 3. Murray State 112; 4. Jacksonville State 111; 5. Eastern Kentucky 77; 6. Tennessee State 55.5; 7. Austin Peay 51; 8. Morehead State 16; 9. Tennessee Tech 8

Individual results

(Event winners and Southeast point scorers)

Shot put -- 1. Brittani Logan (TSU) 47-7 1/4; 4. Courtney Gapelu 44-0

Discus -- 1. Condia Smith (EIU) 147-9; 3. Courtney Gapelu 140-11

Hammer throw -- 1. Tonia Pratt (MU) 154-0

Javelin -- 1. Maribeth Williams (JSU) 130-4; 7. Courtney Gapelu 111-6

High jump -- 1. Maura Cummins (EIU) 5-8 1/2; 2. Cara Harbstreet 5-6; 4. Jessica Brown 5-6

Long jump -- 1. Ashontae Jackson (TSU) 19-11 3/4; 2. Shemeika Brewer 19-4; 3. Jessica Brown 19-1 1/4; 4. Kim Moye 19-0 3/4

Triple jump -- 1. Shemeika Brewer (SE) 41-5 3/4; 4. Jessica Brown 39-3 3/4; 5. Kim Moye 38-9

Pole vault -- 1. Jade Riebold (EIU) 12-5 1/2; 2. Jill Schnurbusch 11-11 3/4; 3. Erica Grajales 11-11 3/4; 4. Nikki Buchheit 11-5 3/4

100 -- 1. Alexis Love (MU) 11.28; 2. Angelica Larrier 11.69

200 -- 1. Alexis Love (MU) 23.33; 3. Angelica Larrier 24.22; 4. Jerika Lewis 24.37

400 -- 1. Bianca Forbes (EKU) 54.34; 2. Jerika Lewis 54.83; 6. Tianna Borner 58.02; 7. Magan Edwards 58.57

800 -- 1. Picoty Leitich (EKU) 2:09.70; 6. Tiffany Mead 2:18.01

1,500 -- 1. Picoty Leitich (EKU) 4:28.90

5,000 -- 1. Ann Eason (EKU) 18:15.08; 2. Rebekah Lawson 18:21.81

10,000 -- 1. Jessica Bollinger (SE) 38:17.71; 2. Rebekah Lawson 38:25.72

3,000 steeplechase -- 1. Britney Whitehead (EIU) 10:54.92; 4. Gloria Westlake 11:39.80; 8. Monica Noble 12:15.25

100 hurdles -- 1. Jalisa Paramore (EIU) 13.65

400 hurdles -- 1. Latasha Sturkie (JSU) 1:00.95; 6. Unique Hooks 1:04.31; 8. Travon Beard 1:12.03

400 relay -- 1. MU 45.63; 2. SE (Angelica Larrier, Jerika Lewis, Magan Edwards, Tianna Borner) 46.20

1,600 relay -- 1. JSU 3:41.20; 2. SE (Magan Edwards, Jerika Lewis, Angelica Larrier, Tianna Borner) 3:44.68