Southeast Missouri State teams grab second at OVC track meet

Southeast Missouri State finished second in both divisions during the Ohio Valley Conference outdoor track and field championships Friday and Saturday in Murray, Ky.

The Southeast women nearly knocked off defending champion Eastern Illinois.

The Panthers scored 185 points in the nine-team field to claim their third consecutive title. Southeast had 181 points, well ahead of Eastern Kentucky's 136.

"We knew it would be close. We just came up a little bit short," Southeast coach Eric Crumpecker said.

Eastern Illinois handily captured its third consecutive crown in the five-team men's division, scoring 266 points to 150 for the Redhawks. Eastern Kentucky had 92 points.

Southeast finished first in 13 events, seven on the women's side and six on the men's side. The Redhawks had the most titles of any conference school.

"That's one of the better conference meets we've had," Crum-pecker said. "We had a great meet. I was real proud of all of them, the way they competed. We definitely took home our fair share of hardware. In addition to the 13 titles, we might have also taken more medals than anybody."

Three Southeast athletes were double individual winners, including senior Brianna Egbuka from Central High School.

Egbuka won the shot put (45 feet, 4 1/2 inches) and hammer throw (160-10 1/4). She was a repeat winner in the hammer throw and has won four career OVC championships.

Senior Samantha Espiricueta, the OVC outdoor female field athlete of the year, won her third straight javelin title (154-11 3/4) and also claimed the discus (145-3 1/4) while placing fourth in the hammer and seventh in the shot put.

Espiricueta broke her own conference record in the javelin.

Senior Brandon Colbert, a four-time OVC outdoor male field athlete of the year, made it eight conference titles by taking the shot put (57-2 1/4) and hammer (203-7). He also was second in the javelin.

Colbert broke his own conference record in the hammer.

Another local product brought home individual gold. Senior Tyler Terry, a Central High School graduate, repeated as long jump champion (24-4 1/2) for his seventh OVC title. He also was second in the triple jump and ran a leg on Southeast's runner-up 400 relay squad.

Other Southeast women's winners were sophomore Jerika Lewis in the 400 (54.05 seconds) and junior Shemeika Brewer in the triple jump (41-6). Both broke school records.

Brewer, who broke the indoor triple jump record earlier this year, shattered the previous outdoor mark of 40-4 3/4 by Kathy Coleman in 2005.

"Shemeika had [arthroscopic] knee surgery about six weeks ago," Crumpecker said. "She had an amazing performance."

Lewis ran 53.40 in the prelims, breaking the previous school mark of 53.50 by Kehinde Vaughan in 1987.

"That record had stood a long time," Crumpecker said.

Lewis also was part of the victorious 400 relay unit (46.57) that included senior Rachel Kahle from Jackson, junior Angelica Larrier and junior Magan Edwards.

Lewis, third in the 200, also was on the second-place 1,600 relay that featured Kahle.

Kahle was second in the long jump and fifth in the 100.

Junior Jessica Bollinger was second in both the 5,000 and 10,000. She also placed seventh in the 1,500.

Freshman Erica Grajales finished second in the pole vault.

Sophomore Jill Schnurbusch, a Notre Dame Regional High School graduate, was fifth in the pole vault and seventh in the high jump.

Other Southeast men's winners were junior DeAndre Simmons in the 100 (10.69), senior Jason Lumpkin in the 10,000 (31:27.86) and senior Ed Draper in the javelin (194-9 1/2).

Simmons also was second in the 200, ran on the 400 relay team that was second and ran on the 1,600 relay squad that placed fourth.

Lumpkin also was third in the 5,000.

Senior Josh Uchtman had a pair of runner-up finishes, taking second in the shot put and discus.

Other local products contributing points on the men's side were sophomore Jared Siemers from Central (fifth in the hammer) and junior Max Wieser from Saxony Lutheran (fourth in the 1,600 relay).

Southeast has one more regular-season meet, Friday at the Louisville Invitational, before the NCAA West Regional from May 26 to 28 in Eugene, Ore.

OVC Outdoor Championships

MEN

Team totals -- 1. Eastern Illinois, 266; 2. Southeast, 150; 3. Eastern Kentucky, 92; 4. Tennessee State, 74; 5. Morehead State, 32

Southeast top 6 (point scorers)

100 meters -- 1. DeAndre Simmons, 10.69

200 -- 2. DeAndre Simmons, 21.34

400 -- 6. Robert Delaria, 49.33

1,500 -- 5. Chris Loseman, 3:56.98; 6. Dustin Davis, 3:58.97

5,000 -- 3. Jason Lumpkin, 14:53.14; 5. Nate Shipley, 15:02.78

10,000 -- 1. Jason Lumpkin, 31:27.86; 6. Tyler Mullen, 32:07.43

3,000 steeplechase -- 5. Chris Loseman, 9:45.09; 6. Brent Collins, 9:48.10

110 hurdles -- 6. Anthony Crawford, 16.30

400 relay -- 2. Southeast (Robert Delaria, Tyler Terry, Ryan Criglar, DeAndre Simmons), 41.41

1,600 relay -- 4. Southeast (Ryan Criglar, Robert Delaria, DeAndre Simmons, Max Wieser), 3:22.69

High jump -- 4. Kenny Hosp, 6-2

Long jump -- 1. Tyler Terry, 24-5 1/2; 5. Ryan Criglar, 22-5 3/4

Triple jump -- 2. Tyler Terry, 46-10 1/2; 6. Evan Miller, 42-11 3/4

Pole vault -- 4. Jeff Wilfong, 14-11

Shot put -- 1. Brandon Colbert, 57-2 1/4; 2. Josh Uchtman, 56-4; 3. Craig Robinson, 53-9 1/4

Discus -- 2. Josh Uchtman, 163-5 3/4

Hammer throw -- 1. Brandon Colbert, 203-7; 5. Jared Siemers, 161-9 1/4

Javelin -- 1. Ed Draper, 194-9 1/2; 2. Brandon Colbert, 157-6; 5. Joel Krause, 147-3

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WOMEN

Team totals -- 1. Eastern Illinois, 185; 2. Southeast, 181; 3. Eastern Kentucky, 136; 4. Jacksonville State, 106.5; 5. Murray State, 48; 6. Austin Peay, 44; 7. Tennessee State, 34.5; 8. Tennessee Tech, 25; 9. Morehead State, 16

Southeast top 8 (point scorers)

100 meters -- 4. Angelica Larrier, 11.91; 5. Rachel Kahle, 11.96

200 -- 3. Jerika Lewis, 24.26; 5. Angelica Larrier, 24.50

400 -- 1. Jerika Lewis, 54.05; 5. Magan Edwards, 57.20

1,500 -- 7. Jessica Bollinger, 4:52.41

5,000 -- 2. Jessica Bollinger, 17:52.04; 8. Monica Noble, 18:48.67

10,000 -- 2. Jessica Bollinger, 39:07.77

3,000 steeplechase -- 5. Monica Noble, 11:55.28

400 hurdles -- 3. Travon Beard, 1:03.93; 5. Unique Hooks, 1:05.14

400 relay -- 1. Southeast (Rachel Kahle, Angelica Larrier, Magan Edwards, Jerika Lewis), 46.57

1,600 relay -- 2. Southeast (Rachel Kahle, Jerika Lewis, Triona Roberts, Magan Edwards), 3:47.78

High jump -- 7. Jill Schnurbusch, 5-2 1/4

Long jump -- 2. Rachel Kahle, 18-3 3/4

Triple jump -- 1. Shemeika Brewer, 41-6

Pole vault -- 2. Erica Grajales, 11-9 3/4; 5. Jill Schnurbusch, 10-6; 7. Lauren McNamara, 9-6 1/4

Shot put -- 1. Brianna Egbuka, 45-4 1/2; 3. Courtney Gapelu, 44-2 3/4; 7. Samantha Espiricueta, 41-1 3/4

Discus -- 1. Samantha Espiricueta, 145-3 1/4; 6. Courtney Gapelu, 132-11 3/4

Hammer throw -- 1. Brianna Egbuka, 160-10 1/4; 4. Samantha Espiricueta, 151-1 1/2

Javelin -- 1. Samantha Espiricueta, 154-11 3/4; 4. Hannah Groom, 111-3 1/2; 7. Courtney Gapelu, 99-2