Southeast Missouri State track team will host Haines Invitational

The Southeast Missouri State track and field team has been one of the university's most consistently successful athletic programs, with athletes having recorded numerous major accomplishments over the years at a variety of venues.

But coach Eric Crumpecker says few things get his athletes more excited than Southeast's longstanding home meet held early in the outdoor season.

The 32nd annual Joey Haines Invitational takes place today and Saturday at the Abe Stuber Complex.

There will be just one event today, the hammer throw at 3:30 p.m. The rest of the meet will be Saturday, with field events starting at 11 a.m., followed by running events at 11:30 a.m.

"It's been a great meet for us over the years. It's a meet our athletes always look forward to. The kids really like to be in front of the home crowd," Crumpecker said. "We generally have to get on a bus every week to go to somebody else's meet. It's nice to not have to do that this week. It wears on you, traveling every week. It will be nice to be able to sleep in our own beds for a change."

Although the meet doesn't include nearly the volume of teams as in many of its earlier years, Crumpecker said the quality remains high.

Full squads Joining Southeast for the meet will be Northern Iowa, Saint Louis University, SIU Carbondale and SIU Edwardsville. There also will be athletes from other programs, including Arkansas State. No team scores will be kept.

"You just don't see the really big meets anymore where there are so many teams," Crumpecker said. "We've got a good field, a couple of teams that haven't been here in a while [Northern Iowa and SLU]. Northern Iowa has a good all-around program. SIU Carbondale is always tough, and SIU Edwardsville is good.

"There should be a lot of quality athletes here, and the weather is supposed to be good."

Southeast is coming off an indoor campaign that saw the women win the Ohio Valley Conference title and the men finish second.

Both squads set several school indoor records, and the men had an especially notable accomplishment. Junior Blake Carter became just the second Southeast athlete to qualify for the NCAA Division I Indoor Championships. He earned second-team All-American honors in the long jump.

"We had a really good indoor season and we're off to a nice start outdoors," Crumpecker said. "If we can just start getting some warm weather that will help. It's been so cold. But it's supposed to warm up this weekend."

The Redhawks captured 12 titles -- eight by the women and four by the men -- at last year's Haines Invitational.

"It'll be a good meet," Crumpecker said. "Our kids always compete really well at home. It's always nice to compete at home in your own environment. Everybody is relaxed. ... We should have some good performances."