Southeast Missouri State women dethrone EIU for OVC indoor title

Southeast Missouri State track and field coach Eric Crumpecker expected a tight battle between several women's teams, including the Redhawks, at the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Championships.

That's exactly what transpired over the weekend in Charleston, Ill. -- and Southeast came out on top.

The Redhawks ended host Eastern Illinois' string of four straight OVC indoor titles by winning their first conference indoor crown since 2006 and seventh overall.

Southeast scored 101 points, just ahead of Tennessee State's 95. Eastern Illinois (88) and Murray State (87) rounded out the top four.

"The women's meet was just a dogfight this year. It was a total team effort for us," said Crumpecker, named OVC indoor women's coach of the year. "Our women didn't do anything flashy. We just plodded along and everybody did what they were supposed to do."

Southeast's men repeated their runner-up finish from last year. Eastern Illinois rolled to its fifth straight OVC indoor men's title with 199 points. Southeast had 115. Eastern Kentucky (104) and SIU Edwardsville (82) completed the top four.

Southeast's women had only one individual champion but overall depth carried the Redhawks in the bunched field.

Jerika Lewis captured the 400-meter dash with a time of 56.02 seconds.

"She really blew that thing out," Crumpecker said.

Runner-up finishes for the Redhawks were by Notre Dame Regional High School graduate Jill Schnurbusch in the pole vault, Jessica Brown in the long jump and Rebekah Lawson in the 5,000.

Schnurbusch broke her own school record with a vault of 13 feet, 1 1/2 inches.

Pole vault was a big event for the Redhawks as they had four finishers among the top seven.

Another local high school graduate aided Southeast's cause as Central's Mary Dohogne was sixth in the mile and ran on the distance medley relay team that placed eighth.

"There was only one event we didn't score in. Every point mattered," Crumpecker said. "Our goal was to get to 100 points. We thought if we could just get to 100, we'd have a good shot."

Southeast's men claimed three titles: Blake Carter in the long jump (24-5), Craig Robinson in the weight throw (64-7 1/4) and Kevin Farley in the shot put (56-10 3/4).

Carter was second in the 60, Robinson was second in the shot put and Farley placed second in the weight throw.

Local high school graduates scoring points for the Redhawks were Jackson's Blake Smith (fifth in the 60 and sixth in the long jump) and Central's Jared Siemers (fifth in the weight throw).

"Our guys had a lot of good performance,s but we had some stuff go bad for us the first day," Crumpecker said. "Reggie Miller [who had the best OVC high jumps and triple jumps entering the meet] pulled up with a hamstring [problem] in the long jump, which was right before the high jump so he didn't high jump well.

"We didn't even put him in the triple jump. The main thing is to get him healthy for the outdoor season."

Miller was third in the high jump at 6-5, well off his school-record 7-0 1/4.

OVC Indoor Track

MEN

Team scores -- 1. Eastern Illinois 199; 2. Southeast 115.5; 3. Eastern Kentucky 104; 4. SIU Edwardsville 82; 5. Tennessee State 78.5; 6. Belmont 29.

Southeast results

(Point scorers)

60 meters -- 2. Blake Carter 6.86; 5. Blake Smith 6.91; 7. Kendrick Farr 6.96.

200 -- 6. Kendrick Farr 22.72.

400 -- 5. Alexander Anderson 51.11.

800 -- 4. Kameron Long 1:53.97; 6. Tyler Holmes 1:56.36.

Mile -- 5. Alex Zisser 4:16.89.

5,000 -- 8. Craig Munie 15:13.37.

60 hurdles -- 6. Prentice Ivy 8.49.

1,600 relay -- 4. (Adam Shivers, Kameron Long, Colten Strotheide, Tyler Holmes) 3:26.17.

Distance medley relay -- 3. (Charles Johnson, Adam Shivers, Kameron Long , Alex Zisser) 10:08.69.

High jump -- 3. Reggie Miller Jr. 6-5; 7. (tie) Kenny Hosp 6-3 1/4.

Pole vault -- 4. Christian Locke 15-7.

Long jump -- 1. Blake Carter 24-5; 6. Blake Smith 23-0 3/4.

Triple jump -- 8. Alexander Anderson 44-4 1/4.

Shot put -- 1. Kevin Farley 56-10 3/4; 2. Craig Robinson 56-7 1/2.

Weight throw -- 1. Craig Robinson 64-7 1/4; 2. Kevin Farley 60-1; 5. Jared Siemers 56-8 3/4; 8. Jason Walker 49-7 3/4.

WOMEN

Team scores -- 1. Southeast 101; 2. Tennessee State 95; 3. Eastern Illinois 88; 4. Murray State 87; 5. SIU Edwardsville 74; 6. Eastern Kentucky 67; 7. Jacksonville State 54; 8. Austin Peay 41; 9. Belmont 17.

Southeast results

(Point scorers)

200 -- 5. Jerika Lewis 25.15.

400 -- 1. Jerika Lewis 56.02.

800 -- 6. Alyssa Rebecca 2:17.55.

Mile -- 6. Mary Dohogne 5:10.97.

3,000 -- 4. Rebekah Lawson 10:03.46.

5,000 -- 2. Rebekah Lawson 17:28.21.

60 hurdles -- 6. Unique Hooks 8.90.

1,600 relay -- 7. (Cheyenne Tunti, Jovannie Spears, Alyssa Rebecca, Jerika Lewis) 3:56.59.

Distance medley relay -- 8. (Mary Dohogne, Cheyenne Tunti, Alison Barker, Alyssa Rebecca) 12:36.55.

High jump -- 5. Jessica Brown 18-10 1/2.

Pole vault -- 2. Jill Schnurbusch 13-1 1/2; 4. Erica Grajales 11-7 3/4; 5. Nikki Buchheit 11-7 3/4; 7. Haley Holton 11-1 3/4.

Long jump -- 2. Jessica Brown 5-3 1/4.

Triple jump -- 3. Kim Moye 38-9 1/2

Shot put -- 3. Sarah Hall 45-10 1/2; 5. Courtney Gapelu 44-6 3/4; 7. Emilea Old 41-10.

Weight throw -- 3. Kayla Gutierrez 57-5; 4. Courtney Gapelu 56-10 3/4; 7. Sarah Hall 53-1 1/2.