Tossing aside pain

~ Ten-time OVC champion Heather Jenkins fights through pain in her final season.

Southeast Missouri State track and field star Heather Jenkins would like to feel more comfortable during her senior season, but she's not one to complain.

Jenkins, a Central High School product, has been hobbled by two knee surgeries and a bleeding ulcer, yet she continues to march on during the final campaign of a collegiate career that has stamped her among the best in school history.

"It is frustrating," she said Friday night, taking a break from competition during the annual Southeast Redhawk Invitational at the Student Recreation Center. "But I'm either going to do it or I'm not. I just have to fight through it."

Jenkins, in a tuneup for the Ohio Valley Conference indoor meet, finished second in the weight throw and third in the shot put during Friday's three-team meet, in which no team scores were kept. All-American Gale Lee from Memphis won both events, including a complex record distance in the weight throw.

Next weekend in Nashville, Tenn., Jenkins will look to continue her OVC dominance as Southeast's women chase their third straight conference indoor title and sixth consecutive league crown overall.

Jenkins is a 10-time OVC champion covering the shot put, weight throw and discus, which is only held outdoors. She was the conference's co-athlete of the year both indoors and outdoors in 2003 and 2004.

"Heather has just had an unbelievable career for us," Southeast coach Joey Haines said. "She'll go down as one of the best in school history without a doubt."

Haines said he had the utmost respect and admiration for Jenkins all along, but that has grown even more by what she has had to endure.

Jenkins redshirted last season so she could have surgery on a right knee that had given her problems for some time. Complications arose, forcing her to have another surgery in January of 2005, and she faces yet another surgery once the season is over.

"I basically have no meniscus. It's bone to bone, that's where the pain is coming from," Jenkins said.

In fact, the pain in her knee has been so severe, she began taking pain pills, which led to her contracting a bleeding ulcer.

Through it all, she has endured, and has the OVC's top performances in the shot put and weight throw this year.

"The ulcer really limits her strength. She's competing at 70, 75 percent," Haines said. "I know it's frustrating for her. Big meets she would finish second or third in, now she's getting seventh or eighth.

"But she's still way better than anybody in the OVC. It's just amazing she's still able to compete like this. It looks like somebody who is not having a good senior year, but she's having a really good senior year."

Jenkins had her best weight throw of the season Friday, just over 61 feet, and she hopes to qualify for nationals in that event. She has already been to one NCAA meet, making it in the discus as a freshman in 2002.

"We think Heather has a chance to get there again," Haines said.

Jenkins, an exercise science major who is scheduled to graduate in May, plans to obtain her master's in the hopes of some day becoming a high school athletic director or principal.

In the meantime, she'll endure the pain as she shoots for more individual and team success.

"I would really like to make it to nationals again," Jenkins said. "I also want to win some more OVC titles, and help the team win some more."

Southeast dominates

Southeast dominated Friday's small meet, winning 15 events, including eight on the women's side.

Andrew Lambert was a double winner, capturing the high jump and long jump.

Other men's first-place finishers for Southeast were Mike Colon (triple jump), Chris Williams (55-meters), Alonzo Nelson (55 hurdles), Daniel Stults (800) and Chris Herron (3,200).

On the women's side, Southeast winners were Central graduate Lainie Bohnsack (high jump), Funtasia Clark (triple jump), Kyra Joiner (400), Natasha Fortenberry (55), Whitney Thomas (55 hurdles), Julie Koenegstein (800), Nyisha Porter (200) and Jennifer Caywood (3,000).

"We had some really good performance," Haines said.