Southeast track has first two indoor meets of the year

Southeast Missouri’s track and field team had its first indoor meet of the year on Jan. 20 at the Missouri Invitational hosted by the University of Missouri. Around a dozen colleges and universities competed in the event.

This was Southeast’s first meet since their initial contest that took place on Dec. 9 at the Show Me Center against SIU Edwardsville.

“It’s kind of your typical first meet after Christmas,” coach Eric Crumpecker said. “So it was just kind of knocking the rust off of everybody and get them all competing … we had some solid performances and we just have to start getting better from that. … The name of the game this time of year is we’re in the middle of working hard right now and just trying to improve.”

The highlight of the meet was the women’s 3,000-meter run, where the Redhawks claimed the top three spots. The distance runners were led by sophomore Kaitlyn Shea, with junior Sydney O’Brien and freshman Danielle Mohrmann finishing second and third, respectively. All three athletes set personal records in the event.

“We all really worked together well,” Shea said of the performance. “None of us could have done it without each other … we helped each other get through the race.”

Shot put was another area of success for Southeast as four throwers recorded top five finishes. For the women, sophomore McKenna Baker took first while freshman Jessenia Ellis took third. For the men, freshman Logan Blomquist placed third while sophomore Stephen Zagurski placed fourth.

Coach Eric Crumpecker gives advice to throwers during the team's first dual meet against SIUE.Photo by Riley Hayes

In all, Southeast combined for 16 top-five finishes between the men and women.

Going into the team’s next meet, Southeast looked to improve its performances from the Missouri Invitational.

“You just want to have sharper performances out of everybody,” Crumpecker said. “This is a little bit bigger meet … and the competition level will be a little bit higher. We just expect everybody to pick it up a little bit and hopefully come home with some more [personal records].”

On Jan. 27 and 28, Southeast competed in the Indiana Relays hosted by Indiana University. With 11 total schools participating in the meet, the Redhawks came away with 14 total top-10 finishes.

For the second straight meet, Shea took the top spot of the women’s 3,000-meter run and set a new personal record in the event. She then placed second in the 5,000-meter run with O’Brien finishing third and Mohrmann taking fourth. Sophomore distance runner Natalie Kopplin had a seventh-place finish for the women in the one-mile run.

The Redhawks took first in the men’s distance medley with freshman Griffin Bailey, sophomore James Kosbar, senior Kameron Long and junior Dan Plunkett. The men took second in the 4x400 meter relay with the team of senior sprinter Brannon Wright, junior sprinter Jarred Pasley, Long and junior sprinter Jordan Barber. Long also would place sixth in the 800-meter run.

The men also had success in the pole vault and the long jump. Sophomore pole vaulter Dylan Rush placed fifth while senior jumper Zach Gordon took sixth in the long jump.

Freshman Nick South closed out the Indiana Relays with a seventh-place finish in the men’s heptathlon.

The Southeast track and field team’s next meet is on Friday, Feb. 3 in Carbondale, Illinois, at the Don DeNoon Invitational.