Jan. 11, 2006

Cape Girardeau, Mo. - Southeast Missouri State University track and field athletes swept all the OVC Indoor Track Athlete of the Week awards in the first week of reporting.

Freshman Whitney Thomas was selected as the OVC Female Track Athlete of the Week, senior Heather Jenkins was selected as the OVC Female Field Athlete of the Week, senior Alonzo Nelson was named OVC Male Track Athlete of the Week and senior Andrew Lambert was chosen as the OVC Male Field Athlete of the Week.

Nelson finished second in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 7.56 at the Arkansas State Kickoff Classic and also ran on the winning 4 X 400-meter relay team.Lambert won the high jump at Arkansas State with a jump of 6-feet 8-inches.

Thomas, daughter of Southeast Athletic Hall of Famer Rob Thomas, was second in the 55-meter hurdles at Arkansas State with an outstanding early season time of 8.20. Jenkins, the 2004 OVC Female Athlete of the Year, won the weight throw at Arkansas State with a heave of 60-feet 1 ¼-inches and came back the next week to place fourth at the Southern Illinois Invite with a distance of 61-10 ¼. Jenkins redshirted last season after undergoing knee surgery.

The Southeast indoor track teams will be in action on Friday, Jan. 20, in a meet at Southern Illinois-Carbondale. Southeast World Championship gold medallist Miles Smith is expected to make his indoor debut on Jan. 20 in a meet at the University of Arkansas, site of the 2006 NCAA Indoor Championships.