March 26, 2002

Southeast track's 2002 indoor season was one that saw the emergence of successful rookies, as well as consistent second and third years from other athletes.

Senior pole vaulters Sara Kaznica and Jaret Willi proved to be one of the best men/women pole vault tandem in the Ohio Valley Conference. Sophomore shot putter Jay Heddell broke the Southeast men's indoor shot put record with a throw of 57' 8.5" in the final indoor meet of the season. Hannah Stuckenschneider led the way in the OVC in the 400m, claiming first-place in the OVC championships. Amy Arteme solidified the notion as being one of the premier track athletes in all of the OVC while turning in a solid season.

Freshman Meleisa Greene, red-shirt freshman LaQuita Andrews, Heather Jenkins and Lindsey Meyr all made an immediate impact for the Otahkians. Freshmen Chaz Brown and David Herman each made an impact for the Indians squad.

The season got underway early in December at the Arkansas State Kickoff Klassic. The Otahkians, led by first-place finishers Arteme (5K run) and Greene (long jump), took home the team title. The Indians finished just one point out of first-place. They were paced by first-placed finishes from Glenn Haley (55m hurdles), Willi (pole vault), Shelton Scott (triple jump) and Heddell (shot put).

January saw two consecutive meets at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. In the first meet, Tyson Brown finished first in the 800m, while teammate Adam Shupe came in a close second, as the Indians placed third. T. Brown and Shupe also joined Jared Tanz and Chad Sierman on the first-place distance medley relay team. C. Brown placed first in the 600m. Once again, Willi placed first in the pole vault. The Otahks brought home a first-place finish in the meet, making it their second first-place finish in a row. Stuckenschnieder and Laura VanHoevelaak finshed first and second, repectively, in the 400m. Cross country runners Arteme, Kaci Pilcher, Anna Verseman and Kris Woolf all had a solid meet. Verseman finished first in the mile run. Jenkins and Greene both brought home second-place finishes in the shot put and long jump, respectively. The 4x400 meter relay team of Robbi Durham, Lyndsey Stevenson, VanHoevelaak and Stuckenschnieder finished first, as well.

The second meet at SIU saw both the Indians and Otahkians place second. Jenkins finished second in the shot put and weight throw for the Otahks. Kaznica finished first in the pole vault. Once again, the 4x400 Otahkian relay team finished first. On the men's side, Shupe brought home the first place crown in the 800m, while Shelton Scott finished first and second in the triple jump and long jump, respectively. Heddell had a first place throw in the shot put, accompanied by a third-place throw in the weight throw.

Next, the Indians and Otahkians participated in a non-scored meet at the University of Indiana. In what was some of the prime competition of the season, Willi finished second in the pole vault. Other notables for the Indians were C. Brown (3rd in 600m), Scott (3rd in triple jump) and Heddell (3rd in shot put). Hannah Stuckenschnieder finished first in the 600m, while Jenkins continued her impressive freshman campaign with a fourth-place finish in the shot put.

February 9th saw the first home meet for Southeast at the Student Recreation Center on Southeast's campus. Both the Indians and Otahkians dominated the triangular meet with Samford and Murray State, which included many great individual feats as well. The Indians saw first-place finishers in just about every competition. Shawn Statler had an upset victory in the 55m dash, while Herman just edged teammate Haley in the 55m hurdles for a first-place finish. Again, Willi finished first in the pole vault and Heddell placed first in the shot put. Jason Campbell's first-place time of 49.9 in the 400m tied the SRC's all-time record. Just as the Indians did, the Otahkians pretty much finished first in each event. Kaznica (pole vault), Haman (high jump), Jenkins (shot put) and Greene (long jump) all finished first in the field events. Andrews finished first in the 55m dash as well as the 200m. She also ran on the first-place 4x400m relay team. Pilcher finished first in the 3,000m run.

In preparation for the OVC Indoor Championships which would take place a week later, both the Indians and Otahkians sent just a few athletes to Carbondale to participate in the non-scored USA Open. Filled with premier competition, Willi finished tied for first in the pole vault, vaulting to his season high at the time. Heddell finished first in the shot put. Stevenson (55m hurdles) and Jenkins (shot put) each had impressive performances for the Otahks.

The entire season cumulated to one weekend and the OVC Indoor Championships at Eastern Illinois University. The Indians took home a second place finish, while the Otahks finished third. OVC champions for the Indians included Heddell (shot put), Scott (triple jump) and Willi (pole vault). Statler (4th, long jump), Haley (2nd, 60m hurdles), Herman (6th, 60m hurdles), Campbell and C. Brown (3rd and 4th, 400m), Sierman (7th, mile), Jeremy Benberry (3rd, shot put) and Collin Sheridan (4th, pole vault) all had great performances to secure the second place finish for the Indians. The Otahkians saw great individual performances from Greene (2nd, long jump), Jenkins (3rd, weight throw), Kaznica (2nd, pole vault) and Pilcher (2nd, mile) to guarantee their third-place finish. Stuckenschneider was the OVC champion in the 400m. The 4x400m relay team of Stuckenschneider, VanHoevelaak, Andrews and Stevenson turned in a second-place performance.

The unscored Alex Wilson Invitational marked the end of the indoor track season for Southeast. Only a few athletes made the trip the University of Notre Dame, and virtually all of them had outstanding performances. The most notable was Heddell, who broke the Southeast men's indoor record in the shot put with a heave of 57' 8.5". The throw was good enough for third place in the very competitive meet. Willi finished second in the pole vault, while Campbell (400m), C. Brown and Shupe (800m), Scott (triple jump), and Haley and Herman (60m hurdles) all had solid performances. For the Otahkians, Greene closed out her successful freshman indoor season with fifth place finishes in both the 60m dash and long jump. Jenkins finished fifth in the shot put while Pilcher placed 13th in the 800m.

Complete Southeast results from all indoor meets can be accessed from the Southeast track schedule page on gosoutheast.com.

Southeast track and field will now begin preparation for the outdoor season, which will begin March 23 at the Alabama Invitational. Southeast will host two regular season meets on March 30 and April 5-6. They will also host the prestigious OVC outdoor Championships on May 3-4. All home meets take place at the Abe Stuber Track Complex on the north side of Southeast's campus.