The Southeast Missouri State outdoor track season began Friday, March 18, in Memphis, Tennessee. After finishing just six points short of winning the Ohio Valley Conference indoor track championship, the Southeast men's team is looking to use that as fuel to the fire to compete for the OVC outdoor track championships this spring.

Coach Eric Crumpecker is in his seventh season as head coach at Southeast, and after losing 10 men and eight women to graduation last year, he's looking for everybody to step in to fill those shoes.

"We lost a lot of high-impact guys," Crumpecker said. "We need guys to step up this year."

Crumpecker is specifically looking at sophomore sprinters Jarred Pasley, Jordan Barber, Brandon Chunn and junior Brannon Wright to excel in the men's 400-meter runs, as well as senior Cheyanne Tunti on the women's side.

"We've been training hard," Crumpecker said. "We are kicking the season off putting in a lot of work in a very tight conference."

Crumpecker is looking to use these first few meets to get ready for the OVC championships in May.

"We use all these meets to lead into the conference meet," Crumpecker said. "We want to qualify for the regional meet."

Southeast competed in Memphis at the Rhodes Invitational just a few weeks after the indoor championships and had a strong showing. On the first day, senior thrower Jason Walker and freshman Stephen Zagurski dominated the weight throw, in which they finished first and second respectively, above the next closest competitor by more than 6 meters. Walker threw for 53.25-meters and Zagurski tossed for 53.03m. Zagurski also finished second in the shot put in the second day of the invitational, throwing it 14m. Freshman sprinter Mariam Ajiroba finished third in the women's 100-meter dash, posting a time of 12.27 seconds, Tunti and junior Prenecia Ponds also finished in the top 10 of the women's 100-meter dash.

Southeast competed in three different meets this past weekend. On Friday, Southeast was at the Hendrix Spring Break Multis in Conway, Arkansas as well as the Arkansas Spring Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas. At the Hendrix Spring Break Multis, seniors Taylor Coffeit and Macy Ritter took first and second in the women's heptathlon over the weekend. At the Arkansas Spring Invitational, senior thrower Kevin Farley finished in third in the hammer throws posting at 59.27-meters on friday, and Saturday he claimed first place in shotput throwing it 17.96-meters. He also came in second in the discus with a measurement of 54.18-meters.. On Saturday, Southeast also competed in the SIU Bill Cornell Spring Classic in Carbondale, Illinois along with the other two meets. Senior distance runner Shane Brown finished in fifth place in the 3000-meter steeple.

Farley did not compete at the Rhodes Invitational in Memphis because of a groin injury. However, he did compete at Fayetteville, Arkansas. Farley recently had his best disc throw and looks to continue that success in the outdoor season and break some more personal records.

Farley is confident in the men's team, which is looking to win the outdoor championship since its last win during the 2013-2014 campaign, where both the men and women won the OVC Championships.

"The men's team is guaranteed to win if they stay healthy," Farley said.

Farley isn't shy of being a leader of the team, even though he isn't a vocal person.

"My actions set a good example," Farley said. "[I] do what the coach says, and I hope the rest of the team puts in the same work that I have."

Southeast will host the Drury Hotels Joey Haines Invitational on April 1 and 2. The OVC outdoor championships will be held May 13 and 14 in Nashville, Tennessee.