Feb. 28, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford track and field team will begin competition in the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Championships on Friday. The two-day event will be hosted in Nashville, Tenn., by the Tennessee State Tigers and features six men's teams and 10 women's teams.

Samford has been consistently successful in past indoor seasons and the Bulldog men and women hope to improve on their fifth place finishes in 2007.

Senior Bulldog Lauren Blankenship looks to help in the Bulldogs' success this weekend as she has been successful in distance events such as the 3000-meters and 5000-meters. Blankenship placed first in the 5000-meters and third in the 3000-meters just two weeks ago at the Clemson Tiger Invitational.

Several freshman Bulldogs looks to contribute this year in the championships. Pole vaulters Mary Barron and Zac Epperson have been very successful for Samford this season in the event. Hillary Neal, Ina Ables and Scott Cope are three distance runners who are making a name for themselves along with Jillian Klassen.

Junior Ashley Flowers has been a successful sprinter for the Bulldogs this season and junior Ciara Floyd and sophomore Morgan Tyler have been the Bulldog women's most successful hurdlers and jumpers so far.

The front runner for this year's competition seems to be defending champion Eastern Illinois. The Panthers swept the 2007 OVC Indoor Track and Field Titles and look to do the same this weekend. The Panther men have take nine of the last ten OVC indoor championships, while last year's title was the first for the EIU women's program.

Competition gets underway at 2 p.m. on Friday and resumes on Saturday at 10 a.m., at the Gentry Center on the campus of Tennessee State University. A full recap and results will be available on www.samfordsports.com. Results will also be available at www.ovcsports.com upon the completion of each day's events.