May 2, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford University track and field team is set to compete in the Ohio Valley Conference Outdoor Championships this weekend, Friday and Saturday, May 2-3. The two-day event is hosted by Southeast Missouri and will take place at SEMO's Stuber Track Complex in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Six men's teams and 10 women's teams will vie for the league crown.

The Eastern Illinois Panthers are the defending champions this year, as EIU swept the 2007 championship, with the EIU women picking up their first ever outdoor team title. The Samford Bulldogs will look to better their 2007 finishes in this weekends events. Last year, the Bulldog men placed fourth while the women took sixth.

The front-runner for the Bulldogs looks to be senior Lauren Blankenship again this year. The NCAA All-American, a three-time NCAA qualifier and 2007's OVC Female Track Athlete of the Year, will try to break a 22-year-old OVC meet record in the 5,000-meter race. Her seed time is currently almost 10 seconds faster than the historic mark.

Samford freshman Hillary Neal, the 2008 OVC Freshman of the Year in outdoor track and cross country, will also a Bulldog to watch this weekend. Neal has the OVC's best times in both the 800 and 1,500-meter events. Those times (2:11.05/800m, 4:28.87/1500m) are also Samford school records. The Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., native was named the OVC Female Track Athlete of the Week of March 25th.

Sophomore Morgan Tyler is another school record holder for the Bulldogs. She set a new record in the 400-meter hurdles at the Sea Rays Relays on April 11 (1:02.16), and then broke her own record the next week at the UGA Bulldog Unlimited (1:01.73).

Michael Smith, a senior from Flower Mound, Tex., is Samford's only male to qualify for the NCAA Mideast Regionals so far this year. Smith qualified in the 400-meter hurdles at the UGA Bulldog Unlimited, April 19, with a time of 52.39.

Events will begin at 1:00 p.m. CT on Friday and resume at 11 a.m. CT on Saturday. Results will be available at www.ovcsports.com upon the completion of each day's events. A recap of Samford's progress can be found at www.samfordsports.com.