CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — The opening day of the 2025 Ohio Valley Conference Outdoor Championships were highlighted by
Jordan Smith's run to the 10k title, matching silver medals by Little Rock pole vaulters, and a solid first day from Trojan decathlon and heptathlon athletes at Abe Stuber Track Complex on the SEMO campus.
Tomorrow's schedule has been modified due to inclement weather expected in the evening. Multis will begin their final day of competition at 9 am, running events will kick off at 10 am, and field events get underway at 1:30 pm. All running events will be prelims, with the exception of the men's and women's steeplechase, which wrap up the running day at approximately 12:35 pm. The action can be streamed on ESPN+.
Smith steadied himself among the top three runners for the majority of the men's 10000 meters, then pulled into the lead with 1200 meters remaining. In the final 400, the junior held off SEMO's Noah Little to win the event with a time of 32:30.90 and earn Little Rock's first individual OVC title of the meet.
Brooklyn Marcee and
Sutton Manatt each finished second in the pole vault, with Marcee clearing 4.08 meters (13-4.75) on the women's side, and Manatt getting over 4.95 meters (16-3) for the men.
Ludovica Polini also finished sixth for the women to pick up three points for the team. Marcee's mark sets a new school outdoor record and personal best. The previous record was 3.83 meters.
Matthew Fox won four of the five decathlon events Thursday to hold the top spot with 3,799 points. Fox won the 100 meters (10.86), long jump (7.10 meters), shot put (12.40 meters) and 400 meters (51.61) while finishing second in the high jump.
Patrick Young ranks third with 3,547 points and
Preston Fuller is eighth. Five events remain on Friday.
Carolin Bielert is also in first, coming in second in three of the four heptathlon events Thursday to sit atop the board with 3,081 points. Bielert was second in the 100 hurdles, high jump, and 200 meters, and fourth in the shot put.
Madison Thomas ranks seventh with 2,547 points and
Savannah Graham is ninth with three events to wrap up the event Friday.
In running prelims,
Shane Fisher qualified for the finals in the men's 1500 meters while
Kamryn Baggs and
Abby Machesky reached the finals of the women's 1500.
Tyler Moore and
Aidan Edwards advanced to the finals of the men's 400-meter hurdles, with
Aaliyah Booker doing the same on the women's side. In the 200 meters,
TaVieon Neal and
Morcellous Harris advance on the men's side, with
Takia Palmer qualifying for the women.
