The women’s track and field teams finished second to Tennessee State this weekend in the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Championships.

For the Tigers, it was their first title since a women’s championship was added in 1985. Eastern opened competition Friday in the Lantz Fieldhouse in first place, but fell into second Saturday.

“We had a tremendous team effort,” head coach John Craft said. “The next best thing to winning is to get second. Tennessee State had a little more fire power and they didn’t make many mistakes. It was an outstanding performance across the board.”

The team’s scoring was led by a combination of distance runners, the distance medley and thrower Tiffany Greenley. Greenley was Eastern’s lone double winner, claiming first-place throws in the 20-pound weight throw (59-foot, 9 1/2-inches) and the shot put (45-1 1/2).

“The weight throw we had expected because she’d been leading all season, but nothing is a given when it comes to conference time,” Craft said.

Greenley was ranked fifth in the shot put heading into the conference competition, but bettered her throw by four feet to claim first place.

“I knew she was capable of throwing further, but she’s never thrown that before,” Craft said. “She was our double winner and went far beyond anything I expected.”

The distance medley, composed of Beth Martin, Alicia Harris, Nicole Milici and Stephanie Bone, took a first-place finish with a time of 12:19.33.

“This is their third win in three years, so I guess it’s a three-peat,” Craft said. “The young ladies involved in that did an outstanding job. They came within a second of the record they established last year.”

The distance crew ran solid races in the 5,000-meter as two freshmen finished as Eastern’s top competitors in that event. Freshmen Angie Simone and Deb Tygrett finished third and sixth respectively. Katie Springer finished sixth in the mile run with a time of 5:19.52.

“The distance runners have done an outstanding job and coach (John) McInerney has done well with them during their cross country season where they are the reigning champions. He’s developed an outstanding distance crew,” Craft said. “I can’t say enough about those individuals.”

Junior Jenny Cowan opened Friday’s competition with a eighth-place finish in the long jump with a distance of 17-3 1/2.

“Jenny came through for us and that really set us up nicely Friday,” Craft said.

In the sprinting events, Leah Reeves and teammate Alicia Harris both qualified in the preliminary heats Friday to return to the final race Saturday. Reeves finished seventh in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.83 seconds while Harris finished fifth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 58.38.

“Leah and Alicia both came back and scored the second day for us,” Craft said. “Both ran (personal records). I needed everyone to have a ‘PR,’ and most of them did.”

In the pole vault, sophomore Mary Wood pulled through with a badly twisted ankle for a first-place finish with a jump of 10-6. For the pole vault, as well as the weight throw, it was the first time in conference history it was officially recognized as an event, giving Greenley and Wood the conference records this season.

“Mary twisted her ankle Friday and she couldn’t even walk,” Craft said. “But she told me she was vaulting, and she went out and won.”

Most of the women’s team is now merging into the outdoor season, but a few athletes will compete this weekend in the ‘Last Chance’ meet to finish with a qualifying time for the NCAA indoor championships.