Western’s men’s and women’s track teams visited the site of their NCAA Mideast Regional meet last weekend in Louisville, and Kentucky native freshman Sharika Smith set a winning tone to highlight her debut outdoor season with the Lady Toppers.

Smith won the women’s long jump with a leap of 19-feet, 11.50-inches and the triple jump with a 41-foot, 0.25-inch effort. Both measures settled Smith at second in the school record books, and both qualified her for regional competition May 29-30.

“Sharika was solid on the jumps,” coach Erik Jenkins said. “We recruit from anywhere, and we’d like to recruit the Kentucky athlete. She’s come in as a freshman and shown she can compete at this level.”

Smith, who came to Western after attending Fulton County High School, had competed in Louisville twice before this weekend.

She said the familiarity gave her an advantage.

“I’ve been on that track and jumped on that pit,” Smith said. “I was comfortable there.”

Also posting wins in Louisville were the men’s and women’s 4×400 teams. Supplemented by Smith on the women’s side, Western swept the meet’s final events to leave on a high note.

The men, lead by senior Steve Wilson, have All-American aspirations that start with the regional in Louisville.

“It’s harder than ours, but it’s quick,” Wilson said of the track surface in Louisville. “We got familiar with the track and saw how it feels.”

Senior Romaine McKay won the 400-meter dash with a 48.32-second sprint, and freshmen Hendrik Themas and Ashley Chervinko took a pair of second-place finishes in the javelin.

Jenkins said it’s important to succeed at Louisville early on, but the main concentration still lies on Sun Belt Conference Championships.

“It’s easy to lose your focus,” Jenkins said. “I’m not too concerned about the regional right now. We have to take care of business at the conference level first.”

Distance runners headed out west to the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif. Junior Janet Jesang recorded an NCAA provisional-qualifying time in the 10,000-meter run. Jesang will run with the rest of the team in Louisville at the regional, but Jenkins said it’s important to place runners at meets where they can succeed.

“We send out athletes to the best situation to qualify for the regional,” Jenkins said. “Janet has gone out and done everything we’ve asked her to do.”

Jesang added her 10,000-meter qualifying effort to a 5,000-meter time set in Alabama earlier this season.

The WKU Invitational is still set for this Saturday after wind damage caused the cancellation of the Hilltopper Relays two weeks ago.