~ The junior jumper from Jackson transferred for academic reasons but returned in the fall.

Heather West is glad a change of heart led her back to Southeast Missouri State.

If not, she would never have had the opportunity to win an Ohio Valley Conference championship and help Southeast's women continue their OVC track and field dominance.

"I'm happy about the way it's worked out," West said.

The Jackson High School graduate will shoot for her second straight OVC triple jump title when Southeast hosts the conference's outdoor meet Friday and Saturday.

Southeast's women will be gunning for their seventh consecutive OVC championship overall and fourth straight outdoor crown.

"Having the meet at home is great," said West, a junior who won her first OVC title in February during the league's indoor meet. "We're all ready for it and hopefully we can continue our dynasty."

Southeast almost had to make do without West, who after two solid seasons with the Redhawks -- she ranks third on the school's all-time triple jump list and has the top indoor triple jump -- transferred to the University of Missouri last summer.

West wasn't unhappy with her experience at Southeast, but she was planning to major in physical therapy, and Missouri is highly regarded in that field.

"I just thought it would be a good opportunity for me," she said. "I wasn't even going to run track there; I was just going to concentrate on school."

But it wasn't long before West came to the conclusion that pursuing a physical therapy degree at Missouri wasn't for her.

"I was working with cadavers and thought that was really gross," said West. "That kind of changed my mind and made me realize my heart really wasn't into it.

"I decided to come back to SEMO and major in criminal justice. Plus, I missed track a lot."

When West transferred back to Southeast for her junior year, she originally thought it would be without an athletic scholarship, since she had given it up after bolting for Missouri.

But Southeast coach Joey Haines still had a scholarship waiting for her.

"I didn't expect it," West said. "It was a nice surprise."

West rewarded Haines' faith in her by winning the OVC indoor triple jump this year, after she had placed second indoors and fourth outdoors last season.

"Heather is really an over-achiever," Haines said. "She jumps better than her talent would indicate, and she really works hard at it. We're glad she came back here."

West is part of a nice Jackson High School pipeline in the Southeast track program that also features her younger sister Amy, a freshman pole vaulter who was having a strong rookie season before recently being sidelined with a shoulder injury that will force her to miss the OVC meet.

Freshman Rebecca Martin has been a strong freshman javelin thrower for the women's team, while freshman Andy Glass has been solid in the shot put for the men's squad. Both figure to have a good chance of scoring points this weekend.

"It's nice to have my sister here and the others from Jackson," Heather West said.

Even though West only has the fourth-best triple jump in the OVC entering this weekend's meet, she is hopeful of a second straight title.

So is Haines, who said West "competes a lot better in the big meets than the little meets."

It's certainly better than not competing at all, which looked to be the case for her just last summer.