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GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas (SMU) – Charlotte-Tara Murphy led the pack from start to finish to lead SMU to the Gerald Richey Invitational team title Saturday at Lynn Creek Park.

The Mustangs claimed the top-five spots to win with 15 points, while UT Arlington finished second with 42 points. Head Coach Cathy Casey was pleased with the overall performance of the team.

"I think it went really well," Casey said. "We trained really hard these past two weeks. We are in a pretty heavy training cycle. We tried to execute on different aspects of each person's race and I think they did a great job today."

Murphy led the way as she collected her first individual title of the season finishing the 5 kilometers race in 17 minutes, 46.3 seconds. The Bury St. Edmunds, England, native won the event a year ago in just her second collegiate race.

The Mustangs moved up in distance from a week ago at the Bear Twilight Invitational, which was a 4K (2.49 miles) course. SMU placed five in the top-15 with four Mustangs setting personal records. Murphy finished eighth (13:44.5) and Marlene Gomez-Islinger placed ninth (13:46.5) to run the two fastest 4K times in school history.

Gomez-Islinger continues to improve setting a personal best for the second straight week. Gomez-Islinger broke the 18-minute barrier to claim runner-up honors in a time of 17:59.7. Tess Misgen was the next Mustang to cross the finish line placing third (18:28.0), followed by Alison Esparza (18:30.4). Anneke Grogan rounded out the scoring for SMU finishing fifth in a time of 18:40.5.

SMU gears up for the postseason with its first out-of-state meet in Virginia for the Virginia/Panorama Invitational Saturday, Sept. 23. The meet is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. CT at the Panorama Farms in Earlysville, Virginia.

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