Miller Breaks 3000m Meet Record at Arkansas Spring Invitational

Friday, March 23

Fayetteville, AR / John McDonnell Field

ALL DAY

SMU

Arkansas Spring Invitational

Miller Breaks 3000m Meet Record at Arkansas Spring Invitational

Mar 24 | Track & Field

Arkansas Spring Invitational Results

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (SMU) – Hannah Miller did what she does best on Saturday, winning the 3,000m and breaking the meet record at the Arkansas Spring Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The sophomore followed up her first-place finish in the event at last weekend's TCU Invitational with a 9:35.67 mark on Saturday.

Senior thrower Tochi Nlemchi has also established a standout opening to outdoor season, winning the shot put for the second-straight week. The 2016 second team All-American led the pack with a throw of 15.87m (52-0.75), followed by SMU's Daniella Murchison in seventh (13.63m) and Anna Novosadova in 21^st (7.97).

Miller was in record-breaking company in the 3,000m, with Julie Jungblut and Robin Montemayor each setting personal bests. Jungblut finished tenth in 10:22.41, and Montemayor finished 23^rd in 10:53.34.

The Mustangs continued to impress on the track. Alison Esparza claimed first in the 3,000m steeplechase with a time of 11:02.94. The mark sets a new personal record and sits at 10^th-best in school history. Anneke Grogan followed with in second-place with a time of 11:08.49.

In the 4x100 relay, Alexis Center, Chelsea Francis, Latessa Johnson and Madison Pyle combined for a second-place finish in 45.48. The time ties the third-best mark in school history.

Center, Francis and Johnson would also each finish in the top 10 of the 100m dash. Johnson finished third (11.42), followed by Francis in fourth (11.42) and Center in eighth with a personal record mark of 11.61.

Pyle earned her way into the SMU record books in the 400m hurdles. She finished fourth in the event with a personal best time of 1:01.28, earning her the No. 4 spot in school history. Novosadova also jumped into program history with a second-place finish in the 100m hurdles. The senior set a personal best with a 14.08s finish, the third-best in school history.

Marlene Gomez-Islinger earned SMU's highest finish in the 1,500m with a 4:42:13 finish to take second. Montemayor took 13^th in 4:55.84, and Jungblut finished 16^th in a personal best 4:57.92. In the 1,500m Invitational event, Svenja Ojstersek took eighth in 4:34.65 and Charlotte-Tara Murphy finished 10^th in 4:38.21.

Tess Misgen rounded out track events with a 2:11.30 mark in the 800m. The freshman's fourth-place time is ninth-best in SMU history.

In track events, Atipa Mabonga led the Mustangs off with a ninth-place finish in the long jump. The freshman's mark of 5.63 breaks her into the top 10 in SMU history. Cassie Ackemann and Novosadova competed in the high jump, earning third (1.65m) and 10^th (1.50m), respectively.

In discus throw, Nlemchi earned 10^th with a toss of 38.96m and Murchison followed in 12^th with a throw of 36.64m.

The Mustangs will split to compete at four meets the last weekend of March: the Texas Relays, the Bobcat Invitational, the Stanford Invitational and the San Francisco State Distance Carnival.

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