DALLAS (SMU) - The SMU women's track and field team heads to Fayetteville, Arkansas, for the Tyson Invitational on Feb. 13-14 at the Randal Tyson Track Center. The meet will be the Mustangs' last before the American Athletic Conference Indoor Championship on Feb. 27-28.

Action is scheduled to begin on Friday at 1 p.m. CT, with the mile run and several field events. Saturday's events will begin at 12 p.m. CT and will be streamed live on SEC Network +. The Mustangs are one of 30 teams participating in the highly-competitive event. The top four teams in the country, No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Florida, No. 3 Arkansas and No. 4 Texas A&M, will all have student-athletes competing in Fayetteville. AAC foes Houston and Tulsa will also compete, along with cross-town rival TCU.

LAST MEET - HOWIE RYAN INVITATIONAL
Stephanie Kalu and Karoline Skatteboe each claimed individual titles at the Howie Ryan Invitational on Jan. 30-31 at the University of Houston's Yeoman Fieldhouse. Kalu won the 60m, tying her season best time (7.33). The Mustangs' distance runners had an impressive outing, led by Skatteboe's first-place finish in the mile (4:56.97). Melanie Stemper was runner-up in the 3,000-meter (9:49.39) and Holly Archer finished second (2:13.61) in the 800m. Rayann Chin had yet another strong weekend in the throwing events, finishing fourth in both the shot put (14.82m) and the weight throw (18.45m).

SMU RETURNS SIX CONFERENCE CHAMPS
Six different Mustangs combined for 10 individual titles at the indoor and outdoor American Athletic Conference Championships last year. Of the six student-athletes who captured individual championships, four return to this year's squad. Junior Lucija Cvitanovic led all Mustangs with three individual titles (pentathlon, javelin, heptathlon), while seniors Stephanie Kalu (60m, 100m) and Rayann Chin (shot put, discus) each won two. Sophomore distance runner Agnes Sjöström also won the 5000m.

KALU OFF TO BIG START
Senior Stephanie Kalu is one of the top sprinters in SMU history. The Cedar Hills, Texas, native holds the indoor school record in the 55m (6.75) and 60m (7.28) and the outdoor school record in the 100m (11.53) and 200m (23.21). Last year, Kalu won the 60m (indoor) and 100m (outdoor) at the AAC Championships. She went on to place ninth in the 60m at the Indoor NCAA Championship and earned second team All-American honors. Kalu is off to a strong start in 2015, winning the 60m at the JD Martin Invitational, and earning two top-three finishes at the Vanderbilt Invitational (2nd, 60m & 3rd, 200m). For her performance in Nashville, Kalu was named The American's Track Athlete of the Week on Jan. 27. Kalu then won the 60m at the Howie Ryan Invitational.

CHIN LOOKS TO BUILD ON DOMINANT 2014 SEASON
SMU has had a long history of great throwers, and senior Rayann Chin is continuing that tradition. A season ago, the Pickering, Ontario, native was named AAC Indoor Most Outstanding Field Performer and was named all-conference in both indoor and outdoor. Chin began the 2015 season with a third-place finish in the weight throw and a fifth-place finish in the shot put at the JD Martin Invitational. At the Howie Ryan Invitational, Chin finished fourth in both the shot put and weight throw.

CVITANOVIC SET FOR BIG SEASON
Junior Lucija Cvitanovic earned all-conference honors in both indoor and outdoor last year, after taking first in the pentathlon at the indoor championship and winning both the heptathlon and javelin at the outdoor championship. For her performance at the outdoor championship, Cvitanovic was named the meet's Most Outstanding Field Performer. To begin 2015, Cvitanovic finished second in the triple jump and 14th in the shot put at the JD Martin Invitational and seventh in the high jump at the Vanderbilt Invitational.

GOING THE DISTANCE
The Mustangs have a long history of talented distance runners and this year's team is no different. Caitlin Keen finished second in the 5000m at the Vanderbilt Invitational, setting a personal record and recording the top time in The American so far this season. Holly Archer won the mile run at the JD Martin Invitational and Melanie Stemper has earned two top-five finishes this year in distance events. At the Howie Ryan Invitational, Karoline Skatteboe won the mile, while Stemper placed second in the 3000m and Archer was runner-up in the 800m.

FRESHMAN TRIO HAVE STRONG DEBUT
Jacquetta Cannon, Isabella Marten and Anna Novosadova make up this year's freshman class. Marten, a native of Germany, headlined the JD Martin Invitational for the Mustangs, winning the triple jump in her first collegiate meet. Cannon and Novosadova also had strong debuts, as Cannon placed 10th in the shot put and Novosadova finished seventh in the 60m hurdles.

FOREIGN CONNECTION
SMU has a total of seven international student-athletes on its roster. Six of the seven hail from European countries: Cvitanovic (Croatia), Stemper and Marten (Germany), Sjöström (Sweden), Archer (England) and Skatteboe (Norway). Chin (Canada) is the only non-European international student-athlete on the roster.

WOLLMAN SEEKS 2nd CONSECUTIVE CONFERENCE SWEEP
Since beginning his tenure in 1988, head coach Dave Wollman has built one of the very best NCAA track and field programs in the country. Under Wollman's guidance, the Mustangs have won eight top-four NCAA Championship trophies. This past season in 2013-14, Wollman and his staff swept the indoor and outdoor conference championship in SMU's inaugural season in the American Athletic Conference.

UP NEXT - AAC INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIP
SMU heads to New York City for the AAC Indoor Championship on Feb. 27-28 at the New Balance Track & Field Center.