Day 1 Results  | Championship Central | Photo Gallery

STORRS, Conn. -- Caitlin Keen and Karoline Skatteboe finished third and fourth, respectively, in the 10,000-meter to headline the opening day of the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Champioship for the SMU women's track & field team in Storrs, Connecticut.

Through two events, the Mustangs are in a tie for second with 14 points. SMU is tied with East Carolina and host UConn leads with 18 points.

"Starting with a positive first day is extremely important when trying to win a championship," said head coach Dave Wollman.  "I had several of my team leaders competing today and they did not disappoint."

Keen finished with a time of 35:21.30 and Skatteboe followed in 35:34.52. Claire Trotter also competed in the 10,000-meter, placing 14th in a time of 38:56.87.

"The 3-4 finish in the ten kilometers gives our distance group the spark it will need to continue to fight for points," said Wollman. "Caitlin and Karoline were awesome."

Rayann Chin also scored points for SMU on day one. The senior set a new PR in the hammer throw and finished sixth with a mark of 53.96m.

"Senior Rayann Chin had a lifetime best in her first of three events and placed sixth," said Wollman.  "Lifetime bests at a championship meet is exactly the tone we want to set within our team."

In the heptathlon, Lucija Cvitanovic sits in third place (3,066 points) through four events. She is 54 points behind leader Lindsey Arnold of USF (3,120 points). Cvitanovic's top finish of the day came in the high jump, where she placed second.

"Lucija is back in the race to try and reclaim her heptathlon title with a great first day," said Wollman.  "She competed with confidence today and had a lot of fun finding her old groove."

The championship resumes tomorrow with the discus, heptathlon and several track preliminaries.

"It's early but for right now we have momentum going in the right direction," said Wollman.  "I can't wait to see what these girls do tomorrow."