Nov. 9, 2016
NCAA South Central Regional Championship
USTFCCCA National Coaches' Poll
USTFCCCA Regional Rankings
USTFCCA Regional Meets Updates
DALLAS (SMU) – After winning the 2016 American Athletic Conference Championship, the SMU cross country team continues its postseason Friday in Fayetteville, Arkansas, at the NCAA South Central Regional Championship at Agri Park.
The 6-kilometer championship race is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. CT. An awards ceremony will follow the events near the course's finish line. Admission to the meet is free.
The Mustangs have finished third in the NCAA regionals the last two years, and will look to advance to the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2013.
As part of the South Central Region, the Mustangs will face teams from Arkansas, Louisiana and the eastern half of Texas.
Teams in the regional meet are limited to seven runners in which the top five will compute a team score. The top two teams earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Championship.
Along with the top two teams, the top four individuals not on an advancing team receive an automatic bid into the national meet. Additional teams and individuals are chosen through an at-large selection process for the 2016 NCAA Championship.
The U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) will provide a live stream of updates featuring pictures, results and splits on their
National Results Wall. Fans can engage in the event using the hashtag #DIRegionals on social media.
ABOUT THE FIELD
SMU is ranked No. 29 in the latest U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Coaches' Poll and second in the USTFCCCA regional rankings. The Mustangs will face two nationally ranked teams in No. 7 Arkansas and No. 25 Baylor. The Razorbacks rank first in the region, while the Bears are ranked third behind SMU. Arkansas has won the last five regional championships, while the Mustangs have finished third the past two years.
The Mustangs are one of three teams from the American Athletic Conference and one of 25 teams that will be represented at the meet. SMU is joined by Houston and Tulane from The American, along with Arkansas, Arkansas State, Baylor, Central Arkansas, Houston Baptist, Lamar, Louisiana, LSU, Louisiana Tech, McNeese State, North Texas, Rice, Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, TCU, ULM, UT Arlington, UTRGV, and UTSA.
ABOUT AGRI PARK COURSE
Carved out of a portion of the University of Arkansas' on-campus agricultural area – hence the name Agri Park – the course provides the men's and women's cross country teams with an excellent practice and competition area.
The 1996 season saw the first two events at Agri Park, the Chile Pepper Run and Arkansas Invitational. Starting in 1997, the two reunited into the single Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival. The current course configuration has three distinct areas. The open area of the starting chute is separated from the pond and Razorback Meadow by a grove of trees surrounding the former site of one of Fayetteville's old eateries, the Farmer's Daughter.
Razorback Meadow is open and relatively flat. The men's 10K, snakes through three groves of trees in the Meadow. The pond section has more contour as the trail rises up along the rim of the course's water feature. For women, both the one- and two-mile markers for a 5,000 meter race are in the pond area. The finish chute is shaded by a row of trees separating it from the starting line area.
The Agri Park site is extremely versatile. During the Chile Pepper Festival, seven divisions compete on distances ranging from the mile-long fun-run for children to the collegiate/open 10,000 meters – all using the same start and finish areas.
The women's collegiate course was initially configured as a figure 8. In 1997, the collegiate races changed to a double loop for women, triple loop for men. Fans can watch the start, then walk up the Farmer's Daughter hill for view of the main loop and finish chute. In 2000, a new 6,000-meter course was created for the Chile Pepper.
More detail for the women's 6K course: the first mile mark is near the pond, the course then winds through agricultural fields and a few small groves of trees before coming to the 2 mile, the course follows the tree line down past the starting line and into the meadow and then back up to the top of the hill near the pond, the 3 mile is just before approaching the last big down-hill of the course. There is approximately a 400 meter straight run-in to the finish.
ABOUT THE MUSTANGS
Freshmen
Hannah Miller and
Charlotte-Tara Murphy have been SMU's top finishers in the team's five meets this season. However, seniors
Holly Archer and
Agnes Sjostrom have also played an integral part in the success of this year's team. The four Mustangs helped SMU win the conference championship last month, its fourth league title in the past six years and sixth in the past nine years.
SMU had four runners make the all-conference team led by Miller's runner-up performance. The Invercargill, New Zealand, native was the top Mustangs finisher for the third-consecutive meet finishing the 6-kilometer race in a time of 20 minutes, 23.7 seconds. Murphy placed fifth and was the second SMU finisher with a time of 20:44.1. Archer and Sjostrom picked up key points for the Mustangs by placing sixth and 15th, respectively. Archer finished in a time of 20:54.5 to place one spot better than she did a year ago, while Sjostrom had one of her best races of the season to finish in a time of 21:24.7.
Miller placed 21st out of 211 competitors at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational after finishing the 6k course in a time of 20:37.1 seconds. The Mustangs knocked off four top-25 teams, including two top-10 teams at the meet. SMU finished 17th with 388 points, ahead of No. 10 Boise State (404), No. 6 Michigan State (439) and No. 20 Syracuse (454), who finished 18th, 19th and 20th, respectively. No. 18 Georgetown finished 22nd with 525 points.
Miller was third overall to lead SMU to a runner-up finish at the Virginia/Panorama Invitational in the team's third meet of the season. No. 19 BYU finished with 47 points to win the event followed by SMU with 89, while No. 16 Syracuse placed third with 98 and No. 14 Virginia came in fourth with 129.
In week two, Murphy set the pace as she won the Gerald Richey Invitational at UT Arlington to lead the Mustangs to their first team victory of the season. Five Mustangs finished in the top six to lead SMU to the team title, including Murphy who won the race in a time of 17:23.7.
A trio of Mustangs finished in the top-five in the season opener, including Murphy who earned a third-place finish in 13:53.9 in the 4k race at the Bear Twilight Invitational, hosted by Baylor. Archer placed fourth in a personal-best time of 13:54.1, while Miller finished fifth in her first collegiate race in a time of 13:58.6.
LOOKING AHEAD
With a top-two finish, SMU would advance to the NCAA Championships, which takes place on Saturday, Nov. 19 in Terre Haute, Indiana. The top four individuals not on those top-two teams will receive automatic spots in the NCAA Championship. At-large teams and individuals will be announced following the completion of all nine NCAA Regional championships.
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Mustangs by following SMU Track & Field Team on Twitter at @SMUTrackFieldXC, on Facebook at Facebook.com/SMUTrackFieldXC, and on Instagram at Instagram.com/SMUTrackandXC. Twitter at @SMUMustangs or Instagram at SMU.Mustangs.
