Jan. 26, 2017
DALLAS (SMU) – After opening the indoor season in New Mexico last week, SMU will again be on the road this weekend as the Mustangs head to Oklahoma for the J.D. Martin Invitational.
SMU will be one of seven teams to compete Friday and Saturday at the Mosier Indoor Facility. Some of the teams competing in Norman this weekend include Abilene Christian, North Texas, Oklahoma, UT Arlington, University of Central Oklahoma and UIW .
Friday's events will start at noon CT, while Saturday's competition is set to begin at 10 a.m. CT. Live results can be found at
pttiming.com.
ABOUT THE J.D. MARTIN INVITATIONAL:
The University of Oklahoma is hosting the J.D. Martin Invitational for the 16th time this year. The meet will take place at the Mosier Indoor Facility in Norman, Oklahoma. This will be the third consecutive year that the Mustangs will compete in the event. SMU placed third last year and finished second in 2015.
CHERRY & SILVER INVITATIONAL RECAP (Jan. 20-21):
The Mustangs opened the 2017 indoor season with three top conference marks this past weekend in New Mexico. Senior thrower
Tochi Nlemchi led the Mustangs on the final day of the Cherry & Silver Invitational with a runner-up finish in the shot put with a toss of 50 feet, 10 inches (15.49m). The Waxahachie, Texas, native currently ranks second in The American.
Freshmen
Hannah Miller and
Charlotte-Tara Murphy paced SMU in the mile on the final day placing fifth (5:01.3; 4:54.47 altitude adjusted) and sixth (5:01.63; 4:55.06 altitude adjusted), respectively, which ranks 1-2 in The American.
Freshmen sprinters
Alexis Center and
Chelsea Francis both etched their names into the record books with their performances in the 60-meter dash. Center finished second in her heat in a time of 7.56 seconds (7.58 altitude adjusted), which is the fourth-fastest time in SMU history. Francis clocked a time of 7.62 seconds (7.64 altitude adjusted), which is now tied for fifth in program history.
2017 OUTLOOK:
The 2017 SMU track & field team returns 18 letterwinners and will seek to claim its first conference indoor championships since the Mustangs won the inaugural American Athletic Conference title in 2014. Second year head coach
Cathy Casey and the Mustangs are coming off a fourth-place finish last year at The American Indoor Championships. Casey will look to a senior-laden distance group led by
Holly Archer,
Agnes Sjostrom and
Shanoah Souza to guide this Mustangs' team that includes 18 underclassmen.
LOOKING BACK:
After winning the 2016 American Athletic Conference Cross Country Championship in the fall, the Mustangs will now try to carry that momentum into the indoor track and field season. The SMU cross country team were ranked as high as No. 21 in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) poll during the season. Individually, SMU had four individuals receive All-Conference honors and three student-athletes earn All-Region accolades.
ALL-AMERICAN MUSTANGS:
SMU returns senior
Tochi Nlemchi and sophomore sprinter
Latessa Johnson after both Mustangs earned All-American honors last spring at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Nlemchi finished ninth in the shot put with a personal best throw of 16.77 meters (55-00.25) at the NCAA Championships to earn second-team All-American honors, while Johnson earned second-team All-American accolades after finishing ninth in the 200 meters. Both Mustangs set conference indoor records last year with Nlemchi recording a heave of 16.32 meters (53-06.50) to win the shot put title, while Johnson held off seven upperclassmen to win the 200 meters with a time of 23.48 seconds as a freshman.
WELCOME TO THE HILLTOP:
With the graduation of all-conference performers
Craishia Washington and
Rachel Scruggs, the Mustangs added some depth in the sprints with the addition of freshmen
Alexis Center, Chelsea Franics and
India Simmons. Center and Francis will compete in the short sprints (60 meters, 200 meters), while Simmons will focus primarily on the hurdles as well as the 400 meters. SMU also strengthened its distance group adding
Hannah Miller and
Charlotte-Tara Murphy, who will run the mile and 3,000 meters indoors. Both freshman made an immediate impact in the fall during the cross country season helping SMU end its two year conference championship drought to win its fourth league title in six years. Miller finished as The American runner-up, while Murphy placed fifth as both Mustangs were named to the All-Conference team. Miller and Murphy led the Mustangs to a fifth-place finish at the NCAA South Central Regional and both garnered All-Region honors after finishing fourth and 19th, respectively. Miller qualified for the NCAA Championships and was one of 38 individual qualifiers.
LOOKING AHEAD:
Following the J.D. Martin Invitational, the Mustangs head back to Albuquerque for the New Mexico Collegiate Classic on Feb. 3-4. The meet will be streamed live on
FloTrackPro.
FOLLOW THE MUSTANGS:
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.
