Oct. 11, 2017
 
After a third-place finish at the Virginia/Panorama Farms Invitational three weeks ago, the SMU cross country returns to competition at the Pre-National Invitational, hosted by the University of Louisville. The 6-kilometer race starts Saturday at 9:45 a.m. CT at E.P. 'Tom' Sawyer State Park.
 
The meet will serve as a precursor for the National Championships and will be the first time the Mustangs compete in the event since 2013. The meet will be streamed live on FloTrack.

SMU is ranked No. 4 in the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) South Central Region, and will be one of four teams represented from American Athletic Conference. The Mustangs will be joined by Cincinnati, Houston and Tulane.

The Mustangs will compete against 11 nationally-ranked opponents, including No. 1 Colorado, No. 2 Oregon, No. 4 Michigan and No. 9 Arkansas. Other nationally-ranked programs competing are No. 12 Ole Miss, No. 16 BYU, No. 19 Utah State, No. 22 Georgetown, No. 24 Missouri, No. 25 Georgia and No. 27 Yale.

The Mustangs return eight letterwinners from last season's conference championship team. SMU is led by sophomore duo Charlotte-Tara Murphy and Hannah Miller, who each garnered all-conference and all-region honors last season.

MUSTANGS ALL-TIME TOP 4K TIMES
 

Rank	Name	Year	Time
1.	Charlotte-Tara Murphy	2017	13:44.5
2.	Marlene Gomez-Islinger	2017	13:46.5
3.	Karoline Skatteboe	2014	13:48.4
4.	Agnes Sjostrom	2013	13:49.6
5.	Tova Magnusson	2013	13:51.0
6.	Holly Archer	2016	13:54.1
7.	Karin van Rooyen	2002	13:55.0

 
MUSTANGS ALL-TIME TOP 5K TIMES
 

Rank	Name	Year	Time
1.	Silje Fjortoft	2011	16:07.0
2.	Agnes Sjostrom	2014	16:17.7
3.	Shanoah Souza	2014	16:47.4
4.	Ashlee Powers	2012	16:48.5
5.	Mary Alenbratt	2012	16:53.0
6.	Holly Archer	2014	16:53.3
7.	Melanie Stemper	2013	17:09.7
8.	Hannah Miller	2016	17:10.3

MUSTANGS ALL-TIME TOP 6K TIMES
 

Rank	Name	Year	Time
1.	Silje Fjortoft	2011	19:58.1
2.	Agnes Sjostrom	2014	20:11.0
3.	Shanoah Souza	2015	20:20.7
4.	Karin van Rooyen	2002	20:22.0
5.	Tova Magnusson	2013	20:23.2
6.	Hannah Miller	2016	20:23.7
7.	Karin van Rooyen	2002	20:32.6
8.	Karoline Skatteboe	2015	20:36.5
9.	Emily Field	2002	20:37.0
10.	Melanie Stemper	2013	20:43.9

 
MURPHY NAMED AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE FEMALE ATHELTE OF THE WEEK (SEPT. 26, 2017)
Charlotte-Tara Murphy was named the American Athletic Conference Female Athlete of the Week. For the third consecutive meet, Murphy was SMU's top-finisher after placing fifth at the Virginia/Panorama Farms Invitational last Saturday in Earlysville, Virginia. Murphy finished in the top-20 on the 5 kilometer course with a time of 17 minutes, 39.7 seconds. The Bury St. Edmunds, England, native improved four spots from a year ago when she placed ninth at Panorama Farms. Murphy also finished in the top-10 in the Mustangs previous two meets after winning the 5K (17:46.3) at the Gerald Richey Invitational on Sept. 16 and placing eighth in the 4K (13:44.5) at the Bear Twilight Invitational on Sept. 1. Murphy won her first weekly award this season and second of her career. Last season, Murphy garnered weekly honors after winning the 5K (17:23.7) at the Gerald Richey Invitational on Sept. 10, 2016.

LAST TIME OUT AS A TEAM – SMU PLACES THIRD AT VIRINIA/PANORAMA INVITATIONAL (SEPT. 23, 2017)
Charlotte-Tara Murphy finished fifth overall to lead SMU to a third-place finish at the Virginia/Panorama Invitational at Panorama Farms. Virginia won the meet finishing with 41 points, followed by No. 29 Yale with 67. SMU placed third with 97, and William & Mary came in fourth with 117. Murphy led a trio of Mustangs that finished in the top-20 on the 5 kilometer course with a time of 17 minutes, 39.7 seconds. The Bury St. Edmunds, England, native improved four spots from a year ago when she placed ninth at Panorama Farms. Murphy has finished in the top-10 in all three meets this season and has been the Mustangs top-finisher. Hannah Miller competed in her first cross country meet of 2017 after a long track and field season that carried over into the summer following her freshman year on the Hilltop. Competing for New Zealand, she placed 15th in the 5K at the World University Games in August. Miller was the Mustangs second finisher behind Murphy placing 13th in a time of 17:39.7, while Marlene Gomez-Islinger set another personal record with a time of 17:58.9 to break the 18-minute barrier for the second straight week. Tess Misgen also set a personal best with a time of 18:16.4 to place 24th. Misgen shaved off 12 seconds from her time a week ago at the Gerald Richey Invitational. Anneke Grogan rounded out the scoring for SMU finishing 38th in a time of 18:44.8.
 
LAST TIME AT PRE-NATIONAL INVITATIONAL (OCT. 19, 2013)
SMU placed 18th out of 49 schools at the Indiana State Pre-National Invitational. The Mustangs defeated USTFCCCA No. 19 ranked Oklahoma State as it finished in 20th place. Sophomore Shanoah Souza paced SMU as she finished 84th (21:20.0) overall out of 340 total runners in the 6k race. In addition to Oklahoma State, the Mustangs competed against 12 other USTFCCCA ranked schools. Sophomore Karoline Skatteboe finished 98th with a time of 21:27.31. A total of 12.6 seconds separated four Mustangs, including freshmen Tova Magnusson (21:44.72) and Agnes Sjöström (21:46.97), sophomore Holly Archer (21:50.12) and senior Caitlin Keen (21:57.32) as they finished in 139th, 145th, 157th and 182nd place, respectively. Sophomore Melanie Stemper placed 213th in 22:09.07.

MUSTANGS IN THE USTFCCCA REGIONAL POLL
SMU is ranked fourth in the latest USTFCCCA South Central Regional Coaches' Poll. SMU is the highest ranking American Athletic Conference team in its respective regional rankings with Tulsa ranked sixth in the Midwest and Temple at eighth in the Mid-Atlantic. Tulane is ranked 10th in the South Central, while Connecticut is 10th in the Northeast.

M&M
In her second year on the Hilltop, Murphy has been the Mustangs top finisher placing eighth in the 4K at the Bear Twilight Invitational (Sept. 1) in a school record time of 13:44.5. Murphy led the Mustangs to a team title at the Gerald Richey Invitational claiming the individual title in the 5K with a time of 17:46.3. Murphy also finished in the top-10 at the Virginia/Panorama Invitational with a fifth-place finish in the 5K with a time of 17:39.7. She was named the American Athletic Conference Female Athlete of the Week after leading the Mustangs to a third-place finish at Panorama Farms. Murphy was one of SMU's top finishers a year ago in her first season on the Hilltop as she placed in the top-20 in five of the six meets she competed in. Charlotte-Tara Murphy was the Mustangs top finisher in the first two meets of the year, including a win at the Gerald Richey Invitational (5K) in a personal best time of 17:23.8. Murphy finished last season with a fifth-place showing at the conference championship and 19th place finish at the regional.

Miller competed in her first cross country meet of the season at Panorama Farms after a long track season that carried over into the summer following her freshman year on the Hilltop. Competing for New Zealand, she placed 15th in the 5K at the World University Games in August. Miller was the Mustangs second finisher behind Murphy placing 13th in a time of 17:39.7. She is one of the top returning Mustangs after a freshman campaign last season that culminated with a trip to the NCAA Cross Country Championship. The Invercargill, New Zealand, native was the first SMU representative at the NCAA Championship since Agnes Sjostrom competed in the meet in 2014. Miller was the team's top finisher in the last five meets of the season, including a fourth-place finish at the NCAA South Central Regional. At the conference championship, Miller earned runner-up honors to help propel the Mustangs to their fourth league title in the past six years and sixth in the last nine years.

IN CASE(Y) YOU DIDN'T KNOW
Cathy Casey has been the head of the Mustangs' cross country program since 2005 and has played a pivotal role in the programs swift rise to national prominence. She has led the Mustangs to four league titles in the past six years and six in the last nine years. During each of the championship seasons, she earned Coach of the Year honors. Last season, SMU won the conference title after placing six in the top-20 to record 45 points and edge two-time defending champion Tulsa by two points (47).

HILLTOP BACK ON TOP
The SMU cross country team won the American Athletic Conference Championship at the Voice of America MetroPark last season. The Mustangs placed six in the top-20. SMU recorded 45 points to edge two-time defending champion Tulsa by two points (47). Memphis finished third with 96 points. The Mustangs picked up their 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 Hannah 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. Her classmate Charlotte-Tara Murphy was also in the front pack and was the second SMU finisher with a time of 20:44.1 to finish fifth. Holly Archer and Agnes 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 in 2015, while Sjostrom had one of her best races of the season to finish in a time of 21:24.7.

UP NEXT
SMU will train for two weeks before competing at the 2017 American Athletic Conference Championship, hosted by Temple. The meet is scheduled to start at 9:50 a.m. CT on Saturday, Oct. 28 at the Belmont Plateau in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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