SMU Set To Compete In Pair Of Meets In California

Thursday, April 13

Torrance, Calif.

ALL DAY

SMU

Mt. SAC Relays

SMU Set To Compete In Pair Of Meets In California

Apr 11 | Track & Field

Mustangs Split Up This Weekend At Mt. SAC Relays & Beach Invitational

Mt. SAC Relays
Date	April 13-15 , 2017
Location	Murdock Stadium – Torrance, Calif. (Hosted by El Camino College)
Live Results	Live Stats
Meet Notes	Meet Notes (PDF)
Meet Information	Schedule \| Heat Sheets
Facebook	/SMUTrackFieldXC \| /SMUMustangs
Twitter	@SMUTrackFieldXC \| @SMUMustangs
Beach Invitational
Date	April 14-15, 2017
Location	Jack Rose Track – Long Beach, Calif. (Hosted by Long Beach State)
Live Results	Live Stats
Meet Information	Meet Information \| Schedule \| Heat Sheets
Facebook	/SMUTrackFieldXC \| /SMUMustangs
Twitter	@SMUTrackFieldXC \| @SMUMustangs

April 11, 2017

DALLAS (SMU) – After a week off from competition, the SMU women's track and field team heads to the West Coast for a pair of meets this weekend in California.

The Mustangs will compete at the Mt. SAC Relays (April 13-15) and the Beach Invitational (April 14-15). The Mt. SAC Relays will be held at Murdock Stadium on the campus of El Camino College in Torrance, California, while the Beach Invitational will take place at Jack Rose Track on the campus of Long Beach State University in Long Beach, California.

MT. SAC RELAYS
SMU will have a combination of sprinters, throwers and distance runners compete at the 59th annual Mt. SAC Relays. Four Mustangs (Holly Archer, Latessa Johnson, Hannah Miller and Shanoah Souza) are scheduled to compete in the invitational section of their prospective race. Archer will run the 1,500-meters, while Johnson will run the 200-meters. Miller and Souza will compete in the 5,000-meters and 3,000-meter steeplechase, respectively. Running events are scheduled to begin Thursday at 6:30 p.m. CT with the men's 3,000m steeplechase, while Friday's competition is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. CT with the women's 1,500m. Saturday's events are slated to start at 11:30 a.m. CT. Click here for live results.

BEACH INVITATIONAL
Rebekah Bosler, Alexis Center and Madison Pyle will compete at the 23rd annual Beach Invitational. Bosler is set to run the 5,000m, while Center will pull double duty running the 100m and 200m and Pyle is scheduled to run the 400-meter hurdles. Running events are scheduled to begin Friday at 12:40 p.m. CT. with the women's 5,000m. Click here for live results.

JOHNSON NAMED THE AMERICAN TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK (April 4):
SMU sophomore Latessa Johnson was named the American Athletic Conference Women's Track Athlete of the Week.

The Dallas native picked up her first career conference honor after winning the 200-meter dash in 23.12 seconds at the Bobcat Invitational last week. With a tailwind of 3.8 meters per second, Johnson just missed breaking the 23-second barrier in just her first 200-meter race of the season. Her time is the fastest in the American Athletic Conference and is tied for 16th in the NCAA.

The sophomore also placed fifth in the 100-meter dash with a season best time of 11.49 (+4.0 mps), which is the third fastest in The American and is tied for 24th in the country.

Johnson is the second Mustang to garner Track Athlete of the Week accolades this season. Senior Holly Archer received the honor last week (March 28, 2017).

BOBCAT INVITATIONAL RECAP (April 1):
Sophomore Latessa Johnson won the 200-meter dash Saturday in a time of 23.12 seconds on the final day of the Bobcat Invitational.

The Dallas native just missed breaking the 23-second barrier in just her first 200-meter race of the season. Johnson's time is the fastest in the American Athletic Conference and is tied for 16th in the NCAA.

Freshman Chelsea Francis put together another impressive showing after running a conference leading 11.42 Friday in the 100-meter dash. The Carrollton, Texas, native finished third in the same heat as Johnson with a season best time of 23.75, which ranks third in The American. There was a tailwind of 3.8 meters per second in their heat.

In the throws, three Mustangs placed in the top-10 in the shot put. Junior Jacquetta Cannon earned runner-up honors with a throw of 48 feet, 0.50 inches (14.64m) and sophomore Daniella Murhcison picked up the bronze after a personal best toss of 47-02.50 (14.39m). Sophomore Kennedy Godsey also had a personal record in the shot with a throw of 43-00.50 (13.12m) to finish 10th.

STANFORD INVITATIONAL AND SAN FRANCISCO STATE DISTANCE CARNIVAL RECAP (April 1):
The Mustangs wrapped up their West Coast trip recording six season-best times Friday while competing at the Stanford Invitational and the San Francisco State Distance Carnival.

At the Stanford Invitational, freshman Hannah Miller led the way placing ninth in section three of the 5,000-meters with a time of 16 minutes, 12.55 seconds, which is the fifth-fastest time in program history. Senior Holly Archer did not disappoint as she finished third in her section of the 1,500-meters with a time of 4:26.39.

Four Mustangs competed in San Francisco, led by senior Shanoah Souza third-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a time of 10:26.81. Charlotte-Tara Murphy, Justine Anthony and Anneke Grogan all were within six seconds of each other in their first 5K of the season. Murphy finished in 17:00.87, while Anthony set a personal record of 17:10.69 and Grogan ran 17:16.41.

MUSTANG MARKS:
SMU has 11 Mustangs that rank in the top nine in 10 events on the outdoor American Athletic Conference performance list.

100-meter dash:
Chelsea Francis (11.42, 1st)
Latessa Johnson (11.49, 4th)

200-meter dash:
Latessa Johnson (23.12, 1st)
Chelsea Francis (23.75, tied for 4th)

800-meters:
Holly Archer (2:09.26, 2nd)

1,500-meters:
Holly Archer (4:26.39, 2nd)
Hannah Miller (4:31.32, 6th)

5,000-meters:
Hannah Miller (16:12.55, 2nd)
Charlotte-Tara Murphy (17:00.87, 5th)
Justine Anthony (17:10.69, 9th)

400-meter hurdles:
India Simmons (1:00.73, 3rd)

3,000-meter steeplechase:
Shanoah Souza (10:26.81, 1st)

4x400-meter relay:
Archer, Francis, Johnson, Simmons (3:46.19, 5th)

Shot Put:
Jacquetta Cannon (48'8.75", 7th)
Daniella Murchison (47'2.5", 8th)

Heptathlon:
Anna Novosadova (4,511 points, 2nd)

2017 OUTLOOK:
The 2017 SMU track & field team returns 18 letterwinners and will seek to claim its first conference outdoor championships since the Mustangs won back-to-back American Athletic Conference titles in 2014 and 2015. Second year head coach Cathy Casey and the Mustangs are coming off a sixth-place finish last year at The American Outdoor Championships. Casey will look to a senior-laden distance group led by Archer, Agnes Sjostrom and Shanoah Souza to guide this Mustangs' team that includes 18 underclassmen.

ALL-AMERICAN MUSTANGS:
SMU returns senior Tochi Nlemchi and sophomore sprinter Latessa Johnson after both Mustangs earned All-American honors last spring at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field 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 compete in the short sprints and relays (100m, 200m, 4x100m and 4x400m), 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 competes in both the 1,500 meters and 5,000 meters. 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.

UP NEXT:
The Mustangs return to action Saturday, April 22 at the Michael Johnson Invitational in Waco, Texas.

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.