April 18, 2017
DALLAS (SMU) – In its final tune-up before the American Athletic Conference Championships in two weeks, the SMU women's track and field team will head to Waco, Texas, Saturday for the 2017 Michael Johnson Invitational.
Field events start at 9 a.m. CT with the men javelin, while the afternoon running events are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. with the women 100-meter hurdles. The evening running events start at 5 p.m. with the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase.
The Mustangs will be one of 16 teams sending athletes to compete at Clyde Hart Track & Field Stadium. SMU will be joined by competitors from Abilene Christian, Air Force, Angelo State, No. 24 Baylor, Cal State Fullerton, George Mason, Lamar, No. 19 Miami, Northern Illinois, Notre Dame, Stephen F. Austin, Tarleton State, No. 8 Texas A&M, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, TCU, and Texas Tech.
Live results will be available at
deltatiming.com.
CLYDE HART TRACK & FIELD STADIUM:
The 2017 season will mark the third at Clyde Hart Track and Field Stadium on the Baylor campus.
Named for legendary Baylor track coach, Clyde Hart, the $18.1 million facility was dedicated on Dec. 5, 2014. The stadium accommodates 5,000 spectators and participants with seating on the front and back stretches. It was designed by Kansas City-based Populous, which planned McLane Stadium, and built by Austin Commercial and Flintco, which also constructed the football stadium.
The surface of the track is a full pour polyurethane surface done by Beynon Sports, using its revolutionary BSS 2000 system with embedded texture. The Olympic-caliber BSS 2000 system is IAAF certified and offers athletes the highest level of control and maximum energy return. The track is nine lanes affording a spectacular view of the Brazos River.
In its first year, the facility hosted both the Baylor Invitational and the Michael Johnson Classic with fans, coaches and and athletes giving the venue rave reviews.
The Clyde Hart Track and Field Stadium is located just next door to McLane Stadium at 1601 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
ARCHER SETS PERSONAL RECORD IN 1500M AT MT. SAC RELAYS (April 15):
Senior
Holly Archer ran a personal best in the 1,500 meters to lead the Mustangs on day two of the Mt. SAC Relays.
Archer finished 19th overall and sixth in the second heat of the elite invitational section with a time of 4 minutes, 22.92 seconds, which is the third-fastest time in school history.
Junior
Rebekah Bosler joined Archer as she set a personal record winning the fourth heat of the 1500m open section in a time of 4:49.93.
Senior
Justine Anthony also recorded a personal best in her first 10K of the season Thursday with a time of 38:06.81, while freshman
Alison Esparza ran her first collegiate 10K in 37:35.96.
SMU got solid performances from senior
Shanoah Souza and freshman
Hannah Miller, who both competed in the elite invitational sections of the 3,000 meter steeplechase and the 5,000m, respectively. Souza finished 20th overall and seventh in her heat (10:27.33) and Miller placed 25th overall and sixth in her heat (16:26.63).
Freshman
Charlotte-Tara Murphy and junior
Marlene Gomez-Islinger were also impressive in the 5,000m as both Mustangs broke the 17-minute barrier. Murphy set a personal best running 16:57.00 to finish 25th overall and Gomez-Islinger finished 26th (16:57.54) in her first outdoor 5K of the season. Sophomore
Anneke Grogan time of 17:09.05 in the 5K was a personal best as she finished 37th overall.
In the sprints, the Mustangs placed two in the top-15 of the 100 meter dash with freshman
Chelsea Francis and sophomore
Latessa Johnson finishing 13th and 14th, respectively. Francis won the fourth heat in 11.69 seconds (+1.7 mps) and Johnson placed sixth in the second heat in 11.73 (+2.8 mps). Francis pulled double duty running the 200m and finished 15th overall after placing fifth in the second heat in a time of 23.97 (+3.5 mps).
Freshman
India Simmons was the third heat winner of the day as she recorded the highest finish of the team placing ninth in the 400-meter hurdles. The San Antonio, Texas, native won heat four nearly cracking the 60-second barrier with a time of 1:01.33.
MUSTANG MARKS:
SMU has 14 Mustangs that rank in the top-10 in 11 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 (4:22.92, 2nd)
Hannah Miller (4:31.32, 7th)
5,000-meters:
Hannah Miller (16:12.55, 3rd)
Charlotte-Tara Murphy (16:57.00, 7th)
Marlene Gomez-Islinger (16:57.54, 8th)
Anneke Grogan (17:09.05, 10th)
10,000-meters:
Alison Esparza (37:35.96, 7th)
Justine Anthony (38:06.81, 9th)
400-meter hurdles:
India Simmons (1:00.73, 4th)
3,000-meter steeplechase:
Shanoah Souza (10:26.81, 2nd)
4x400-meter relay:
Archer, Francis, Johnson, Simmons (3:46.19, 6th)
Shot Put:
Jacquetta Cannon (48'8.75", 7th)
Daniella Murchison (47'2.5", 8th)
Heptathlon:
Anna Novosadova (4,511 points, 3rd)
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 Francis 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 will have the next two weekends off in preparation for the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships May 12-14 at the Carl Lewis International Complex in Houston, Texas. SMU finished sixth at The American outdoor meet last year after winning the conference title in 2014 and 2015.
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.
