May 14, 2017
Final Results (PDF) | Photo Gallery
HOUSTON (SMU) – SMU wrapped up the final day of the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships Sunday with three gold medal performances to help the Mustangs place fifth overall with 96 points.
"We had some truly outstanding performances this weekend with seven women receiving all-conference honors, including four individual champions in
Holly Archer,
Shanoah Souza,
Latessa Johnson and
Chelsea Francis," head coachÂ
Cathy Casey said. "The entire team did everything they could and then some to put themselves in a good position."
Archer, Francis and Johnson tallied 30 of the 70 points the Mustangs racked up on the last day of the championships as each won their first career conference outdoor title.
Archer got the Mustangs off to a fast start as she set the meet and stadium record to win the 1,500-meters with a personal best time of 4 minutes, 22.36 seconds. The senior outkicked UCF's Anne-Marie Blaney in the final 200 meters to secure the victory. After her dramatic win, she was back on the track an hour later for the 800-meter final as she picked up five points with a fifth-place finish (2:10.63).
Francis continued her stellar freshman campaign as she set The American record in the 100-meter dash with a personal best time of 11.34 seconds. The Carrollton, Texas, native just missed tying Stephanie Kalu's school record by .01 seconds. The freshman also collected six points for the Mustangs in the 200-meters running a personal best 23.24 (+2.8 mps) to grab her second medal of the championships.
Johnson bounced back from a seventh-place performance in the 100-meters (11.58) to claim her second career conference 200m title (2016 indoor champion) with a stadium record time of 23.10 (+2.8 mps). The Dallas native came off the curve in first and held off a late charge by Houston's Brianne Bethel down the straightaway to secure the victory.
"Coach Miller did an outstanding job guiding a young sprint crew to two conference champions and four all-conference performances," Casey said.
In the 5,000-meters, SMU flexed its muscles as the Mustangs racked up 18 points placing third, fourth, fifth and sixth in the event. SMU placed five in the top-10 led by Hannnah Miller's third-place performance in 16:40.76.
Charlotte-Tara Murphy did not disappoint in her first outdoor conference meet as she finished fourth in a personal record time of 16:54.29.
Shanoah Souza closed out her last conference meet with a fifth-place finish in a season best time 16:59.27, while
Marlene Gomez-Islinger finished sixth in 17:01.96.
Justine Anthony placed 10th in 17:11.10 in her final conference meet.
India Simmons got in on the action running a personal best 1:00.66 to finish third in the 400-meter hurdles after being seeded fifth coming into the meet. Her time is the third-fastest in school history.
In the first running event of the day, the Mustangs 4x100-meter relay team, which consists of three freshman and a sophomore, placed eighth with a season best time of 45.48 seconds. The young relay included freshmen
Alexis Center (leadoff leg), Francis (2nd leg), Simmons (3rd leg) and sophomore Johnson. The 4x400-meter relay team (Archer, Francis, Johnson, Simmons) placed sixth after running a season best time of 3:44.03, which is the fifth fastest time in program history.
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SMU finished in fifth place overall with 96 total points, finishing behind team champion Cincinnati (138 points), runner-up Connecticut (107 points), East Carolina (104.50 points) and UCF (99.50 points). The meet was extremely close among the teams that finished second through fifth as 11 points separated SMU from runner-up UConn.
"The team race was tight this year with only 11 points separating fifth from second, but this team never stopped fighting all the way to the last event" Casey said. "They truly made me proud this weekend. I am very excited to see what the future holds for SMU track and field, especially with five of the seven all-conference honorees returning next year."
Following the conference championships, qualifying Mustangs will compete May 25-27 at the NCAA Division I West Preliminary Round in Austin, Texas. For each individual event contested at each of the Preliminary Round sites, the top 48 declared student-athletes will be accepted into the competition. For each relay event, the top 24 declared relay teams will be accepted into the competition. Combined events (Heptathlon and Decathlon), are not contested at the Preliminary Round sites.
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.
Medalists and All-Conference Honorees
3,000-meter steeplechase -Â
Shanoah Souza (Gold)
1,500-meters -
Holly Archer (Gold)
100-meter dash -
Chelsea Francis (Gold)
200-meter dash -
Latessa Johnson (Gold)
200-meter dash -
Chelsea Francis (Bronze)
400-meter hurdles -
India Simmons (Bronze)
5,000-meters -
Hannah Miller (Bronze)
10,000-meters -Â
Hannah Miller (Bronze)
Heptathlon -Â
Anna Novosadova (Bronze)
Notable Performances
5,000-meters -
Charlotte-Tara Murphy (4th place)
5,000-meters -
Shanoah Souza (5th place)
5,000-meters -
Marlene Gomez-Islinger (6th place)
4x400-meter relay - Archer, Francis, Johnson, Simmons (6th place)
100-meters -
Latessa Johnson (7th place)
4x100-meter relay -
Alexis Center, Francis, Simmons, Johnson (8th place)
WOMEN'S TEAMS SCORES (21 Events Scored)
1. Cincinnati - 138 points
2. Connecticut - 107 points
3. East Carolina - 104.50 points
4. UCF - 99.50 points
5. SMU - 96 points
6. Memphis - 72 points
7. Houston - 70 points
8. Tulane - 66 points
9. Tulsa - 38 points
10. South Florida - 21 points
11. Temple - 6 points
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