Friday, September 1
Waco, TX / Heart of Texas Soccer Complex
7 P.M.
SMU
at
Bear Twilight Invitational
SMU Opens Season At The Bear Twilight Invitational Friday at 7 p.m.
Aug 29 | Cross Country
Mustangs Travel To Waco, Texas, For Season Opener
| 2017 Bear Twilight Invitational | |
| Date | Saturday, September 1, 2017 |
| Location | Heart of Soccer Complex – Waco, Texas (Hosted by Baylor University) |
| Meet Notes | Notes (PDF) |
| Meet Information | Schedule |
| /SMUTrackFieldXC | /SMUMustangs | |
| @SMUTrackFieldXC | @SMUMustangs | |
August 29, 2017
DALLAS (SMU) – For the third straight year, the SMU cross country team will open the season at the Bear Twilight Invitational Friday at 7 p.m. in Waco, Texas.
The Mustangs will compete against six teams from Texas in a 4-kilometer race that is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at the Heart of Soccer Complex.
SMU will be joined by teams from Abilene Christian, Baylor, Incarnate Word, North Texas, Texas State and TCU. This will be a double dual meet scored event with the Mustangs competing against Incarnate Word and Baylor.
The Mustangs return eight letterwinners from last season's conference championship team. SMU will be led by sophomore duo Hannah Miller and Charlotte-Tara Murphy, who each garnered all-conference and all-region honors last season.
M&M
Hannah Miller is the top returning Mustang after a freshman campaign last season that culminated with a trip to the NCAA 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. 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.
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 sixth 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).
MUSTANGS IN THE USTFCCCA PRESEASON REGIONAL POLL
The SMU cross country team starts the 2017 season ranked fifth in the preseason U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) South Central Regional Coaches' Poll. SMU is the highest ranking American Athletic Conference team in its respective regional rankings with both Tulane and Tulsa ranked 10th in the South Central and Midwest, respectively. Houston is ranked 12th in the South Central, Wichita State is 14th in the Midwest and Temple is 15th in the Mid-Atlantic.
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 freshman 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. Recent graduates 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 a year ago, while Sjostrom had one of her best races of the season to finish in a time of 21:24.7.
LAST TIME AT THE BEAR TWILIGHT INVITATIONAL (SEPT. 1, 2016)
The SMU cross country team opened the 2016 season with five Mustangs finishing in the top 10 at the Heart of Texas Soccer Complex. Charlotte-Tara Murphy led a trio of Mustangs in the top five as she finished the 4-kilometer course third with a time of 13 minutes, 53.9 seconds. Holly Archer placed fourth in a personal-best time of 13:54.1, while Hannah Miller finished fifth in her first collegiate race in a time of 13:58.6. Rakel Barrientos also ran a personal-best time of 14:12.2 as she finished eighth, while senior Justine Anthony placed ninth (14:21.2). Anneke Grogan was the third Mustang to record a personal-best on the evening as she finished 11th overall with a time of 14:29.8 and graduate student Marlene Gomez-Islinger placed 13th (14:31.5).
LAST TIME OUT AS A TEAM – NCAA SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP (NOV. 11, 2016)
The SMU cross country team placed fifth out of 20 teams at the 2016 NCAA South Central Regional Championship at Agri Park. The Mustangs scored 109 points, one behind fourth-place Texas (108). No. 7 Arkansas won the meet with 48 points, followed by No. 25 Baylor with 62 points and Rice with 93 points. SMU placed three in the top-20, led by Hannah Miller's fourth-place finish. Miller was the top freshman finisher out of the 144 competitors from the meet. The Invercargill, New Zealand, native was the top SMU finisher for the fourth-consecutive meet, finishing the 6-kilometer race in a time of 20 minutes, 26.3 seconds. Holly Archer placed 14th with a time of 20:55.0, while Charlotte-Tara Murphy finished 19th (21:05.4). All three were named to the all-region team.
UP NEXT
SMU will train for two weeks before competing at the Gerald Richey Invitational at UT Arlington Saturday, Sept.16. The meet is scheduled to start at 8 a.m. and will be held at Lynn Creek Park in Grand Prairie, Texas.
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.
Players Mentioned
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