Four Mustang Runners Break Personal Records to Open Mt. SAC Relays

Thursday, April 19

Torrance, Calif. / Murdock Stadium

All Day

SMU

Mt. SAC Relays

Results

Four Mustang Runners Break Personal Records to Open Mt. SAC Relays

Apr 21 | Track & Field

Mustangs wrap up day one at Mt. SAC Relays; Events continue Saturday

TORRANCE, Calif. (SMU) – Distance runners Anneke Grogan, Hannah Miller, Svenja Ojstersek and Alison Esparza led the way for the Mustangs on Thursday and Friday at the Mt. SAC Relays with each breaking personal records at the West Coast meet. SMU Track & Field will continue at the Mt. SAC Relays in Torrance, Calif. on Saturday.

Grogan competed in the 3,000-meter steeplechase on Thursday evening to start the meet weekend for SMU, finishing 20^th in 10:52.47. The mark shaved 10 seconds off of her existing personal best of 11:02.53 which she set weeks ago at the San Francisco State Distance Carnival.

Continuing her impressive outdoor campaign, Miller found a personal best in the 5,000-meter Invitational event on Friday at the Mt. SAC Relays. Up against elite competition, the sophomore finished her first 5,000-meter race of the season in 16:09.99 to take 22nd. It bests her previous mark by nearly three seconds and moves her into fourth in program history. Miller's time tops the American Conference performance list from this week.

Mustang runners continued to impress. Svenja Ojstersek earned two top-20 finishes, taking sixth in the 10,000-meter (34:54.72) and 16^th in the 5,000-meter (16:44.85). Both marks are personal bests for the Meerbusch, Germany native.

After running the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 11:10.73 the day before, Alison Esparza earned 19^th in her section of the 5,000-meter with a personal-best mark of 17:17.16. She was joined by Anneke Grogan, who earned ninth place and also set a PR in the event (16:56.61). In her first 5,000-meter of the season, Marlene Gomez-Islinger earned 20^th in her section with a time of 17:04.95.

Madison Pyle ran the 400-meter hurdles in 1:01.56 to place 10th while Chelsea Francis represented SMU in her first 200-meter dash of the season. The sophomore took 10^th with a time of 24.07.

In field events, Cassie Ackemann matched her best mark of the season in the high jump (1.73m) and placed third. Daniella Murchison rounded out events at the Mt. SAC Relays with a ninth-place finish in shot put (13.40m) and 15^th in discus (39.42m).

The Mustangs resume competition in Torrance on Saturday, beginning with the 100-meter invitational at the Mt. SAC Relays at 2:45 p.m. Live results for the meet can be found at http://www.mtsacrelays.com/results18.html.