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.