Francis Earns Second-Team All-American Honors

Friday, March 8

Birmingham, Ala.

SMU

NCAA Indoor Championships

Photo by: (Ben Solomon/American Athletic Conference)

Francis Earns Second-Team All-American Honors

Mar 8 | Track & Field

60-METER RESULTS DAY ONE STREAM ARCHIVE

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (SMU) – Chelsea Francis earned second-team All-America status after competing in the 60-meter dash at the NCAA Track & Field Indoor Championships on Friday from the Birmingham CrossPlex.

Francis' fantastic indoor season came to a close on Friday as she raced in the semifinal of the 60-meter dash. Her junior campaign has included a number of feats including breaking the school record in the 60-meter as well as a conference gold in that distance.

At the NCAAs, Francis finished eighth in her heat and in 16th overall. Her time of 7.37 was .12 off her fastest time of the season which she set at altitude at the MLK Jr. Invitational. Francis becomes the 16th different Mustang All-American in Indoor Track and Field and the 85^th overall Indoor All-America honor for the program.

The Carrollton, Texas native was able to punch her ticket to Championships with her performance at the American Conference Indoor Championships. The junior ran a 7.26 in the 60-meter in the prelims to improve her qualifying mark which was good enough for a top-16 time in the nation. Francis followed that up with a 7.27 in the final the following day which won her the gold. Additionally, Francis finished in fourth in the conference in the 200-meter.

The junior was first Mustang to participate in the NCAA Indoors since Stephanie Kalu in 2014. Kalu also competed in the 60-meter dash.

As a team, the 2019 Mustang Indoor season included three program records, Francis in the 60 meter, Chika Iwuamadi in the 400-meter and Hannah Miller in the 3000-meter. Along with Francis' Gold in the American Conference 60 meter, the Mustangs notched medals in the high jump (Cassie Ackemann), the Distance Medal Relay (Miller, Svenja Ojstersek, Madison Pyle, Ashton Woods), 400-meter (Iwuamadi), and the 3000-meter (Miller) as well as a pair of medals in the 5000-meter (Miller & Ojstersek).

Francis and her fellow Mustangs return to the track for the onset of the outdoor season on Thursday March 14. The Mustangs will travel to Houston for the Spring Break Invitational.