Results
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas (SMU) -- SMU bests all its South Central Regional and American Athletic Conference rivals that also competed this morning at the Arturo Barrios Invite. The team placed sixth among a competitive field in College Station.
"The women were tough and patient today," Head Coach A'Havahla Haynes said. "As a team, they made up 27 points over the final kilometer. That is so important in large races."
The team had a combined score of 225, which placed them sixth with nationally ranked Utah Valley winning the meet.
SMU's top five runners had a spread of less than 46 seconds with each running a personal best time in the 6k race. Leoni Mierswa led the Mustangs with a time of 20:11.9 and placement of 19th. Mierswa said they knew the course and what to expect, which was helpful.
"The weather was amazing and practice from the last few weeks paid off," Mierswa said. "We learned to trust the coaches, our teammates and ourselves. Our top six finishers got big personal best times, but I know we all still have more in us. All eyes are on conference now, and we are ready to crush it."
Kaitlyn Gearin ran 20:17.8 for 24th and Flora Tissier placed 45th with 20:34.3. Maddie Hulcy placed 61st, Faustine Chaboche placed 77th, Kendall Saeger came in 124th, and Jessie Crowley placed 209th with 387 athletes and 41 teams in the field.
"Knowing that we did not race all of our women, there are exciting things on the horizon for this team come championship season," Haynes said.
The American Athletic Conference Championships will take place on October 28th in Greenville, North Carolina.
FULL MUSTANG RESULTS
19 Leoni Mierswa 20:11.9 (PR)
24 Kaitlyn Gearin 20:17.8 (PR)
45 Flora Tissier 20:34.3 (PR)
61 Maddie Hulcy 20:47.9 (PR)
77 Faustine Chaboche 20:57.4 (PR)
124 Kendall Saeger 21:25.7 (PR)
209 Jessie Crowley 22:13.8
TOP TEN TEAMS
1 Utah Valley 97
2 UCLA 188
3 Boston College 206
4 Ohio State 214
5 Connecticut 215
6 SMU 225
7 Texas A&M 231
8 Toledo 233
9 Eastern Michigan 255
10 LSU 275
