The SMU cross-country team won its first-ever Conference USA championship last weekend in Memphis, Tenn.
Sophomore Silje Fjortoft led the way for the Mustangs with a performance good enough to take the individual title.
The team was expected to finish behind the Rice Owls, who have won the competition for the last two years. But thanks to an outstanding team performance, in which SMU placed five runners in the top 12, the Mustangs bettered the Owls by a comfortable ten-point margin.
The team knew it needed a complete team effort to take gold and end its four-year championship drought. SMU brought seven runners to the competition, all of which finished in the top 20.
“I was just so proud of the girls,” SMU coach Cathy Casey told SMUMustangs.com. “Everybody just really stepped up from where they were. We really came together as a team. Every single runner went out there and ran their heart out. It was time that we all came together, not just one person, but the entire team.”
Fjortoft, the 2007 conference Freshman of the Year, put in a time of 16:46 that broke the five kilometer course record and beat Tulsa’s defending champion Alex Becker by a whopping 17 seconds.
Joining Fjortoft on the All-Conference first team was SMU’s Rachael Forish, a 2006 All-American, who finished sixth with a time of 17:24.
Fjortoft and Forish stood in good company on the podium, as every Mustang that competed last weekend earned a spot on an All-Conference team.
Second-team accolades were given to 10th-place finisher Monika Korra, who finished with a time of 17:39. Her teammates were not far behind, as fellow freshman Claire Hardwick (17:41) and Senior Jessa Simmons (17:42) finished 11th and 12th.
Representing the All-Conference third team were seniors Sierra Anderson (18:15) and Ilyssa Pettigrew (18:18), who finished 17th and 20th, respectively. The Mustangs’ outstanding performance should give the team strong momentum as they head towards their next challenge. On Nov. 15th, the squad travels a little closer to home for the NCAA Regional in Waco, Texas.
