FjÃ¸rtoft Named Region Cross Country Athlete Of The Year

by **PonyPride** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 12:32 pm

From SMUMustangs.com:

FjÃ¸rtoft Named Region Athlete Of The Year
Senior earns third career regional honor

Nov. 17, 2011

NEW ORLEANS (SMU) â€“ Senior Silje FjÃ¸rtoft was named the South Central Region Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association for the third time of her career. She also received the title in 2007 and 2009, and is the first athlete in the regionâ€™s history to ever win three regional titles.

FjÃ¸rtoft is undefeated for the season, winning six consecutive gold medals. Her most recent win came at the NCAA South Central Regional Championships when she crossed the finish line with a time of 19:59.1â€”more than 26 seconds faster than the runner up from Rice. She also set a conference record and led SMU to a conference title when she won the Conference USA Championships (16:06.

.

FjÃ¸rtoft will compete at the NCAA Championships on Nov. 21 in Terre Haute, Ind. The race will be broadcast live on NCAA.com beginning at 11:58 a.m. CT.

by **2ndandlong** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 4:17 pm

Go Mustangs!

by **smupony94** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 4:32 pm

How do you pronounce her name?

by **DanFreibergerForHeisman** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 4:35 pm

Congratulations, Silje!

by **DanFreibergerForHeisman** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 4:36 pm

smupony94 wrote:How do you pronounce her name?

Just like it's spelled.

by **Dutch** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 4:50 pm

FjÃ¸rtoft

by **fifty** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 9:17 pm

I believe it's pronounced like Celia Fior-toft.

by **smupony94** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 9:20 pm

Thank you

by **DanFreibergerForHeisman** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 10:01 pm

fifty wrote:I believe it's pronounced like Celia Fior-toft.

Yeah, thanks!

I spent about 30 minutes looking at Norwegian pronunciation guides and saw about three or four different suggestions for pronouncing the o with the slash through it so I gave up. Until further notice I will go with this one!

by **smupony94** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 10:06 pm

DanFreibergerForHeisman wrote:
smupony94 wrote:How do you pronounce her name?

Just like it's spelled.

smartass

by **Dutch** » Fri Nov 18, 2011 7:57 am

Pot, meet kettle.

by **Hilltopper** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 2:08 pm

DanFreibergerForHeisman wrote:I spent about 30 minutes looking at Norwegian pronunciation guides ...

You did?

As someone who can't run down the hill in front of my house (age, weight, bad knees), I'm in awe of great distance runners. Congratulations, Silje.

by **Terry Webster** » Mon Nov 21, 2011 6:53 pm

Silje came in 13th at the championships today. She was leading at the 3k mark. Great year for her.

by **DanFreibergerForHeisman** » Mon Nov 21, 2011 7:40 pm

Terry Webster wrote:Silje came in 13th at the championships today. She was leading at the 3k mark. Great year for her.

Thanks for the update. She earned All-America honors as well!

http://smumustangs.cstv.com/sports/w-xc/recaps/112111aac.html

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (SMU) - Senior Silje Fjortoft finished off her SMU cross country career with a 13th place finish at the NCAA Championships this afternoon at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course. By finishing in the top 40, with a time of 19:58.1, the Orsta, Norway native earned All-America honors for the first time.

by **Dutch** » Tue Nov 22, 2011 10:38 am

way to go!