Miller finishes second in 5,000 at AAC Indoor Championships

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From SMUMustangs.com:

Miller Leads SMU On Day One Of The American Indoor Track & Field Championships
Mustangs Sit In Sixth Place With 21 Points

Feb. 24, 2017

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (SMU) – Freshman Hannah Miller led the Mustangs on day one of the American Athletic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships Friday with a runner-up finish in the 5,000-meters, nearly breaking the school record with a personal-best time of 16 minutes, 16.84 seconds.

Miller picked up eight points for the Mustangs and her time broke the old meet record of 16:31.30 set last year by UCF’s Anne-Marie Blaney, who won the event with a new meet record time of 16:07.85. Senior Shanoah Souza also got in on the action and grabbed three points for the Mustangs in the 5K with a season best time of 16:53.19 to place fifth.

Miller returned to the track after the 5K to again pick up runner-up honors while teaming up with classmates Charlotte-Tara Murphy, India Simmons and senior Holly Archer in the distance medley relay. The distance medley relay (DMR) is composed of legs of 1,200, 400, 800 and 1,600 meters for a total of 10 laps, or 4,000 meters.

"We had amazing efforts by the DMR ladies,” head coach Cathy Casey said.

Murphy ran the opening 1,200-meter leg and handed off the baton to Simmons in fourth-place, who ran the 400-meter leg. The Mustangs were in sixth-place after Simmons passed the baton to Archer, who ran the 800-meter leg. Archer climbed three spots and got the Mustangs into third-place after her handoff to Miller to anchor the mile leg. Miller moved up one spot and helped SMU pick up another eight points with the second-fastest DMR in school history with a time of 11:35.56. The Mustangs broke the old meet record of 11:35.64 set last year by Connecticut, who won the event with a new meet record of 11:32.66.

In the first event of the day, it was junior Anna Novosadova who got the Mustangs on the board with one point after an eight-place finish with a personal best 3,332 points in just her second career pentathlon.

The Coppell, Texas, native recorded four personal bests (60-meter hurdles, high jump, long jump and 800-meter run). She placed third in the 60-meter hurdles in a time of 8.99 seconds to earn 912 points. In the high jump, she placed ninth with a mark of 5 feet, 0.50 inches (1.54m). In the long jump, she finished fourth with a mark of 17 feet, 4.25 inches (5.29m) for 640 points. She finished fourth in the 800-meters with a time of 2 minutes, 28.36 seconds to secure 714 points.

In the weight throw, senior Tochi Nlemchi finished eighth overall after a personal-best toss of 59 feet, 11 inches (18.26m) on her last throw of the first flight to pick up one point for the Mustangs. Nlemchi’s throw is the sixth-best mark in school history.

"Tochi with a one-meter personal record in the weight throw, Anna getting a personal record in the pentathlon and Hannah and Shanoah running season bests to score in the 5,000-meters, Casey said."

In the mile prelims, Archer and Murphy both advanced to Saturday’s final after finishing in the top-12. Archer had the fifth fastest time (4:57.55), while Murphy recorded the 10th fastest (5:03.80).

“Tomorrow we have finals and the ladies need to bring it even more on the final day,” Casey said.

In the 60-meter dash, freshman Chelsea Francis finished 11th with a time of 7.52.

Action begins tomorrow at 9:45 a.m. CT with the high jump. All championship information and results can be found at www.TheAmerican.org/ITF. Live coverage of the event can be viewed on any computer, tablet or mobile device via The American Digital Network (TheAmerican.org/DN).

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