SMU Heptathlete Lucija Cvitanovic Garners First AAC Honor

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

SMU Heptathlete Lucija Cvitanovic Garners First Weekly Honor Of Season
Cvitanovic Placed Fifth In The Heptathlon At The Texas Relays

April 1, 2014

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (SMU/American) - Following her fifth-place performance in the heptathlon at the 87th Annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, sophomore heptathlete Lucija Cvitanovic has been named the outdoor track & field Athlete of the Week, the American Athletic Conference announced Tuesday. The honor is the first of her career and SMU's fifth this season.

Competing against a strong field in Austin, Texas, Cvitanovic scored a personal-best 5,455 points in the heptathlon which is good for third all-time at SMU and ranks her 6th in the nation in the event. The Zagreb, Croatia, native currently holds The American's top marks in the heptathlon (5,455 points) and the javelin (48.26 meters).

In the heptathlon at the Texas Relays, the sophomore won the javelin with a mark of 48.26 meters (826 pts.), finished fourth in the 800-meter run in 2:18.38 (846 pts.), placed sixth in the shot put with a mark of 11.89 meters (654 pts.) and earned ninth in the high jump (1.66m, 806 pts.), 14th in the long jump (5.51m, 703 pts.), 15th in the 100-meter hurdles (14.71 seconds, 880 pts.) and 21st in the 200-meter dash (26.67 seconds, 740 pts.).

Prior to the Texas Relays, Cvitanovic opened her outdoor season with a first-place finish in the javelin (47.79 meters) at the TCU Horned Frog Invitational. The Mustang sophomore capped off the American Athletic Conference Indoor Championships with a first-place finish in the pentathlon (3851 points) as she helped SMU win the programs first indoor conference championship in school history.

Cvitanovic and SMU are back in action next weekend as it splits its team between the Stanford Invitational (April 4-5) in Palo Alto, Calif. and the Texas Tech Open (April 5) in Lubbock, Texas.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Congratulations, Lucija!