Track Claims Two Titles At Howie Ryan Invitational

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

Mustangs Claim Two Titles At Howie Ryan Invitational
SMU Earns Nine Top-Five Finishes

Jan. 31, 2015

HOUSTON (SMU) - Stephanie Kalu and Karoline Skatteboe each claimed individual titles as the SMU women's track and field team concluded action at the Howie Ryan Invitational on Saturday at the University of Houston's Yeoman Fieldhouse.

"This weekend was the final meet in our three consecutive weekends of competition," said head coach Dave Wollman. "Fatigue from training and traveling sets in and a lot of young teams will lose focus, but the staff and I were extremely pleased with the work we got done and the effort made in Houston."

Stephanie Kalu, who was named the American Athletic Conference's Track Athlete of the Week on Jan. 27, won the 60-meter dash, tying her season best time (7.33). Shahira Ehiemua also placed 19th in the 60-meter (7.73). In the 400-meter, Rachel Scruggs was SMU's top finisher, placing 14th (58.27).

"I was especially pleased with the efforts made by the sprint team led by Kalu," said Wollman. "They are working very hard and yet continue to show improvement. Coach [Tony] Miller will definitely have them ready for the battle in New York!"

The Mustangs' distance runners had an impressive outing, led by Skatteboe's first-place finish in the mile (4:56.97).Agnes Sjöström also placed fifth in the mile (5:04.88). Melanie Stemper was runner-up in the 3,000-meter (9:49.39) and Caitlin Keen and Shanoah Souza also finished in the top five, as Keen placed fourth (9:55.15) and Souza finished fifth (10:00.03). Sjöström followed in sixth (10:00.70). In the 800-meter run, Holly Archer finished second (2:13.61) and Skatteboe placed 10th (2:17.82).

Rayann Chin had yet another strong weekend in the throwing events, finishing fourth in both the shot put (14.82m) and the weight throw (18.45m). Tochi Nlemchi added a sixth-place finish in the shot put (14.40m).

Carly Shuttlesworth also competed in the field events, placing 28th in the long jump (4.88m).

Lucija Cvitanovic competed in several of the pentathlon events, including a second-place finish in the shot put (10.58m) and a third-place finish in the high jump (1.65m).

"The next step is to refine training and to sharpen a little at Arkansas," said Wollman. "We will run in our primary events and zero in on the conference championships. We stayed relatively healthy and things look very promising!"

The Mustangs will have next weekend off before returning to action on Saturday, Feb. 14 for the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

I noticed Cvitanovic passed on her final long jump attempt and didn't run the 800.

I hope it wasn't an injury because she was doing really well through the first three events of the Pentathlon.

[SMU Pony Mom]

Great job!