SMU Wins UTA Invitational
Sophomores Melanie Stemper and Shanoah Souza Place First and Second Overall
Sophomore Melanie Stemper
Sept. 14, 2013
ARLINGTON, Texas (SMU) - The SMU women's cross country placed first at the University Texas-Arlington Invitational. Sophomores Melanie Stemper and Shanoah Souza paced the Mustangs as they finished first (17:09.7) and second (17:50.4) overall out of 48 total runners from six schools in the 5k race.
Stemper earned the first individual title of her career in just her second collegiate race.
“It was nice to see Melanie grab her first collegiate win,†said head coach Cathy Casey on Stemper’s stellar performance. “She has been working really hard and having set a personal record today validates all her hard work.â€
In addition to Stemper and Souza, sophomore Holly Archer finished fourth crossing the finish line in 17:55.6. Senior Caitlin Keen rounded out the Mustangs in to Top 10 as she placed sixth in 18:15.1.
“Holly and Caitlin really finished strong as they were passing other competitors the entire race,†continued Casey.
Freshmen Anna Nelson, Margaret Brennan and Julie Vanderhout placed 12th (19:06.1), 13th (19:13.
and 14th (19:20.6), respectively.Freshmen Lauren Zabaleta and Ali Franklin also competed as well posting times of 19:41.2 and 20:12.1. Also, sophomore Claire Trotter competed in her first race of the 2013 season crossing the finish line in a time of 20:36.9.
“This was our first 5k race of the season and everyone needed to learn how to run in this type of race. I am very happy with our results today,†stated Casey about the team’s performance.
SMU is idle until they compete on Saturday, September 28 at the University of North Texas Invitational when they travel to nearby Denton, Texas.
