Track & Field opens season with third-place finish at A&M

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

SMU Finishes Third In Its Opening Meet Of The 2014 Indoor Season
Mustangs Had 17 Individuals Record Top 10 Finishes

Jan. 18, 2014

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (SMU) - The SMU indoor track and field team opened its 2014 season this weekend at the Texas A&M Invitational in College Station, Texas, where the Mustangs placed third as a team and had 17 individual top 10 finishes.

"With this being our first meet of the season, I am very happy with how we competed," Director of Track & Field Dave Wollman said. "I am very happy with where we are at overall as a team."

The Mustangs were led by senior Helena Perez, junior Rayann Chin and freshman Tochi Nlemchi in the throwing events.

Perez finished fourth in the shot put (50'00") and 10th in the weight throw (49'3.5") while Chin placed third in the weight throw (61'0.25") and eighth in the shot put (45'0.25"). Nlemchi, who competed in the first meet of her collegiate career placed ninth in the shot put posting a mark of 44'6.25".

In the field events, sophomore Lucija Cvitanovic placed in the top 10 in both the high jump (10th) and the long jump (ninth) with marks of 5'4.5" and 17'9", respectively. Senior Lisa Egarter finished third in the high jump with mark of 5'8".

Freshman Tova Magnusson and sophomore Holly Archer placed second and third in the one mile run as they posted times of 4:51.96 and 4:52.3, respectively. In the 3,000-meter run, freshman Agnes Sjöström and sophomore Shanoah Souza finished fifth (10:04.36) and seventh (10:15.13), respectively.

"Holly did an outstanding job today as she posted a personal best in the one mile," Wollman said. "The excellent times she posted today show the outstanding progress she has made and her commitment level to getting better.

For the sprinters, junior Stephanie Kalu paced the Mustangs as she placed third in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.47. Junior Craishia Washington and sophomore Rachel Scruggs each placed 10th their respective events with Washington notching that finish in the 200-meter dash (24.38) and Scruggs in the 400-meter dash (57.43).

"Craishia ran exceptionally well today," Wollman continued. "It is evident she is committed to running to the best of her ability and with that, she will be a force to be reckon with in the American Athletic Conference.

SMU is back in action next Saturday and Sunday, January 25-26 when the team travels to Nashville, Tenn. to compete in the Vanderbilt Collegiate Indoor Invitational hosted by Vanderbilt.