The SMU cross country team repeats as Conference USA champions after taking first at the conference tournament in Houston last weekend. Head coach Cathy Casey won C-USA Head Coach of the Year award for the second time. Photo courtesy SMU Athletics

The SMU cross-country team is now the top dog in the South Central Region, having moved up to the No. 1 ranking after claiming their second consecutive Conference USA Championship two weekends ago.

Some of the other schools in the South Central Region include nationally ranked No. 28 Arkansas, Baylor and University of Texas. The second highest ranked C-USA school in the region is Rice at No. 5. TCU is ranked No. 10 in the region.

On top of being named to the top of their region, the Mustangs are also now the No. 25 ranked team in the nation. Distance coach Cathy Casey was named Conference USA Coach of the Year.

“It’s really the outstanding effort of the team,” Casey said. “Seeing them elevate their performances is really meaningful to me. How much work they put in and the results are pretty cool.”

The most surprising part of the Mustangs’ victory was the fact that several of their top runners were freshmen and completely new to the team. According to Dave Wollman, director of track and field/cross country, he knew that the girls had talent but was not sure about how quickly they could adapt to the collegiate level.

“We did it with a bunch of news girls, with almost an entirely different team,” said Dave Wollman, director of track and field/cross country. “The only returning girl from last year was Silje, so we filled in the next four spots and raised the bar. It’s good news for the future.”

At the C-USA tournament, junior Silje Fjortoft came in second overall and was the first Mustang to cross the finish line. Right behind her in third and fourth were freshmen Sara Sjokvist and Veronika Blom, respectively. Sophomore Kristine Eikrem-Engeset and freshman Mary Alenbratt rounded out the top 10, finishing ninth and 10th, respectively.

Now the team travels to Waco to participate at the NCAA South Central Regionals in hopes of making it to the NCAA championships. Wollman is not worried about his girls at all; in fact, he is more than confident in them.

“I honestly think this is the best team we’ve ever had at SMU.”