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 has proven to be the No. 1 team in their region after taking first place in the NCAA South Central Regional, their first regional win since 2004.

SMU will be going up against the best in the nation on Monday at the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind. Last year at the NCAA championships, SMU finished No. 20, but this year the expectations are even higher despite the fact that five of SMU’s top runners are freshmen.

After claiming the Conference USA crown and winning first at the NCAA South Central Regional, the Mustangs are now the No. 22 ranked team in the country, their highest rank this season.

Joining SMU in the national rankings and at the NCAA championship is fellow conference rival and newly ranked No. 23 UTEP. The Miners improved significantly from last year, taking second at the C-USA tournament and fourth at the Mountain Regional behind powerhouse teams No. 6 Colorado, No. 9 Texas Tech and No. 19 Brigham Young University.

With the cross country season coming to a close and end of the year honors being handed out, it came as no surprise that junior Silje Fjortoft was named the South Central Region Athlete of the Year. Also, head coach Cathy Casey was named South Central Region Coach of the Year.

SMU also had five runners named to the NCAA South Central All-Region team. Aside from Fjortoft, sophomore Kristine Eikrem-Engeset and freshmen Mary Alenbratt, Veronika Blom and Sara Sjokvist were named to the all-region team.

The Mustangs will be one of 31 teams running on Monday. The race is set to start roughly at noon, with the men’s race starting an hour beforehand. SMU fans can catch the action on Versus Network or online at NCAA.com.