In a battle for the first ever American Athletic Conference Championship in Cross Country, the SMU Mustangs took the title in Madison, Conn. Saturday over their fellow AAC competitors.

This represents the third straight conference championship for SMU and fifth in its last six attempts, the previous titles being from Conference USA.

It is also SMU’s first American Athletic Conference title since joining the new league this year, and with how dominant the entire Cross Country team played, it shouldn’t be the last.

The Mustangs won the race with an overall score of 29 points, less than half of their closest opponent University of Louisville, who finished with 61. Two first-years finished within the top five, Tova Magnusson and Agnes Sjostrom, with times of 20:23.16 and 20:43.91 respectively.

SMU has remained atop the standings all season including the Conference Championships. After Saturday’s race, SMU has now won half of all the races it has been involved in this season, and placed top two in four of the first six.

In all, seven racers from SMU finished within the top 16 and six were represented within the All-Conference team: Magnusson and Sjöström; sophomores Melanie Stemper, Karoline Skatteboe and Holly Archer; and senior Caitlin Keen.

With another impressive victory against her conference foes, Head Coach Cathy Casey also took home a prize in her fifth Coach of the Year honor since becoming the head coach in 2005.

The Mustangs will continue their season Nov. 16, when they travel to Waco to compete in the South Central Regionals before preparing for the NCAA Championships a week later.