Senior Mary Alenbratt holds SMU’s 2012 C-USA Championship trophy. (Courtesy of Mary Alenbratt)

The SMU Women’s Cross Country team woke up early this morning to get in a long run before class.

There is no additional time off for the team, even after this weekend’s victory at the Conference USA Cross Country championship.

The victory, which is the fourth title in the last five years for the Mustangs, was marked with many of the women breaking personal records, as well as defeating a perennial rival in the Tulsa Golden Hurricane.

Of the seven runners that went to conference, three, Mary Alenbratt, Shanoah Souza and Caitlin Keen all topped their previous bests.

In addition, five of the women placed in the top 15 runners, capping an excellent race.

Many of the runners had their success rewarded with after-race accolades.

Freshman Ashlee Powers received Freshman of the Year awards and was named First Team All-Conference along with teammate Alenbratt.

Keen, Souza and Karoline Skatteboe also received all conference second team honors.

This conference championship was a unheralded success for the Mustangs, who have a team composed mainly of freshmen.

“Adding [this] many freshmen sometimes you don’t know what to expect,” head coach Cathy Casey said. “But with this group they are so close and love to compete not just for themselves but for the team.”

The Conference USA is not the last stop for the Mustangs, as the team moves on to the NCAA South Central Region Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. on Nov. 11.

In order to move on to the NCAA championships after regionals, SMU must be one of the top two finishing teams.