The SMU Cross Country team brought home the gold medal from the Conference USA Championships at Rice Monday. The Mustangs scored a total of 57 points, with defending C-USA Champions closely trailing by a mere 2 points, making this the second closest meet in league history.

While the gold medal is impressive enough, the Mustangs couldn’t leave Tulsa without setting a new record. Senior Silje Fjortoft set a new conference record to take first place finishing the 5K race with a speedy time of 16:06.8. The win is her fifth consecutive gold medal finish. She also managed to leave two-time defending champion, Risper Kimaiyo from UTEP, in the dust by an exceptional eight seconds.

Coach Cathy Casey, named C-USA’s Women’s Cross Country Coach of the year, said the race was one of the most impressive she has seen from Fjortoft.

Both runners, Kimaiyo and Fjortoft, hit the same pace through the 4K mark and ran an exciting race.

Mustang Kristine Eikrem-Engeset joined Fjortoft in stampeding across the finishing line in the top-ten group. Kristine placed 7th, with an impressive 17:22.2. Both were named to the All-Conference First Team. Fjortoft was also named the conference’s Outstanding Senior.

SMU’s Mary Alenbratt (12th) and Monika Korra (14th) both hit in the 17-second range as well with time of 17:37.7 and 17:49.0. The astounding runs helped rack of points for the Mustangs gold medal. Both received All-Conference Second Team honors.

Freshman Kajsa Barr finish 23 out of the 92 runners with a time of 18:06.9. Teammates Aasha Marietta (33rd) and sophomore Caitlin Keen (44th) also finished in the top half of the competition.

The Ponies will see the finish line again Saturday Nov. 12 to compete in the NCAA South Central Regional Championships in Waco, Texas.