Two SMU women’s track competitors earned All-American honors at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, guiding the Mustangs to a 19th-place finish June 11-14.

Silje Fjortoft concluded her fabulous freshman season by finishing second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of nine minutes, 55.54 seconds. Fjortoft, Conference USA’s Freshman of the Year, bettered her qualifying time of 10:18.32 by more than 20 seconds.

Fjortoft burst onto the national scene April 4 at the Stanford Invite, where she finished the 3,000 steeplechase in 9:59.01 – the fastest time for a collegiate runner in that event at that point in the season. The performance earned Fjortoft conference Athlete of the Week honors.

Senior Andrea Kvetova finished fourth in the javelin finals, with a toss of 54.47 meters. Kvetova was a conference champion and finished 12th in 2007’s championship competition.

The good news continued for Kvetova when she was awarded a Conference USA Postgraduate Scholarship on June 16. Kvetova was one of 12 conference athletes – and the only Mustang athlete – to earn the distinction. She will pursue her master’s degree in International Economics.

Christina Mueller, a junior, finished 11th in the discus throw with a toss of 48.2 meters. Ilyssa Pettigrew failed to qualify for the final heat in the 800 after finishing 21st in the preliminaries.

The Mustangs showed great improvement this year, sending four athletes to the championship meet. The team sent only two last year and three in 2006.

-Chris Dell