The Mustangs achieved new program records and personal bests during the SMU Invitational, according to a May 3 announcement. The event, held in Dallas, featured strong performances across multiple disciplines as athletes prepared for the upcoming ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
The results are significant as they highlight progress among individual competitors and team relays, with several Mustangs meeting qualifying standards for conference competition. The meet also saw athletes move up in both school history rankings and conference standings.
Friday’s events included a standout long jump performance where an athlete placed second with a leap of 6.29 meters. Senior Hedda Kvalvag recorded a personal best of 5.97 meters to place fourth, moving her into eighth all-time at SMU. Another freshman achieved her own best mark of 5.89 meters to finish fifth, matching the conference standard.
On Saturday, the relay team of Sutton, Martin-Evans, Sanders, and Franklin ran the ninth-fastest time in program history for the 4×100 meter relay at 45.60 seconds. In distance races like the 1,500 meters, every Mustang runner posted a personal record time.
In hurdles events, one Mustang broke her own meet record in the 100-meter hurdles with a winning time of 13.45 seconds while another entered SMU’s top ten all-time list with her performance in that race. A freshman set a new personal record in the 400 meters at 54.04 seconds—the fourth-fastest ever by an SMU athlete—and Donovan reached an ACC qualifying standard.
Kvalvag also won triple jump with a season-best effort of 12.73 meters that places her fourteenth in the ACC standings this year; another freshman was runner-up at that event.
The competition ended with Crissup, Donovan, Hilton and Chacchia breaking their own meet record by more than five seconds in the women’s 4×400 meter relay (3:37.03), now ranked second fastest all-time for SMU.
With these performances behind them, Mustangs athletes will compete next at the ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships starting May 14.
