Skatteboe named C-USA Cross Country Athlete of the Week

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

SMU XC: Skatteboe Earns C-USA Cross Country Athlete Of The Week Honors
Freshman Was Top SMU Runner On Friday at Bear Twilight Invite
Sept. 4, 2012

DALLAS (SMU) - Freshman Karoline Skatteboe was named Cross Country Athlete of the Week by the Conference USA on Tuesday, four days after finishing an impressive third-place at the Bear Twilight Invite in Waco, Texas.

Skatteboe finished the 4K with a time of 13:51.1, the top mark for any SMU runner. She led the Mustangs to a second-place overall finish in the season-opening event, in what was her first-career collegiate meet.

"It felt great to do well in my first meet," Skatteboe said. "I have been training a lot since I got here so I was not sure how well I was going to do when I started. My goal was to stay in the front pack and run a sub-14 which I managed so I was very happy with that."

The native of Jar, Norway, placed 18th at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Barcelona, and aspires to continue her already-impressive career at SMU.

"My goal for this season is to do the best I can do," Skatteboe said. "I want to do well at regionals and nationals would be a dream come true, but the level is very high, but if I keep on working and improving that shape that took me to the World Junior Championships, everything can happen."

Skatteboe's leading form on Friday will be a huge asset as SMU attempts to win the C-USA title in its final season as a member. SMU has won three of the last four conference titles, but the coaching staff knew that in order to win again, many newcomers would have to play a big role immediately.

"Our team would love to win conference," Skatteboe said. "Doing well in regionals and proceeding to nationals would be very fun and this is what we are working towards as a team. Our team this year may lack a star like Silje (Fjortoft) but we are a bunch of equally-good girls that can help and push each other and I think this will take us far."

The Mustangs' next meet is scheduled for Saturday at the Gerald Richey Invitational, hosted by the University of Texas-Arlington.

[DanFreibergerForHeisman]

Congratulations, Karoline!!!!

It is exciting SMU has already had three C-USA athletes/players of the week by the first week of September.