Cathy Casey is in her seventh season at SMU and second year as the assistant cross country coach/assistant track and field coach. On the track, Casey specializes in the development of middle and long distance athletes. During her tenure on the Hilltop, Casey has played a pivotal role in the Mustangs' swift rise to national prominence, including SMU's first-ever NCAA South Central Regional title and women's first WAC Cross Country Championship since 1996.
During her first season as head cross country coach in 2005, Casey developed a talented group of athletes. Casey led the team to a top three finish at the C-USA Cross Country Championships. Junior Jessie Jackson and Sophomore Rachael Forish earned All C-USA accolades. Sophomore Rachael Forish, was selected to the All-Region first team at with a 7th place finish at the NCAA South Central Region meet and qualified as an individual for the NCAA Cross Country Championships.
During the 2002-2004 seasons, Casey assisted in the development of standout distance runner Karin van Rooyen, a two-time All-American, NCAA South Central Regional Champion, Western Athletic Conference (WAC) & SMU record holder, two-time WAC Athlete of the Year, and three-time WAC Champion. In the last six years at SMU, Casey has assisted with three WAC Freshmen of the Year, six All-Region cross country student-athletes, seven All-WAC performers and four school record holders.
During the 2006 cross country season, Cathy Casey led All-American Rachael Forish to one of the best individual seasons in SMU history. Forish was the 2006 Conference USA (C-USA) Cross Country Conference Champion, C-USA Athlete of the Year, NCAA South Central Region Champion (20:30.4), NCAA South Central Region Athlete of the Year. After finishing 35th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships she received All-America honors for her outstanding effort.
As a team, the Mustangs finished in the top 5 at the 2006 NCAA South Central Region Championships. At the 2006 Conference USA Cross Country Championships, the team placed in the top three for the second year in a row, with Senior Jessica Jackson, Junior Rachael Forish, and Sophomore Jessa Simmons receiving All-Conference USA awards.
The 2007 season saw Casey lead the Mustangs to a No. 6 ranking in the South Central Region. Freshman Silje Fjortoft was named C-USA Cross Country Newcomer of the Year and posted impressive performances at Regionals (20:35 in the 6k). Fjortoft was the second straight Casey-coached athlete to win Athlete of the Year honors in the region following Rachael Forish in 2006.
The next season, SMU Cross Country would vault its way to a 20th place finish in the NCAA Division I Championships, the highest the program has finished in over a decade. The Mustangs captured the C-USA title and were a mainstay in the national rankings throughout the year. Silje Fjortoft followed her impressive inaugural season by being named Conference-USA Cross Country Athlete of the Year as voted upon by the league's head coaches during her sophomore season. The success was not only on the track for Mustang Cross Country in 2008, but also in the classroom as the team was named one of the 2008 NCAA Division I Scholar Teams of the Year by the USTFCCCA. The team boasted an impressive cumulative 3.29 GPA with Fjortoft and Jessica Simmons being selected to the C-USA All-Academic Team.
The Casey-led Cross Country program continued to find success in 2009. The team was consistently ranked throughout the year and finished 25th at the NCAA Championships. The program once again excelled academically, earning a 3.41 team GPA and was honored for the second straight year as an All-Academic Team by the USTFCCCA.
A native of Carbondale, Illinois, Cathy Casey was a member of the cross country/track and field team at the University of Texas-Austin, earning her degree in 1997. Casey currently resides in Dallas, TX with her husband Jim.
