Dec. 5, 2008

Irving, Texas (C-USA/SMU) - SMU's Silje Fjortoft has been named the Conference USA Cross Country Athlete of the Year as voted upon by the league's head cross country coaches, the conference office announced Friday.

Fjortoft was the C-USA women's individual medalist after clocking a 5K course-record time of 16:46 and beating her closest contender by 57 seconds. The Orsta, Norway, native was named to both the All-C-USA First Team and All-South Central Region Team. The sophomore guided the Mustangs to an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships with a 6K time of 21:14.0 that ranked 15th-best overall at the Regional meet. Her 40th-place performance at nationals led SMU to a C-USA team-best finish of 20th. Fjortoft's time of 20:50.4 in the 6K race placed her 50th overall. During the season, Fjortoft had four top-six finishes in five regular-season races and was twice named the C-USA Athlete of the Week.

This is the second-straight season that Fjortoft has received post-season accolades, as she was named the NCAA South Central Region Athlete of the Year, Conference USA Cross Country Newcomer of the Year and C-USA Freshman of the Year in 2007.