ST. LOUIS – After breaking Illinois State's 1,000-meter school record at Saturday's Notre Dame Invitational, freshman phenom Rachel Hickey has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Female Track Athlete of the Week, the conference announced Tuesday.
Not only is this award the first weekly honor of Hickey's young career, but it is the third-consecutive weekly recognition for the Redbirds this season. Hickey joins Grace Beattie and Jack Anstey on the list of Illinois State student-athletes to be recognized by the Valley during the 2018-19 campaign.
In the first 1,000-meter race of her collegiate career, Hickey re-wrote Illinois State's record books, crossing the finish line in 2:49.01 to break the school record and finish third overall. With her time, Hickey became the first Redbird woman to go sub-2:50 in the event, surpassing Kristen Zillmer's previous school record of 2:50.41 that was set in 2014. Even more impressive, Hickey's time was the eighth-fastest mark in the nation over the past week and ranks 26th in the U.S. this season (according to Track & Field News).
The Illinois State men's and women's track & field teams will be back in action this weekend when they travel to nearby Champaign, Illinois, to compete in the Illini Classic on Jan. 25-26.
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