MIRAMAR, Fla. – Illinois State rising sophomore Rachel Hickey will compete with some of the best young track and field athletes in the country this weekend, when she represents the Redbirds at the 2019 U20 Outdoor Championships at the Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar, Florida.
Hickey and top athletes under the age of 20 from across the country will vie for coveted spots on Team USATF at the Pan American U20 Championships in Costa Rica later this summer.
The Peru, Illinois, native will compete in the women's 1500 meter run on Sunday at 4:49 p.m. CT. It will be her first 1500 meter run of her career, after she mostly competed in the 800 meter and mile during the indoor season. She ran a personal-best time of 4:52.37 in the mile at the Meyo Invitational in early February and later went on to earn points for ISU in both the mile and as part of the distance medley relay squad at the 2019 Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Championship, as the Redbirds took home their second-straight indoor title.Â
During the 2018 cross country season, Hickey competed in six races as a true freshman, including the MVC Championship and NCAA Midwest Regional. She ran her way to MVC All-Conference honors at the Valley Championship, finishing eighth with a personal-best 5K time of 17:37.30 and ran a solid race at the NCAA Midwest Regional, placing 69th overall with a personal-record 6K time of 21:46.60.
Fans can follow Hickey's race online via a live stream on USATF.tv or by following the live results on USATF.org. For all the latest on Redbird track & field and cross country, visit GoRedbirds.com and follow the 'Birds on Twitter (@Redbird_TrackXC), Instagram (@redbird_trackxc), and Facebook (@redbirdsTF) and use the hashtag #USATFU20.
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Â Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
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