WKU Track and Field’s Austin Hayes was named the Conference USA Men’s Track Athlete of the Week following a stellar showing at the Governors Invitational, the league office announced Tuesday. Hayes’ first career also doubles as the Hilltoppers’ first accolade of the 2018 outdoor season.
Over the weekend, the London, Kentucky, native placed first in all four events he competed in including the 100 and 200-meter dashes and the 4×100 and 400-meter relays. In his first race in the event all season, Hayes clocked a time of 10.51 in the 100-meter dash to place first. For the second weekend in a row, he won the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.11, a personal record and season best for the program.
Hayes also competed on both relay teams for the Hilltoppers. Hayes anchored the winning 4×400 relay unit that posted a time 3:15.75, outrunning the next fastest team by over five seconds. In the 4×100 relay, Hayes ran the third leg as the squad finished with a time of 40.03, just narrowly missing a season best by six one-hundredths of a second. The next fastest team was over three seconds behind WKU.
(Courtesy WKU Athletics)