COLORADO SPRINGS -- BYU sophomore Katie Palmer earned the Mountain West Conference Player of the Week award after her record-breaking performances at the University of Washington Indoor Invitational last weekend in Seattle.
Palmer, a native of Boulder City, Nevada and first-team All-American in the distance medley relay in 2008, eclipsed last year’s performance by more than four seconds, securing a spot in this year’s NCAA Championships with a time of 11:06.55.
“It’s exciting and a great honor,” Palmer said. “I’m very fortunate to be a part of such a talented DMR team; we ran well and had a lot of fun doing it.”
The DMR team of Palmer, freshmen Natalie Stewart and Lacey Cramer and junior All-American Angela Wagner combined for a time that ranks second in the nation (according to TrackShark.com) and first on both the BYU and MWC all-time records list. Palmer’s excellence continued with a first-place finish in the 800-meter race (2:05.96), provisionally qualifying her for the NCAA Championships.
“Katie is outstanding and deserves this award,” said BYU women’s track head coach Craig Poole. “I think we will be seeing a lot more of her in the future.”
Palmer’s weekend performance in the 800-meter not only ranks fourth-best in the nation (according to TrackShark.com), but is nearly a second faster than her MWC Outdoor Championship run last year. Both of Saturday’s times in the DMR and 800-meter would have earned All-American honors in 2008.
“This relay team has the potential to win a national championship,” said BYU women’s distance coach Patrick Shane after Saturday’s performance. “It wouldn’t surprise me if we ran this race eight seconds faster.”
Palmer and her teammates will look to continue their regional and national success this weekend at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational in New York.