FARMINGTON, Utah — Katie Camarena's record-breaking performance in the 5k at Boston University's Sharon-Colyear-Danville Season Opener earned her Big Sky Women's Indoor Track Athlete of the Week honors Monday.
 
Camarena becomes the first Viking to be so honored during the indoor season since 2017, as well as the first distance runner to earn indoor athlete of the week honors in program history.
 
The honor comes after Camarena ran the 5k in 15:51.49, 42 seconds faster than the previous 5k school record that Kaila Gibson set at 16:33.38 at the 2019 UW Invitational. Camarena has now set four school records in only three months at Portland State, as she also broke the marks in the cross country 4k, 5k and 6k in addition to the indoor 5k Saturday.
 
Camarena also moved up to second all-time in the indoor 5k within the Big Sky Conference after Saturday. Camarena's time ranks behind only Northern Arizona's Paige Gilchrist, who set the conference record with a time of 15:45.76 in 2018. 
 
In addition to the event records, Camarena's cross country season also featured the highest finishes ever by a Viking at the Big Sky Championships, where she placed fourth, and the NCAA West Regional, where she placed fifth. The fifth-place finish at the NCAA West Regional made her the first Viking to qualify for the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, where she placed 70th overall out of 250 runners.
 
Camarena will have a break before she next competes during the indoor track season. The Vikings have the rest of December off before they return Jan. 14-15 at the Cougar Classic and the UW Indoor Preview in Spokane and Seattle, Wash., respectively. Camarena is likely to run at the UW Indoor Preview, where she could chase her fifth school record in either the mile or 3k.