FARMINGTON, Utah — Portland State track & field runner Katie Camarena completed a 6-for-6 run through the Portland State record books Saturday while breaking the women's indoor mile record at the UW Invitational. Monday, Camarena improved to 3-for-3 in Big Sky Athlete of the Week honors, as she earned her third weekly honor from the Big Sky Conference following her record in the mile.
 
It's a deserving honor as Camarena's latest record may have been her most impressive yet. Camarena shaved 17 seconds off the old record that Sarah Dean set in 2014 while finishing in 4:34.26 Saturday. That time also moved her up to second all-time in Big Sky Conference history, trailing only Johanna Nilsson of Northern Arizona, who ran 4:32.49 in 2003.
 
Besides the record, Camarena's mile time vaulted her up to third nationally in the mile, and gives her a strong chance to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships in March. Only the top 16 qualify for the national indoor meet, but the 16th best time in the nation in 2021 was 4:37.63. Additionally, the 16th-best time in 2020 was 4:36.36, and the 16th-best time in 2019 was 4:35.15. All slower than Camarena's time of 4:34.26 Saturday.
 
Not only did Camarena break the record and potentially put herself into nationals, though, she also raced well against a stacked field at the UW Invitational. Camarena finished as the top collegian and second overall among a field that featured two University of Washington runners in Allie Schadler (finished third) and Haley Herberg (fifth), as well as two Big Sky rivals in Southern Utah's Alison Pray (seventh) and Northern Arizona's Taryn O'Neill (eighth). O'Neill was the Big Sky individual champion at the conference cross country meet in the fall, while Pray finished 50th at the 2021 NCAA winter cross country championships.
 
Besides her record in the mile, Camarena also swept the cross country records in the 4k, 5k and 6k during the fall, and broke the indoor records in the 3k and 5k earlier this season. Camarena moved up to second all-time in Big Sky history while setting the Vikings' 5k record at 15:51.49 at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener on Dec. 4. She also moved up to fifth all-time in conference history while setting the 3k school record at 9:16.35 at the UW Indoor Preview on Jan. 15.
 
Camarena is scheduled to return to Seattle for the Husky Classic, Feb. 11-12. The Vikings will next compete as a team at the Portland Indoor Three, which has been moved up to Saturday rather than Sunday as it was originally scheduled, at the University of Portland's Chiles Center.