April 13, 2016
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa junior Elexis Guster was named Big Ten Track Athlete of the Week, the conference office announced Wednesday. The Atlanta native was recognized for a pair of first- and second-place finishes and two career-best performances at the Jim Click Shootout in Tucson, Arizona, on April 9.
En route to collecting a first-place finish, Guster ran the third-fastest time in the nation this season in the 400 meters, clocking a collegiate-best 51.85. She holds the team’s highest national ranking in any event and is the only Big Ten student-athlete to run under 52 seconds this season. Guster’s previous personal best, 52.19, came at the 2015 Big Ten Championships.
Running second leg, Guster captured her second event title in the women’s 400-meter relay (44.41), which included senior Lake Kwaza, and freshmen Taylor Chapman and Briana Guillory.
Guster then raced to a career-best 23.38 in the 200 meters, a mark that ranks third in the Big Ten and in school history, before running third leg on the 1,600-meter relay (3:35.06). She placed second in both events.
The weekly conference honor is the first of her career. Guster is the first Hawkeye to win a weekly outdoor award since Betsy Flood in 2010.
Guster and the rest of UI track and field return to action this weekend at either the Jim Duncan Invitational (April 15-16) in Des Moines, Iowa, or the Texas Invitational (April 16) in Austin, Texas.