Western Kentucky track and field’s Austin Hayes was named the Conference USA Men’s Track Athlete of the Week on Tuesday following a stellar showing at the Governors Invitational.

Hayes’ first career award also doubles as the Hilltoppers’ first accolade of the 2018 outdoor season.

Over the weekend, the London 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 seconds in the 100-meter dash to place first. For the second weekend in a row, he won the 200 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 that posted a time 3:15.75, outrunning the next fastest team by more than 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 more than three seconds behind WKU.

WKU’s squad will divide this week as the majority of the Hilltopper squad, including Hayes, will travel to Torrance, Calif., to compete in the Mt. SAC Relays while the Lady Topper squad and a few Hilltoppers will compete in the Georgia Tech Relays in Atlanta.{&end}