Austin raced to a new USI freshman record last Friday when she crossed the finish line with a 3,000-meter time of nine minutes, 40.99 seconds at the PNC Lenny Lyles Invite in Louisville, Kentucky.

The performance broke her own freshman mark, which she set at the season-opening Commodore Classic in Nashville, Tennessee. Austin finished second out of 38 competitors in the event as she shot up to third all-time at USI in the indoor 3,000-meters.

Austin currently has the top time in the OVC 3,000-meter performance list by nearly 19 seconds. Her teammate, junior Ellie Hall, is second with a time of 9:59.19, which she posted at the Commodore Classic on January 11.

The Screaming Eagles return to action Friday when they travel back to Louisville for the Eastern Indoors. USI is no longer competing at the Fairgrounds Invitational Saturday.