Aptos High alumna Nikki Hiltz finished second in the 1,500-meters at Saturday’s NCAA Division I Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
Running for the University of Arkansas, Hiltz clocked a lifetime-best of 4 minutes, 9.14 seconds to earn her seventh All-American honor in her final collegiate race.
It was only the third race of her senior season, which was marred by a knee injury.
“There aren’t words that can sufficiently sum up what today meant to me,” Hiltz said on the school’s website. “I crossed the line and I was just happy, everything just hit me that it was all over. Second-place stings, especially two years in-a-row but with the season I’ve had it just seems like a victory. It feels like first-place, and to go out with a PR, to end your collegiate career with a PR is a very telling thing. I’m so thankful for everything that Arkansas has given me. I got the best of both worlds, I got the Hayward crowd, and I got to wear Arkansas across my chest. It was a fairytale ending to a rollercoaster of a collegiate career.”
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PDL SOCCER
• Breakers stay in playoff picture – The Santa Cruz Breakers FC picked up a 5-1 win over the Fresno FC U23 on Friday and salvaged a 1-1 tie on Sunday against the Orange County SC U23.
In the 5-1 win at Monterey Peninsula College, Walmer Martinez scored a pair of goals, while Willy Miranda, Andrew Mendoza and Alvaro Madrigal also scored.
On Sunday, Willy Miranda scored the equalizer in the second half to keep the Breakers (4-2-2) in play for the playoffs.
Santa Cruz returns to action on June 23 against the San Diego Zest at Sage Creek High School in Carlsbad at 5 p.m.
