After missing practice on Monday and Tuesday to rest in bed with an illness, Gayle Hunter finally received some good news Tuesday night that made her feel a little bit better.

She had just been named the Big Ten Women's Track and Field Athlete of the Week after her record-breaking performance at last weekend's Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup.

The award came after the talented freshman from Riverside, Calif., smashed a 23-year-old Penn State pentathlon record with a score of 4,059 points.

It ranks her first in the pentathlon in the Big Ten and fourth overall in the nation, and also gives her an automatic NCAA qualifying score. Hunter also improved her provisional qualifying long jump mark with a jump of 20 feet, 0.5 inches.

Hunter is the first Penn State women's track and field athlete to win the award this year and the first since sprinter Connie Moore did so a year ago.

Hunter said that she was surprised to receive news of the award. "It hadn't really crossed my mind," she said.

The award came at a perfect time for Hunter, who had missed recent competition due to tendonitis in her knee and had false-started in the hurdles at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational the week prior to the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup. Hunter said the award
made up for the earlier setbacks.

"A lot of people were wondering if I would crack under the pressure," Hunter said, adding that her strong performance proved how hard she was working.

Penn State coach Beth Alford-Sullivan said that, after the early season mishaps, she sat Hunter down and told her just to remain patient and try to ignore any pressure, and most importantly, to just have fun competing.

"That's what she did [at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup]," Alford-Sullivan said. "She really put on a show. She competed for it and competed hard."

After this past weekend, anyone who doubted her should have a new opinion of the young star.

Chris Johnson, Penn State's sprints and jumps coach, is pleased with Hunter's progress and is also happy that she earned the Big Ten honors.

"She's really worked hard to achieve that award," Johnson said. "I wasn't really expecting that, but we've just been working hard, trying to get some things together."

Hunter attributed some of her success in the pentathlon to Johnson and throws coach Dayna Holston. She said that Johnson helped her improve her hurdles and that Holston has improved her shot put in the pentathlon by several feet.

Even though Hunter has hit a high point of her season, she still wants to keep her goals even higher.

"I just want to have the automatic [NCAA score] in the long jump," she said. "Once I have that, my goal is complete."

Hunter will have the opportunity to start working to improve her scores as she said she would return to practice yesterday.

She said she has been staying in her room this week resting, hoping for a quick recovery from the severe cold that has been plaguing her entire dormitory floor. Sick or not, Hunter has proved herself to be a valuable asset to her team.

"She's a great example of our team and our program, but also for the conference," Alford-Sullivan said.

"She's done very well academically here, and she's just an impressive young person. I'm very impressed with her as a young person and competitor."