BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Eastern Kentucky University's Pedro García-Palencia has been named the Ohio Valley Conference Co-Male Track Athlete of the Week, the league announced on Thursday.
 
In his first collegiate 3,000-meter steeplechase race, García-Palencia ran a personal-best and OVC-leading time of 8:54.8 last Saturday at the Raleigh Relays. That is currently the fourth fastest time in the NCAA.
 
García-Palencia arrived at EKU in the fall of 2019; however, this is his first outdoor track season as a Colonel. The native of Benicássim, Spain helped EKU win a silver medal in the distance medley relay at the 2020 OVC Indoor Championships. He followed that up by finishing fourth in the 3,000 meters with a personal-best time of 8:20.06.
 
García-Palencia shares this week's honor with Eastern Illinois mid-distance runner Adam Swanson.
 
The EKU track and field teams continue the outdoor season this weekend at the Oliver Nikoloff Invitational in Cincinnati.