Biography
Overall
Heather Cooksey, USI's first female national champion, is an 11-time All-American, 15-time All-GLVC performer, and a three-time All-Region performer. She has finished first a school-record 48 times, including 11 GLVC championships and one Great Lakes Regional championship, and holds 17 school records. In addition to being the 2004 GLVC and Great Lakes Region Cross Country Runner of the year, Cooksey was a three-time GLVC "Freshman of the Year", the 2004 Little State Female Track Athlete of the Year, and the 2004 Great Lakes Region Outdoor Track Female Athlete of the Year. Cooksey is the 2004-05 USI/Integra Bank Female Student-Athlete of the Year and also was named the 2004 GLVC Scholar Athlete of the Year for women's track and field as well as the 2004 GLVC Scholar Athlete of the Year for women's cross country. Cooksey is a six-time Academic All-GLVC performer. She was named second-team Academic All-District V in 2004.
2007-08
iNDOOR TRACK & FIELD: Earned All-America honors with a fourth-place finish in the 5,000 meters at the NCAA II Indoor Championships...also collected All-GLVC honors by helping the Eagles to a first-place finish in the distance medley relay at the GLVC Indoor Championships. OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD: Did not compete.
2005-06
CROSS COUNTRY: Earned All-GLVC honors after winning her seconds straight GLVC title...finished second at the NCAA II Great Lakes Region Championships, earning All-Region accolades in the process...won five straight races prior to the regional meet. INDOOR TRACK & FIELD: Did not compete. OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD: Did not compete.
2004-05
CROSS COUNTRY: Became the first USI female cross country runner to win the GLVC championship and NCAA II Great Lakes Region championship...finished 17th at the NCAA II Championships and earned All-America honors in cross country for the first time...also earned All-GLVC and All-Great Lakes Region honors...was USI's top finisher in every race, taking home individual titles in five meets...finished no lower than fifth in all but one meet...set a school-record in the 5k (17:12.86) at the University of Evansville Invitational...also set a school-record in the 6k (21:32.90) at the GLVC Championships...earned Academic All-GLVC honors. INDOOR TRACK: Earned All-America honors in the 5,000 meters as well as the Distance Medley Relay...finished fourth at the NCAA II Championships in the 5,000 meters with an indoor school-record time of 16:39.48...ran the mile leg on USI's DMR team that finished fifth at the NCAA II Championships with a school-record time of 11:46.29...also helped USI's DMR team to three first-place finishes, including a GLVC Championship...earned All-GLVC honors in the mile and the DMR...finished first in four out of the seven individual races she ran, including the mile at the GLVC Championships...posted a season-best mile time of 4:54.56 at the Tyson Invitational as well as a season-best and indoor school-record 800-meter time of 2:14.04 at the McDonald's Invitational...finished no lower than fifth in every race she ran...also competed once for USI's 4x400-meter relay team. OUTDOOR TRACK: Finished third in the 3,000 meters and second in the 5,000 meters at the NCAA II Championships, earning All-America honors in both events...also earned All-GLVC honors in the 800 meters as well as the 1,500 meters...finished first at the league meet in the 3,000 meters and was second at the GLVC Championships in the 800 meters, posting a season-best time of 2:14.49...posted NCAA II automatic qualifying times in the 1,500 meters, the 3,000 meters, and the 5,000 meters and posted an NCAA II provisional qualifying time in the 800 meters...placed first in the 5,000 meters at the Mt. SAC Relays with a school-record time of 16:32.97...also finished first in the 3,000 meters at the Vanderbilt Invitational with a season-best time of 9:32.94...set a school-record in the 1,500 meters, finishing first at the Little State Championships with a time of 4:26.15...earned Academic All-GLVC honors.
2003-04
CROSS COUNTRY: Earned Academic All-GLVC and second-team Academic All-District V honors for both cross country and track and field...earned All-GLVC and All-Region honors...finished third at the GLVC Championships and fifth at the NCAA II Great Lakes Regional Championships...finished 45th at the NCAA II National Championships...recorded a season-best 6k time of 22:11.10 at the regional championships...won the Evansville Invitational with a season-best 5k time of 18:01.03...finished in the top 10 in six races and in the top five in five races...was USI's number one finisher in two meets and USI's number two runner in six races. INDOOR TRACK: Earned All-America honors after finishing third in the mile at the NCAA II Championships with a school-record time of 4:46.44...earned a pair of All-GLVC honors after winning GLVC Championships in the 800 meters and the mile...finished first in eight of the nine individual races she competed in...also qualified, provisionally, for the NCAA II Championships in the 800 meters...had a season-best 800-meter time of 2:16.53 at the GLVC Championships...helped USI's Distance Medley Relay (DMR) team to a first-place performance at the Tiger Invitational and to a second-place performance at the GLVC Championships. OUTDOOR TRACK: Became USI's first female national champion in any sport when she won the 3,000 meters at the NCAA II Championships...finished six seconds faster than the second-place performer at the national championships, finishing the event with a school-record time of 9:32.76...also finished second in the 5,000 meters the following day at the NCAA II Championships...earned two All-America awards for her performances at the NCAA II Championships...named the GLVC Scholar Athlete of the Year for women's track and field as well as the Great Lakes Region Female Track Athlete of the Year...earned All-GLVC honors after winning the GLVC championship in the 3,000 meters...qualified, provisionally, for the NCAA II Championships in four events (800, 1,500, 3,000, and 5,000 meters)...her 3,000-meter time of 9:33.71 at the GLVC Championships was an automatic qualifier...had a season-best 5,000-meter time of 16:46.79 at the Mt. SAC Relays...ran her fastest 1,500-meter time of 4:30.07 at the Gerald England Invitational and her fastest 800-meter time of 2:13.53 came at the Little State Championships where she was named the Indiana Little State Female Track Athlete of the Year...finished first in seven of the nine individual races she competed in.
2002-03
CROSS COUNTRY: Earned GLVC "Freshman of the Year" honors after placing sixth at the GLVC Championships with a season-best 6k time of 22:42.00...also earned All-GLVC honors with her finish at the conference championships...had a season-best 5k time of 18:49.90 at the Louisville Cardinal Classic...earned Academic All-GLVC honors. INDOOR TRACK: Earned GLVC "Freshman of the Year" honors after winning GLVC Championships in the mile and the distance medley relay (DMR)...also earned two All-GLVC awards for performances in the mile and the DMR (USI's DMR team set a school-record with a 12:28.42)...ran the 1,600-meter leg of the DMR...Cooksey's 4:59.09 at the GLVC Championships was a conference meet record...finished 11th in the mile with a school-record time of 4:58.09 at the NCAA II Championships...holds the school-record in the indoor 1,500 meters with a time of 4:44.8...finished first in the mile with a time of 5:00.07 at the DePauw Classic. OUTDOOR TRACK: Along with teammate, Jenny Farmer, Cooksey became the first female competitor in the program's history to earn two All-America honors in the same season...finished second in both the 3,000 meters and the 5,000 meters at the NCAA II Championships...ran the 3,000 meters at the NCAA II Championships in a school-record 9:39.16, less than three-tenths of a second away from winning the national championship...was less than four seconds off the lead in the 5,000 meters at the NCAA II Championships, crossing the finish line in 16:52.31...finished first in the 5,000 meters at the Hillsdale Gina Relays with a school-record time of 16:39.33...completed the sweep of the GLVC "Freshman of the Year" honors, becoming the first USI athlete to win GLVC "Freshman of the Year" honors three times...won the 3,000 meters at the GLVC Championships with a league meet record of 9:48.37...recorded a USI freshman record in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:42.77 at the Little State Championships...won three championships during the outdoor season...earned Academic All-GLVC honors for track and field.
HIGH SCHOOL: Graduated from Brownsburg High School...earned All-State honors in track...ran the 3,200-meters in 10:57 and the 4k in 14:34.
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