Her return to the track was a good one, and for it, Linfield sprinter Melany Crocker (Sr., Milwaukie, Ore.) has been honored as the Northwest Conference Women’s Track Student-Athlete of the Week, as announced Tuesday after a vote of the league’s sports information directors.

Crocker was a triple-event winner at the George Fox Rich Allen Classic, topping the field in the 100-meter dash (12.94 seconds) and the 200 (27.11) and anchoring Linfield's winning 4x100 relay team (50.73). She also ran on the Wildcats' second-place 4x400 relay (4:12.44).

The senior’s time in the 100 is the third fastest among Northwest Conference competitors this season, while her mark in the 200 ranks fourth.

Crocker was competing in her first meet since recovering from an offseason injury, in which a tree branch snapped and fell on top of her, fracturing her pelvis and forearm. Last season, she was runner-up in the 100 at the NWC Championships and helped Linfield claim the crown in the 4x100 relay. She also took third in the 200 meters and ran on the fourth-place 4x400 relay.

One of Linfield’s all-time greatest sprinters, Crocker boasts the program’s third fastest mark in the 100 (12.33) and the fourth quickest standard in the 200 (25.69). The winning time in the 4x100 at last year’s conference championships (48.61) became the new school record.

This is the second career conference student-athlete of the week honor for Crocker.

COMING UP: Crocker races at home for the first time this season at the Wildcat Open, contested Saturday at Maxwell Field. Competition begins with selected field events at 10 a.m., while the first race (3,000-meter steeplechase) is scheduled for an 11 a.m. start.