Danae Rivers doesn’t seem to be familiar with the term “rust buster.” She opened her junior season of track and field by setting an NCAA record.

Rivers set the record in the 1,000 meter race with a time of 2:38.58. While the 1,000-meter distance is not raced at the national level, it is a common indoor event.

The previous record stood for only two years and was set by Kaela Edwards of Oklahoma State in 2017. Her record was set at 2:40.70, a time Rivers smashed by more than two full seconds.

Rivers ran the time on her home track during the Nittany Lion Challenge, the first of four meets that the Nittany Lions will host this season. Adding to this schedule, the Nittany Lions will travel to meets at Michigan, Clemson, Iowa State, and Washington this indoor season before the Big Ten Championships, which will be held at Michigan.

Rivers is familiar with breaking records. In one of her first races in a Penn State uniform two years ago at the same meet, she broke the school record in the 600-meter distance in 1:29.06.

Last spring, Rivers finished in eighth place at the NCAA Championships, her last track race before shifting her focus to longer distances this fall as a member of Penn State cross country team. Although she’s known for shorter distances, Rivers finished seventh at the Mid-Atlantic Regional meet in November and competed at the NCAA Cross Country Championships later that month.

Rivers and the rest of the track team will travel to Michigan next weekend for the Simmons Harvey Invitational before returning home on January 25 and 26 for the Penn State National Open meet.