Thornton-Fillyaw is the second straight Rookie of the Year for the Gophers. Last year, teammate Carter Hinton-Ayodele was honored. She is also the third student-athlete to be named, joining Hinton-Ayodele (2022) and Destiny Phillips (2012).
In the 800-meter run, Thornton-Fillyaw bettered her own previous school record set two weeks ago while besting Emily Moehringer of Catholic University by 1.09 seconds. Her time of 2:16.77 is the fastest in the Landmark Conference this season and the sixth-fastest recorded in conference history. It was also the second-fastest mark in Landmark Championship history.