At its core, running is a sport driven by numbers.

Distance. Time. Place. All play a role in determining one's performance in any given race.Pleasant Valley senior Jenn Mickens is motivated by data and statistics. Mickens, who will major in economics and statistics and continue her track career at Lehigh University, diligently tracks her workouts, monitoring her splits to track her progress and see where she can improve.When it comes to the numbers Mickens produced for the Bears on the track this season, few could compare. Mickens took gold at the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference meet in the 800 and 1600 and helped lead the 1600 relay team to victory. She followed that up by successfully defending her Class AAA 800 title at the District 11 meet the following week.Though she didn't medal, Mickens saved her best performance of the season for the PIAA Championships where she ran a staggering personal best of 2:14.85 in the Class AAA 800 preliminaries to advance to the finals, where she finished 12th.In a season - and career - dotted with accolades, Mickens can tally one more accomplishment in her book as the Times News Female Track Athlete of the Year.Mickens acknowledged expectations were high heading into her final season."I think knowing I was going out, there was a little more pressure," she said of preparing for her senior season. "There was so much I wanted to do. I, of course, wanted to medal at states. Both times I came up short, but as I finished all those races, I knew I gave it my all."Always an exceptional 800 runner, Mickens expanded her palette in the spring."Coming off another successful cross country season and winter season, I knew that Jenn was in for some major accomplishments this track season," Pleasant Valley track and field head coach Michelle Piontkowski said of Mickens. "We put her in the open 400 during a couple of meets to increase her leg turnover for the 800 and it not only helped her 800, it also helped our 1600 relay team win the EPC title."As the relay team thrived at the end of the season, so too did Mickens. She set the school record in the 1600 at the same EPC meet with a time of 5:10.33. Her 800 time of 2:14.85 at the state meet also is a school record, and one that might not be topped for sometime."To run a 2:14 is absolutely amazing. I don't know if anyone thought that was possible," Mickens said of the mark. "At one point, the school record was a 2:20. To think that I ran faster than that almost all year is incredible."Whether with her teammates or on her own, Mickens was relentless in her pursuit of excellence. No matter the conditions, chances are Mickens was somewhere doing everything she could to maximize her potential.Despite an intense training regimen, Mickens did her best to not let the pressure overwhelm her."My catchphrase for my senior year was, 'How hard can it be?'" Mickens joked. "I said it often during the indoor season and it really stuck. It was usually the last thing I said to my coach before any race or workout."'Run a 2:14 to make it into finals? How hard can it be?'" Mickens said of the state meet. "Although the obvious answer was that it was pretty hard, that's what makes it great. It was a nice, lighthearted thing between all the pressure that never failed to make someone smile."Mickens has given everyone around her plenty to celebrate during her time at Pleasant Valley and she was recognized as PV's Senior Athlete of the Year for her achievements.Though she will be hard to replace, Piontkowski has no doubt Mickens will continue to excel at Lehigh."Not only is Jenn an exceptional runner, she is also an exceptional student," Piontkowski said. "I am sure that she will be dedicated to her academics and I am also confident that she will quickly become one of the top distance runners at Lehigh because of her work ethic and dedication to running."