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SAN ANTONIO — Sophomore Fabiola Arriaga and junior Richard Garrett Jr. were named UTSA’s University Life Awards Outstanding Female & Male Athletes for the 2011-12 academic year, the athletics department announced on Monday.
A year after earning the league’s Freshman of the Year award, Arriaga led the Southland Conference with a school-record 74.91 stroke average and was named the league's Player of the Year. The Torreon, Mexico, native recorded five top-five and seven top-10 finishes, including her first career victory at The Alamo Invitational. Arriaga won the event by shooting a season-low 213 (69-72-72) to help UTSA break school records for 18-hole (283) and 54-hole (866) scores en route to its first of a school-record four victories during the campaign. She finished among the top six in four of the final five tournaments of the spring, including a second-place finish at the Southland Championship, which the Roadrunners claimed for the second consecutive season.
Meanwhile, Garrett Jr. earned second-team All-America honors in the shot put for the second consecutive season with his 11th-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. A national qualifier in two events this past season (shot put/discus), the Garland native became the first athlete in program history to win an outdoor throws championship when he captured the Southland shot put title in May. He also placed fourth in the discus and sixth in the hammer at the league meet, which gave him a combined 18 points at the three-day event and he helped UTSA post its third Southland indoor/outdoor sweep in the last five seasons. Garrett Jr. also extended his school records in the shot put (62-2 ½/18.96m) and discus (181-0/55.18m) during the outdoor campaign. During the indoor season, he successfully defended his shot put championship at February’s Southland Indoor in addition to placing third in the weight throw. That gave him a combined 16 points, as the Roadrunners set a league record with their seventh consecutive title.
The University Life Awards is a UTSA tradition that honors the school’s most outstanding students, student organizations, faculty and staff members. Sponsored by the UTSA Student Government Association, this is the 36th year of awarding excellence in leadership, scholarship and involvement in the UTSA community.
University Life Awards Outstanding Female & Male Athletes
YearFemale Honoree Male Honoree 2001-02 Michelle McElyea, softball
McEverett Powers, men's basketball
2002-03Svenja Fuhrig, women's tennis
Danny Phillips, baseball
2003-04Nikki Hendrix, women's basketball
LeRoy Hurd, men's basketball
2004-05Jessica Rogers, softballBrandon Buteaux, men's track & field
2005-06no award given
2006-07Ryanne Dupree, women's track & fieldBrandon Buteaux, men's track & field
2007-08Monica Gibbs, women's basketball
Steven Brown, men's track & field
2008-09Monica Gibbs, women's basketball
Teddy Williams, men's track & field
2009-10Dana Mecke, women's track & field
Teddy Williams, men's track & field
2010-11Kendra Rowland, volleyball
Devin Gibson, men's basketball
2011-12Fabiola Arriaga, women's golf
Richard Garrett Jr., men's track & field