IRVING, Texas – The UTSA cross country team had a clean sweep of the American Conference weekly awards, with junior Meryeme Mai taking home Women’s Athlete of the Week, while classmate Andruw Villa earned Men’s Athlete of the Week honors
Mai was dominant at the 2026 UIW Invitational, clocking in at 17:12 and winning the women’s 5k in what was her Roadrunner debut. She was UTSA’s first meet winner since 2017, and a 5:32 pace helped the Roadrunners finish fourth overall.
Villa placed second for the second time in as many races at the UIW Invitational, clocking in at 25:09 in the 8k. Previously, he claimed silver at the 2026 Sam Musgrave UIW Twilight, thanks to a time of 18:17.47 in the 6k.
Mai represents the first Women’s Athlete of the Week since Kerstin Sheehan won the Conference USA edition back on Sept. 29, 2015. Villa was the first on the men’s side since Mike Medrano accomplished the feat in the Western Athletic Conference on Sept. 18, 2012. The last time UTSA had winners across both divisions was Sept. 22, 2009, when Dana Mecke and Cole Reveal swept the Southland Conference weekly awards.
Keep up with UTSA track and field/cross country on goUTSA.com and by following the program on Facebook at /UTSATRACK, X (Twitter) @UTSATRACKXC, and on Instagram @UTSA_XCTRACK.
-UTSA-