NEW ORLEANS — The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) has named University of New Mexico women’s cross country athlete Alice Wright as the NCAA Division I Mountain Region Women’s Athlete of the Year.
Wright, a redshirt junior from Worcester, England, won in the individual race at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships this past Friday, completing the six-kilometer course at the Steve & Dona Reeder Cross Country Course in Logan, Utah in 19 minutes, 59.9 seconds.
A two-time cross country All-American, Wright led the sixth-ranked Lobo women to their ninth-straight NCAA appearance at the Mountain Regional, winning the race by nearly 17 seconds.
As a result, Wright has been accorded her second such honor in three years after winning the 2014 NCAA Mountain Regional in Albuquerque.
The award, as voted on by the Division I coaches, is the third received by any Lobo athlete in program history, along Wright’s first and Sammy Silva’s recognition in 2013. Wright is the third Lobo ever to win a women’s region race after Silva and Lisa Mitchell (1981).
Wright also earned All-Region honors for her performance, along with teammate Calli Thackery.
The NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships will be contested November 19 in Terre Haute, Ind., hosted by Indiana State on the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center.