UTEP’s Lilian Koech captured the first Conference USA Athlete of the Week award of 2017 for her performance at the Lobo Invitational.

Koech marked a 5K time of 17:32.2 on Saturday at the Lobo Invitational to become the first female and second overall athlete to cross the finish line. Her time improved drastically from last season, which saw her run a 19:07.6 in that race. The performance followed a stellar 2016 slate in which the junior earned NCAA Division I Cross Country All-Region and All-C-USA first team honors. The weekly award is the fourth of her career.

The Miners will return to action on Friday, September 8, for the Lori Fitzgerald held at the Chamizal Memorial National Park. The men’s race starts at 5:30 p.m. M.T. followed by the women’s race at 6:15 p.m.