DALLAS – Following his first collegiate victory, North Texas’ Braden Lange earned the Conference USA Cross Country Male Athlete of the Week while Rice’s All-American Grace Forbes earned the honor on the women’s side, the league announced Tuesday. The weekly award is presented by Surf & Turf Golf.
 
C-USA Male Athlete of the Week – Braden Lange, North Texas, JR, Keller, Texas
Competing in his first collegiate 5K race, junior Braden Lange led the Mean Green to the team title at the UTA Season Opener as he crossed the finish line first to take the individual title. Lange finished the 5K in 14:47.2, which was 11 seconds ahead of the closest non-UNT competitor. This is the first athlete of the week honor for North Texas since the 2018 season.
 
C-USA Female Athlete of the Week – Grace Forbes, Rice, SO, Wallingford, Pa.
Sophomore All-American Grace Forbes picked up where she left off in the spring by winning her second career cross country race and doing so in her home debut at the Rice Invitational. Forbes clocked a 13:20.9 to win by nearly 34 full seconds and ran the 4000m race at a pace of 3:20/k. This is the second career C-USA weekly honor for Forbes, who was also recognized on Oct. 22, 2019.
 
2021 C-USA Male Athletes of the Week
S14 Braden Lange, North Texas
S7  Nick Scudder, Charlotte
 
2021 C-USA Female Athletes of the Week
S14 Grace Forbes, Rice
S7  Savannah Heckman, WKU