CUSA names UTEP’s Simpson Women’s Track Athlete of the Year
DALLAS, Texas - UTEP track and field’s Marissa Simpson was named the 2025 Conference USA Women’s Track Athlete of the Year as announced by league officials on Friday.
The league’s head coaches vote on the awards and consider the student-athletes’ performances from both the 2025 indoor and outdoor seasons.
It’s Simpson’s second CUSA Women’s Track Athlete of the Year honor after taking the award home in 2023.
Simpson finished the season as an NCAA second team All-American in the 100-meter hurdles, placing 10th overall with a time of 12.97.
The senior was also a second team All-American in the 60-meter hurdles at indoor nationals.
Other highlights in 2025 for Simpson included clocking a personal-best 12.81 in the 100 hurdles at the Sun City Classic.
Her time ranked 10th nationally. At the 2025 CUSA OTF Championships, Simpson captured gold medals in the 100H (13.10) and the 4x100-meter relay (44.07).
She took silver in the 200-meter dash with a personal-best time of 23.23 (0.3). At the CUSA ITF Championships, Simpson won gold in the 60 hurdles with a time of 8.14. At the Texas Tech Corky Classic, she clocked in a personal-best 8.02 with a first-place finish in the 60H.
Simpson recorded first-place finishes in the 100H at the Sun City, Pacific Coast, and finished third in the 100H at the Texas Relays.
Simpson was part of the 4x1 team that set a new school record with a time of 43.72 at the Desert Heat Classic in Tucson, Ariz.
Simpson concludes her career at UTEP as a four-time All-American (two-time indoor, two-time outdoor) and a seven-time CUSA Champion.
Simpson won three consecutive gold medals in the 60H and 100H, making her the first CUSA women’s hurdler to do so since 2010 to 2012.
Simpson’s postseason accolade in the category marks three consecutive seasons that a Miner has won the award. Simpson started the trend in 2023 with her first, while Niesha Burgher was the 2024 women’s track athlete of the year.
Overall, the Miners have won the CUSA honor six times since it began in 2009.
UTEP is the first school since UCF to win the award three years in a row (2011-2013).
