Albuquerque, N.M. – Jonah Koech and Shakeem Smith had impressive performances on day two of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational on Saturday afternoon.
Koech competed in the mile running a time of 4:05.69 to secure a first-place finish. His time ranks third in the nation, ninth in the world this season and sixth in UTEP program history.
In the 60m hurdles, talented newcomer Smith worked his way into a highly competitive final featuring Devon Allen (NIKE), who finished fifth at the 2016 Rio Olympic games in the 110m hurdles. Smith clocked in a time of 8.20 in the semifinal advancing to the finals. He then notched a time of 8.09 taking third overall. Smith time ranks fifth in school history.
Asa Guevara clocked a personal-best 46.79 in the 400m final garnering a second-place finish. The senior’s time ranks 10th in the nation and takes the top spot in Conference USA.
He was followed by Alejandro Alcazar (51.01) and Carvellion Horn (51.46).
In the field events, Donivan Ortega notched a third-place finish in the triple jump leaping out to a mark of 14.50m (47-7). Darius King made his debut for the Miners in the triple jump, landing a mark of 13.53m (44-4.25) taking 12th overall.
The men’s 4x400m relay team comprised of Smith, Ortega, Guevara and Michael Saruni clocked a time of 3:19.56 to claim fifth.
On the women’s side, Lilian Koech notched the top performance for the Miners. The senior clocked a time of 4:47.29 in the mile run to finish third overall. Following closely behind was Linda Cheruiyot garnering a sixth-place showing with a time of 5:03.81.
Junior Rebecca Oshinbanjo improved her time from last week in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.63.
In the 400m, Dreshannae Rolle clocked a personal-best time of 57.46 to finish 14th overall.
In the field events, Mokrasova notched a 15th-place showing in the shot put, tossing the iron ball out to 12.62m (41-5). Cierra Chenault landed a mark of 10.82m (35-6).
In her second collegiate competition, Jordan Thummel competed in the pole vault climbing over the bar at a mark of 3.17m (10-4.75) garnering 17th overall.
The women’s 4x400m relay team of Annette Bolomboy, Gibson, Adams and Rolle combined to run a time of 3:15.72 to finish in fourth place.
The Miners will return to action on Friday, Jan. 19-20 when the team travels to Lubbock, Texas for the Texas Tech Invitational.
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