Irving, Texas – Three UTEP track and field athletes were rewarded for the excellent performances this past weekend at the Cherry & Silver Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M. Nickevea Wilson (female field), Jonah Koech (male track) and Lilian Koech (female track) were named the Conference USA Athletes of the Week on Tuesday.
For Wilson, this is her second straight honor. The Jamaican doubled splendidly in the long jump and triple jump this past weekend. She leaped 12.63m (41-5.25) in the triple jump to claim silver. She currently has the eighth-longest jump in the country with a mark of 12.96m. In the long jump, she registered a bound of 5.76m (18-10.75) to take seventh place; her mark of 5.76m ranks fifth in Conference USA. This marks the third time in Wilson’s career she has been named C-USA Athlete of the Week.
Jonah Koech has been nothing but dominant in his first two career indoor races. The freshman has taken gold twice in the mile run with times of 4:14.22 and 4:05.26.
Last weekend in Albuquerque, his initial time of 4:05.26 was converted to a sub-four minute mile (3:59.92) due to the elevation. Koech ran his mile race at 11:55 a.m. (MT) and was the first NCAA runner this year to break the four-minute barrier; Koech only held the No. 1 time in the country for a brief time though. Air Force’s Patrick Corona (3:59.77) clocked his sub-four minute mile time at 1:55 p.m. Koech’s time ranks No. 2 in the country and first in Conference USA. This is Koech’s first career C-USA Track Athlete of the Week award.
Lilian Koech, the 2015 Outdoor Conference USA Co-Performer of the Meet, has gotten off to a hot start in 2016. At the Cherry & Silver, the Kenyan took second place in the 800m run with a personal best time of 2:11.70. The mark, which converted to 2:10.96 due to elevation, ranks second in C-USA, 46th nationally and 10th in UTEP program history. This is Koech’s first-career C-USA Track Athlete of the Week award.
