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The UTEP track and field team will open the outdoor season on Friday and Saturday as it hosts the UTEP Springtime at Kidd Field.

The Miners will also be hosting 15 local high schools (Andress, Austin, Burges, Canutillo, Eastlake, El Paso, Franklin, Hanks, Horizon, Irvin (girls only), Mt. View, Parkland, Pebble Hills, Riverside and Socorro), which will be competing at the Miners only home meet of the season.

The meet will kickoff on Friday with the men’s and women’s hammer starting at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., respectively.

On the men’s side, Karol Koncos will look to make a comeback in the hammer throw after missing the 2018 season due to an injury. He finished the indoor season with a season best in the weight throw posted at the 2019 C-USA Championships. During the 2017 outdoor season, Koncos took bronze at the Conference USA Championship with a personal best of 64.29m in the hammer throw. Koncos will also take the field in the discus throw, which is scheduled at 12:15 p.m.

Teammate Iason Machairas will also take the field in the discus, making his outdoor debut. The freshman had a stellar collegiate open, taking fourth overall in the shot put at the 2019 C-USA Indoor Championships. Sophomore Benjamin Coronado will also represent UTEP in the hammer throw and discus.

The men’s triple jump and the men’s 3,000m are schedule to close out the collegiate events on Friday at 9:30 p.m.

The men’s triple jump will feature sophomores Darius King and Devin Mungro. King closed out the indoor season with a sixth-place finish in the triple jump at the conference meet.

The men’s 3,000m will include underclassmen Cornelius Kapel, Rodgers Korir and Daniel Maes.

On Saturday, the action will kick off with the girls 3,200m at 8:30 a.m. and the girls long jump at 9 a.m. The college division will start with the men’s 4x100m relay at 12:30 p.m. and the women’s pole vault at 1:30 p.m.

Highlighting the women’s 800m will be Carolyne Chepkosgei. The sophomore registered an indoor personal best this season, posting a time of 2:06.53. She also helped the women’s cross country team claim a C-USA title. Chepkosgei will take the track on 12:50 p.m. and will be joined by teammates Andrea Lucero and Destiny White.

Highlighting the men’s sprints is transfer Sean Bailey running in the 400m (2:30 p.m.) and 200m (4:40 p.m.). The junior closed out his first indoor season with the Orange and Blue, earning a bronze medal in the 400m at the C-USA Championships. He will look to continue his success this outdoor season.

Freshman standout Chantoba Bright will open the outdoor season in the women’s long jump beginning at 4 p.m. The jumper barely missed the NCAA Indoor Championships sitting at 20th nationally in the triple jump. She notched an indoor best of 6.14m in the long jump and 13.15m in the triple jump.

Freshmen Karoline Daland and Breona Pinkney will represent the Miners in the women’s 400m set to begin at 4:05 p.m.

Closing out the distance races for the Miners will be Linda Cheruiyot and Winny Koech in the women’s mile at 6:15 p.m. Cheruiyot led the women’s team to a 2019 C-USA Indoor Championship title, posting a gold medal and silver medal finish in the 3,000m and 5,000m, respectively. Koech missed the 2019 indoor season, but helped the women’s cross country team claim their first conference title (2018).

The meet will conclude with the women’s 4x400m relay scheduled at 7:40 p.m.

For live updates, please follow @uteptrack on Twitter.

The full schedule can be found at online.

The UTEP track and field team is geared up for the 2019 Air Force Reserve Conference USA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Birmingham, Alabama on Saturday and Sunday.

The meet will kick off on Saturday at 8:15 a.m. MT with the pentathlon. Rebecca Oshinbanjo will represent the Miners in the pentathlon and will also take the track in the 60m hurdles prelims at 3:55 p.m. The pentathlon will included the 60m hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump and 800m.

On the field Saturday, Etamar Bhastekar will compete in the pole vault at 3 p.m. The sophomore currently ranks fourth in the league with a personal-best clearance of 5.18m, which was registered at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational (Feb. 9).

Teammate Karol Koncos will take the field at the same time in the men’s weight throw. The sophomore missed last indoor season due to an injury, but has made his way to the top of the leaderboard by rating fourth in C-USA. The thrower has posted two second-place finishes and one win during the regular season. His season-best mark is 18.87m, recorded at the New Mexico Classic (Feb. 2).

Freshman standout Chantoba Bright will be competing in the second flight of the long jump at approximately 3 p.m. In her first indoor season, Bright has made a name for herself by ranking fifth and sixth in the UTEP record book in the long and triple jump, respectively. The jumper also ranks third in C-USA in the long jump with a mark of 6.14m notched at the Don Kirby (Feb. 9). The freshman will return on Sunday to compete in the triple jump at 1 p.m. She currently sits in the No. 3 spot in the event with a leap of 12.77m, which was set at the New Mexico Classic.

On the men’s side, Darius King will be the only Miner competing in the long jump at 5:30 p.m. and triple jump on Sunday at 10 a.m.

On Saturday, the running events will start with the women’s mile trials at 3:15 p.m., which will feature Lilian Koech and Carolyne Chepkosgei. The duo returns to the track after a stellar showing at the Vanderbilt Music City Challenge. Koech and Chepkosgei hold the top-two spots in C-USA in the mile. They also rate second and third in the league in the 800m. They will return to the track in the 800m trials at 5:45 p.m. on Saturday. The finals for the mile and 800m will take place on Sunday at 12:15 p.m. and 1:30 p.m., respectively. On Sunday, both will race in the 3,000m at 2:15 p.m.

Four Miners (Carshaylah Harrison, Oshinbanjo, Kimisha Chambers and Maribel Caicedo) will take the track in the women’s 60m hurdles prelims at 3:55 p.m. Chambers leads the group, ranking fourth in C-USA with a mark of 8.49 registered at the season opener. Senior Oshinbanjo trails closely behind, rating seventh in the league in the event. The top individual from each heat plus the next five best times will advance to the finals on Sunday at 12:40 p.m.

In the evening, UTEP will race in the men’s 400m prelims which are set to start at 4:50 p.m. Junior Sean Bailey heads into the race ranked third in C-USA and 42nd nationally with a time of 46.86. The top eight times will advance to the finals on Sunday at 1 p.m. The sprinter will also compete in the men’s 200m on Saturday at 6 p.m. It will be the first time this indoor season that Bailey races in the 200m.

On Sunday, the meet will resume with the men’s shot put at 10 a.m. Freshman Iason Machairas and sophomore Benjamin Coronado will represent the Orange and Blue. Machairas rates third in C-USA with a toss of 17.26m, which was posted at the New Mexico Classic (Feb. 2). Teammate Coronado checks in at sixth in the league with a mark of 15.75m.

The C-USA Championships will conclude with the men’s and women’s 4x400m relays, which are set to start at 2:40 p.m.

Live coverage and live results will be available on championship central. On Sunday, coverage will be streamed on CUSA.TV and will switch to ESPN+ starting at 1 p.m.

Albuquerque – The UTEP track and field team completed a full day of competition at the Don Kirby and Vanderbilt Music City Challenge in Albuquerque and Nashville, Tn., respectively.

Duo Lilian Koech and Carolyne Chepkosgei were the two Miners that represented the Miners at the Vanderbilt Music City Challenge meet. Koechclocked in a first-place finish in the women’s 800m posting a winning time of 2:06.29. The mid-distance runner currently ranks 19th nationally and fourth all-time at UTEP.

Teammate Chepkosgei took third in the 800m clocking in a time of 2:06.53. The sophomore now rates 22nd nationally and fifth in the UTEP record book.

At the Don Kirby, Sean Bailey crossed the finish line with a winning time of 46.86 in the 400m. The sprinter has registered consecutive wins after claiming the victory last week at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic. The junior moves up the national leaderboard ranking 34th. Bailey also rates fifth all-time at UTEP.

On the field, Darius King finished 10thin the triple jump in a field of 20 competitors. The sophomore recorded a leap of 14.44m (47-04.50) in his third attempt of the day.

In the women’s 60m hurdles qualifying round, Rebecca Oshinbanjotook sixth overall. The senior posted a time of 8.81 advancing to the preliminary round. In the preliminary round, the Miners fell short. KimishaChambers finished 13th(8.59), while Oshinbanjotook 20thplace.

On the professional circuit, former Miners Michael Saruniand TobiAmusancompeted at the 112thNYRR MillroseGames in New York.

Saruniwon the men’s 800mbeating USA runner DonavanBrazier. The mid-distance runner clocked in a time of 1:43.98 breaking the African, Kenyan and meet record. His stellar performance officially makes him the second-fastest man ever in the indoor 800m.

On the women’s side, Amusannotched a second-place finish in the 60m hurdles. The Adidas runner clocked in a time of 8.03, finishing closely behind SharikaNelvis(8.01).

The Miners will return to the track Feb. 16-17 to compete in the Conference USA Indoor Championships in Birmingham, Alabama.

College Station, Texas – The UTEP track and field team closed out its second meet of the season by going head-to-head against the Aggies and TCU at the Texas A&M Triangular Meet on Saturday.

“The coaching staff is not impressed with today’s results,” said head coach Mika Laaksonen. “We had a few respectable performances, but as a team we didn’t move forward from last week. We have a lot to accomplish in our next meet at Albuquerque.”

Transfer Kimisha Chambers won her first meet as a Miner, clocking in a time of 8.53 in the women’s 60m hurdles. Senior Rebecca Oshinbanjo also raced in the 60m hurdles and posted a seventh-place finish.

Once again the women’s distance team shined, posting a one-two punch. Senior Lilian Koech won the 800m with a time of 2:08.02. Teammate Carolyne Chepkosgei finished closely behind, clocking in a time of 2:08.30.

On the field, Chantoba Bright represented UTEP in the women’s long jump. The freshman posted a leap of 5.63m in her first attempt, finishing second overall.

Freshmen Samantha Cordier and Kayla Larry competed in the weight throw for the Orange and Blue and recorded a second and third-place finish, respectively.

In the men’s 3,000m the Miners dominated the competition by claiming first and second place. Senior Antony Kosgei won the event with a time of 8:38.03, while freshman Rodgers Korir crossed the finish line with a time of 8:38.99.

Sophomore Boaz Ronoh competed in the men’s mile for the first time this season. In a field that included 15 runners, Ronoh finished fourth overall with a time of 4:15.78.

Once again registering a stellar performance in his second meet of his collegiate career was Iason Machairas. The freshman threw a winning mark of 16.64m (54-7.25) in his last attempt of the day in the shot put.

Sophomore Karol Koncos also had a good meet, taking second in the weight throw. In his first attempt the Vidina, Slovakia, native registered a mark of 18.40m (6-4.50).

Improving from last week’s showing, Shakeem Smith took second in the 60m hurdles with a season-best time of 8.08.

In the highly-competitive men’s 400m, junior Sean Bailey had a late push in the third heat of the event to finish fourth overall with a time of 47.61.

In the sprints, senior Kyle Farrell registered a second-place finish in the 200m by posting a time of 21.89. Teammates Anthony Brinson and Carvellion Horn took sixth and seventh place in the 200m, respectively.

The Miners will go on the road again next week to compete at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic on Friday and Saturday in Albuquerque, N.M.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – UTEP freshman Emmanuel Korir took home gold in the 800m running 1:46.50 on Saturday afternoon at the Commodore Invitational breaking the school record in the event.

Elias Koech (2008) previously held the record with a time of 1:46.77 in the event. Korir time also checks in as the top-collegiate time of the season.

“This was a very good race for Korir. He will qualify for internationals with that time,” said head coach Mika Laaksonen. “I am very proud of both the men’s and women’s performances today. This was a major step in building our confidence for the rest of the season.”

Trailing closely behind Korir was teammate Michael Saruni (1:47.94) who finished second, setting the fourth-fastest time in school history.

Jonah Koech and Antony Kosgie set personal bests in their respective events. Koech dazzled in the mile run (4:02.14) claiming gold. Anthony Kosgei took second in the 3,000m clocking in a time of 8:04.19, while Cosmas Boit finished third with a time of 8:04.59.

On the women’s side, sophomore sensation Tobi Amusan clocked in a first-place finish in the 60m hurdles (8.19) setting a new personal best. Her time is also the third fastest time in school history and fourth fastest collegiate time of the season.

Ada Benjamin performed well in a very competitive 400m field earning fourth place with a time of 54:26.

In what was an eventful first meet for the Miners, a track official choked on her food. Luckily Senior Kevin Rincon was there and well trained in performing the Heimlich Maneuver helping the official through the incident.

The Miners will travel to Albuquerque, N.M. next weekend to compete in the Cherry and Silver Collegiate Invitational.

Berkeley, Ca. – The UTEP track and field team had a superb showing at the Brutus Hamilton Open on Friday afternoon. Seven Miners recorded personal bests at the meet.

Throwers Fayon Gonzales and Adebola got the action started during the morning session with the hammer throw. Gonzales took bronze with a personal best toss of 51.64m (169-05) and Adebola Akomolafe finished eighth with a heave of 48.21m (158-02). Akomolafe also finished fourth in the discus throw with a throw of 43.64m (143-02).

In the 100m dash, Florence Uwakwe took gold with a time of 11.80 and sophomore Tyler Ragin finished in fifth place with a readout of 12.41. Sven Zellner took silver for the men in the 100m dash with a time of 10.98.

Asa Guevara (21.35) and Carnell Horn (22.21/season best) sprinted to first and third-place showings in the 200m dash.

In the 800m run, Cosmas Boit held off a charging runner in the last 50m to take silver with a readout of 1:52.93. For the women, Brittney Adams collected a personal best by crossing the finish line in 2:18.57 seconds to win her heat.

Daniel Cheruiyot clocked the fourth-fastest 3,000m steeplechase time in Conference USA with a mark of 9:03.81; that mark is also a personal best.

Kevin Rincon launched a massive personal best in the hammer throw with a heave of 52.61m (172-07) to place seventh.

In the 5,000m run, Gladys Jerotich took third place with a time of 17:25.45 and Kayla Pallares clocked a personal best of 18:24.41.

All three Miners who competed in the 400m dash recorded personal bests; Dreshanae Rolle was the only woman to run and she clocked a time of 56.75, and representing the men were Tommy McCoy (51.39) and Yinka Oyebanjo-Odofin (53.02).

The Brutus Hamilton Challenge will take place tomorrow in Berekely. For live updates, follow @UTEPTrack on Twitter.