Tag Archives: utep track

The UTEP track and field team will be making its second trip of the outdoor season to the state capital for the Texas Team Invitational at Mike A. Myers Stadium this Friday and Saturday.

There will be 14 schools competing at the meet, including nationally-ranked No. 2 Texas Tech, No. 5 Houston and No. 19 Baylor.

Coming off a stellar performance at the Don Kirby Tailwind, Michael Saruni will compete in the 800m on Friday at 6:40 p.m. MT. The sophomore notched the Conference USA Track Athlete of the Week award for his performance in the 400m last week. His time of 45.53 ranks No. 3 in the nation. Jonah Koech will also compete in the 800m.

Senior Asa Guevara will take part in the 400m and the 4x100m relay. Guevara clocked a personal-best 45.75 last week, earning the No. 7 spot in the nation in the 400m. He will run in the 400m at 1:05 p.m. on Saturday.

Making his return trip to Mike A. Myers Stadium, Shakeem Smith will race in the 110m hurdles and the 400m hurdles. Smith clocked the seventh-fastest time in program history in the 110m hurdles with a time of 14.19 at the Don Kirby Tailwind.

In the 5,000m, Antony Kosgei and newcomer Boaz Ronoh will take the track at 9:20 a.m. on Saturday. Kosgei currently ranks fifth in the league with a season-best time of 14:34.42.

Freshman Benjamin Coronado will see action in the hammer throw on Friday at 9 a.m. and then again in the shot put at 6 p.m.

On the women’s side, junior Lucia Mokrasova will compete in the 200m on Friday at 5:30 p.m. and will return to the track at 7 p.m. for the shot put. Mokrasova is second in the league in the heptathlon when she scored 5,160 points at the Texas Relays.

In the 800m, Lilian Koech and Linda Cheruiyot will race on Friday at 6:30 p.m. Both Miners hold the top spots in the league with Koech (2:07.53) at the helm and Cheruiyot (2:10.57) close behind.

Rebecca Oshinbanjo and Danielle Trought will compete in the 100m hurdles on Saturday at 11:25 a.m. Oshinbanjo ranks second in the conference with a season-best time of 13.73.

This is the fourth outdoor meet of the season for the Miners as the C-USA Championships approach closer on May 13-14.

Be sure to follow @UTEPTrack on Twitter and UTEPTRACK on Instagram for live updates and breaking news.

LONDON – UTEP’s Emmanuel Korir wrapped up his experience at the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federation) World Championships Sunday afternoon as he bowed out of the semifinal round.

Korir ran in lane five of the second heat in the men’s 800m semifinal where he clocked a time of 1:46.08. The Kenya native finished with the eighth fastest time of the semifinal round but still misses out of Tuesday’s final.

The NCAA All-American adds the World Championships experience to his list, which includes two NCAA titles, a Kenya 800m title and a first-place finish at the Herculis Monaco Diamond League with a personal-best time of 1:43.10.

Former Miner Blessing Okagbare also missed out in the women’s 100m final, as she clocked a time of 11.08 to finish fourth in her heat of the semifinal round. Okagbare just missed out of the final by .01 seconds. She will continue her competition at the World Championships in the long jump beginning on Wednesday, Aug. 9 at 12:10 p.m. M.T.

Another former Miner Churandy Martina (Netherlands) will compete in the men’s 200m qualifying round Monday, Aug. 7 at 11:30 a.m.

The World Championships will be streamed across the NBC family of networks with coverage of each day. Be sure to follow @UTEPTrack on Twitter and uteptrack on Instagram for live updates.

Those interested in competing this season for the UTEP track and field team are invited to tryout Thursday, Sept.1at Kidd Field.

Student-athletes should be warmed up and ready at 4:30 p.m. MT Maximum spike length is one-fourth of an inch or 7mm, pyramid only.

Prior to tryouts, NCAA mandate participants must complete the tryout policy procedures and receive approval from the UTEP Athletics Compliance office by Wednesday, Aug. 31, at 4:30 p.m.

Packet information is available online athttp://www.utepathlectics.com; click track and field and view the right side of the page. Information is also available at the track office at Kidd Field.

Participants must achieve two of the three standards to be considered as a walk-on.

Sprinters, Jumpers, and Hurdlers

                  Men                             Women

Standing Long Jump Over                   2.90m                          2.25m

30m Fly                                                2.99 sec                       3.5 sec

300m Run Under                                 37.0 sec                       44.0 sec

Throwers

                                                            Men                             Women

Standing Long Jump Over                   2.70m                          2.20m

Over Head Shot Throw                        47 ft                             40 ft

30m Sprint Under                                4.30 sec                       4.90 sec

UTEP sophomore Tobi Amusan (Nigeria) and UTEP great Churandy Martina (Netherlands) both advanced to the semifinals in their respective events.

Amuson finished fifth in heat five in the women’s 100m hurdles and Churandy placed second in heat seven in the men’s 200m at the 2016 Olympic Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday.

Amusan’s time of 12.99 garnered her a spot in the semifinals on Wednesday. The sprinter will race in the second semifinal heat (lane three) at 5:45 p.m. MT at João Havelange Olympic Stadium.

Martina finished .09 seconds behind heat winner Nery Brenes (Costa Rica), who clocked in a time of 20.20 in the men’s 200m.

Churandy secured an automatic spot in the 200m semifinals tomorrow at 7 p.m.Churandy will race in heat three (lane eight) with USA’s Justin Gatlin.

If both Amusan and Martina advance to the finals, the women’s 100m hurdles final is set for a 7:55 p.m.start on Wednesday (Aug. 17), while the men’s 200m final will commence at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Miner great Blessing Okagbare (Nigeria) didn’t compete in the women’s long jump, while not qualifying in the women’s 200m on Tuesday night.

Composite Schedule For Amusan and Martina (All Times Mountain)

Wednesday, Aug. 17

Women’s 100m hurdles Semifinals 1-3, 5:45 p.m.-Tobi Amusan

Men’s 200m Semifinals 1-3, 7 p.m.-Churandy Martina

Women’s 100m hurdles Final, 7:55 p.m.-Tobi Amusan

Thursday, Aug. 18

Women’s 4x100m Relay Round 1, 8:20 a.m.-Tobi Amusan, Blessing Okagabare (Possible Candidates)

Men’s 4x100m Relay Round 1, 8:40 a.m.-Churandy Martina (Possible Candidate)

Men’s 200m Final, 7:30 p.m.-Churandy Martina

Friday, Aug. 19

Women’s 4x100m Relay Final, 7:15 p.m.-Tobi Amusan, Blessing Okagabare (Possible Candidates)

Men’s 4x100m Relay Final, 7:35 p.m. Friday (8/19)-Churandy Martina (Possible Candidate)

UTEP Miners Olympic Track Schedule Sorted By Athlete (All Times Mountain)

Tobi Amusan (100m hurdles, 4x100m relay candidate)

Wednesday, Aug. 17

Women’s 100m hurdles Semifinals 1-3, 5:45 p.m.

Women’s 100m hurdles Final, 7:55 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 18

Women’s 4x100m Relay Round 1, 8:20 a.m.

Friday, Aug. 19

Women’s 4x100m Relay Final, 7:15 p.m.

Churandy Martina (100m, 200m, 4x100m relay candidate)

Wednesday, Aug. 17

Men’s 200m Semifinals 1-3, 7 p.m., Wednesday (8/17)

Thursday, Aug. 18

Men’s 200m Final, 7:30 p.m.

Men’s 4x100m Relay Round 1, 8:40 a.m.

Friday, Aug. 19

Men’s 4x100m Relay Final, 7:35 p.m.

Bob Kitchens was announced on Wednesday as one of six men who will be inducted into the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Coaches Hall of Fame as the Class of 2016.

Kitchens was head coach of the UTEP Miners from 1988-2010.

“What you work for your whole life is to be recognized by your peers and to be remembered for doing something special,” Kitchens said.  “When that happens, it means you accomplished something big and to be recognized for that means the world to me.  I’m tickled to death to go in with coaches I’ve competed against and have known for a number of years.”

Kitchens will be joined in this year’s class by Terry Franson, Pat Healy, Mike Holloway, Marty Stern and Bubba Thornton.  He is the third UTEP coach to earn the prestigious honor, along with Ted Banks who was inducted in 2000 and Tom Jones who was inducted in 2007.  The inaugural class was inducted in 1995.

Kitchens was also the head coach at West Texas A&M and Mississippi State before coming to El Paso.  He coached a combined 265 All-Americans and 26 NCAA champions at the three schools.

His tenure at UTEP produced 143 outdoor All-Americans, 73 indoor All-Americans and 15 cross country All-Americans.  He led the Miners to six top-five NCAA finishes (four indoor, two outdoor) and 16 conference titles (six outdoors, five indoors, five cross country).  Kitchens was a seven-time Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year and a three-time Conference USA Coach of the Year.

He oversaw the training of 23 NCAA champions, 231 NCAA All-Americans and 374 conference champions.  He also coached athletes who combined to make a total of 47 appearances in the Olympics, including six medalists.

Over the years, Kitchens had the knack for turning the raw talented into the world’s elite. He coached the world junior record-holder in the outdoor 100-meter (10.08 by Obadele Thompson) and 200-meter (20.07 by Lorenzo Daniel) dashes and produced the world record-holders in the indoor 55-meter (5.99 by Thompson) and 100-meter dashes. His athletes set NCAA indoor and outdoor championship records in the 200 with Thompson running 20.36 indoors in 1996 and Daniel running 19.87 outdoors in 1988.

Kitchens made the sprinting events his expertise. At UTEP he coached 10 NCAA champions and had 84 athletes gain NCAA All-America honors — an average of nearly four per year — in sprinting events.

Kitchens closed out his coaching career in style in 2010, leading the developing UTEP women’s program to its best-ever NCAA outdoor finish (seventh) and a seventh-place indoor showing as well.  Kitchens coached his final NCAA champion in Blessing Okagbare, who captured a remarkable four titles that year – two indoors (60-meter dash and long jump) and two outdoors (100-meter dash and long jump).  The women also claimed their first-ever conference indoor championship that year.

The Miner men were the national outdoor runner-up in 1994, and UTEP finished fifth nationally outdoors in 1992.  The men finished third at NCAA Indoors in 1994, fourth in 1992 and 1993, and tied for fifth in 1996.

Kitchens was inducted into the UTEP Athletics Hall of Fame in 2015.  He is also a member of the El Paso Athletics Hall of Fame, the Drake Relays Hall of Fame and the West Texas A&M Athletic Hall of Champions.

The 2016 USTFCCCA Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held on Dec. 14 in Orlando.

Miners Lilian Koech, Yanique Bannett, Rasmus Maukonen and Sven Zellner were named to the 2016 U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division I All-Academic team.

On the women’s side, Koech entered her freshman cross country season in stellar fashion. The distance runner was named the 2015 Conference USA Freshman of the Meet after finishing in 11th in the 5K run with a time of 18:05.6. Koech ran a personal-best of 17:09.8 in the 5K at the Notre Dame Invitational. The freshman is a biology major and checks in with a 3.57 GPA.

Bennett clocked in a personal-best of 58.27 in the 400m hurdles at the C-USA Championships where she took silver. The transfer went on to qualify at the NCAA West Preliminaries and posted a time of 59.05. The junior is a multidisciplinary studies major and holds a 3.25 GPA.

Maukonen notched a personal-best of 73.64m in the javelin throw at the UTEP Springtime. The sophomore posted four top-10 finishes and qualified for the NCAA West Preliminaries. Maukonen sits at a 3.67 GPA in multidisciplinary studies.

Zellner is a two-time member of the C-USA All-Academic team. The Germany native participated in all 12 events this year for the Orange and Blue. The senior picked up a sixth-place showing in the 60m hurdles at the 2016 C-USA Indoor Championships. He also ran the best 110m hurdles time of his career at the UTEP Springtime with a time of 14.07. The senior is a mechanical engineering major and has a 3.82 GPA.

To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Track & Field Team, the student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative GPA of 3.25 and have met at least one of the following athletic standards: For the indoor season, a student-athlete must have finished the regular season ranked in the national top 96 in an individual event or ranked in the national top 48 (collective listing) in a relay event on the official NCAA POP list provided by TFRRS.org.

For the outdoor season, a student-athlete must have participated in any round of the NCAA Division I Championships (including preliminary rounds).

Rising UTEP sophomore Tobi Amusan punched her ticket to the finals of the 100m hurdles at the World U20 Championships by winning the first semifinal heat with a time of 12.99 on Saturday.

The Nigerian finished ahead of Alexis Duncan (13.02-USA) and Alicia Barrett (13.34-GBR), despite personal-best clockings by both of them.

Amusan, who is the under-20 world leader in 100m hurdles this year, will take aim at the gold medal on Sunday. Her timeon Saturday was the second best of the day across the board, with only with heat three victor Elvira Herman’s (BLR) readout of 12.97 eclipsing her.

The 2016 Conference USA Track Athlete of Year and NCAA silver medalist will be joined in Sunday’s finals by Herman, Duncan, Tia Jones (13.09-USA), Rushelle Burton (13.21-JAM), Laura Valette (13.23-FRA), Barrett and Taylon Bieldt (13.35-RSA).

For complete results, please visit www.iaaf.org

Eugene, Ore. – Tobi Amusan’s incredulous freshman season lived to see another day after her time of 12.98 in the final 100m hurdle heat was good enough to capture the final qualifying spot on day two of the NCAA Championships.

Amusan crossed the finishline in fourth place in her stacked heat. She advances to the finals that will be run at 5:12 p.m. MT on Saturday afternoon on ESPN. Four of the eight finalists for Saturday came from Amusan’s heat.

Junior 400m dasher Florence Uwakwe’s season came to a halt on Thursday evening. The Nigeria native clocked a time of 56.28 in her heat to place 24th.

Heptathlete Lucia Mokrasova will be the only Miner in action on Friday as she will complete the first four events (100m hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200m dash) of the heptathlon. The heptathlon competition can be viewed on espn3.com and begins at 1:30 p.m. MT

Eugene, Ore. – Jonah Koech’s freshman year came to an end Wednesday evening at the NCAA Championships in the 800m run.

The native Kenyan clocked a personal best time of 1:46.53 in his heat to miss qualifying for the finals by one spot.

“He ran a personal record at the National Championships and you can’t ask for anymore than that,” head coach Mika Laaksonen said. “He was an All American in cross country and indoors, and he competed at the championships in outdoors; I don’t know what more you can ask of from a freshman.”

The time of 1:45.53 ranks third fastest in UTEP program history and Koech wraps up his freshman campaign having won five races during the outdoor slate. He collected 18 points for the Miners at the Conference USA Championships on his way to earning Freshmen of the Meet honors as well.

Tobi Amusan (100m hurdles/6:32 p.m. MT) and Florence Uwakwe (400m dash/7:00 p.m. MT) will be in action this evening on ESPN in their semifinal races.

Lawrence, Kansas – Florence Uwakwe and Jonah Koech punched their ticket to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore., on Friday afternoon.

“It was very fitting for Florence and how she earned her bid,” Laaksonen said. “Two years ago as a freshman, she was the first one out and this year she is the last one in. It’s great to have her make it to the NCAA’s as an individual.”

Uwakwe was faced with the tough task of running the first heat of six in the 400m dash, but that did not stop her from qualifying for the NCAA Championships.

The Nigeria native clocked a time of 54.11 to take second in her heat. With the new qualifying format due to yesterday’s weather (winner of heat plus next six fastest times advance), Uwakwe’s mark was right on the cutline entering the sixth and final heat. Uwakwe’s time stood up as the last qualifying time by .08 seconds (Kristyn Williams/Stanford/54.19).

This will be Uwakwe’s second appearance at the NCAA Championships during her career at UTEP. In 2014, she was a member of the women’s 4x100m relay team that made it to Oregon. Uwakwe’s weekend is not finished just yet, she will be the anchor leg in the women’s 4x100m relay team tomorrowin hopes of advancing. Uwakwe will be the first Miner since Endurance Abinuwa (2009) to run in the open 400m dash at the NCAA Championships.

“What Jonah did was very impressive this afternoon,” Laaksonen noted. “He was in the sixth and final heat and he knew what he needed to do to advance, and he did just that. His kick in the last 200 meters was phenomenal and I can’t wait to see him in action in two weeks.”

Two-time All American Koech won his heat with a time of 1:49.89 on his way to securing a bid to the NCAA Championships; this will be his

third NCAA Championships he has competed in this year (cross country, indoors and now outdoors). He will be the first Miner since Dominic Tanui (2009) to compete at the NCAA Championships in the 800m run.

Tobi Amusan (100m hurdles), Bria Love (100m hurdles), Sven Zellner (110m hurdles) and Asa Guevara (200m dash) will look to advance to the NCAA Championships tomorrow. The women’s 4x100m relay squad of Tyler Ragin, Amusan, Alexis Roberts and Uwakwe will try and advance as well.

Murfreesboro, Tenn. – Two freshman reeled in impressive awards at the conclusion of the Conference USA Outdoor Championships on Sunday evening; Tobi Amusan was took home both High Point Scorer of the Meet and Freshmen of the Meet honors, while freshman Jonah Koech was named Freshman of the Meet on the men’s side.

“Tobi came mid year and you can just tell she is a special athlete,” head coach Mika Laaksonen noted. “She really hit her stride and I don’t think we have seen her reach her full potential yet, she is an amazing athlete. I look forward to having her for three more years.”

“And Jonah has had a stellar freshman year so far,” Laaksonen noted. “He is already a two-time All American and hopefully he can be a three-time one by the end of this season. He is a special young man and I am very happy to have him three more years as well.”

The women’s team ended up finishing fourth with 91 points and the men finished sixth with 74 points. The women’s champ was Rice (136 points) and Western Kentucky (148 points) took home the men’s title.

“Even if the women’s team had a perfect day for us today it would have been hard for us to take home the title and then the men improved to sixth from a disappointing finish at indoors,” Laaksonen noted.

Amusan, who scored eight points in the long jump on Saturday, tallied a molly whopping 20 points on the final day of the C-USA Championships. The Nigeria native cruised to gold in the 200m dash (23.27) and her main event, the 100m hurdles (13.06).

Koech did not disappoint in his mid distance disciplines. The Kenyan native outkicked Eliud Rutto in the 1,500m final on his way to setting

a new meet record with a time of 3:43.39. He returned an hour later in the 800m run with a silver finish by clocking a time of 1:50.00.

Junior Cosmas Boit had a stellar day on the track and he racked up 10 points between the 1,500m run and 5,000m run. Boit held the lead in the 5,000m run until the last 30 meters and he clocked a time of 14:22.62 for silver. In the 1,500m run, the Kenya native placed seventh with a time of 3:48.88.

Fellow distance runner Daniel Cheruiyot scored his 16th point of the meet on Sunday evening when he placed third in the 5,000m run with a time of 14:28.48.

In the 100m dash finals, Asa Guevara placed fifth with a time of 10.62 for the men while Florence Uwakwe finished sixth for the women with a readout of 11.85; Uwakwe also scored in the 200m dash finals with a time of 23.82 for fourth place.

Senior Carnell Horn registered his highest finish at a C-USA meet when he placed fourth in the 400m dash with a personal best time of 46.94. Ada Benjamin sprinted to a silver in both the 400m dash (54.54) and the 4x400m relay (3:39.08/season best).

Joining Benjamin in the 4x400m relay were Uwakwe, Dreshanae Rolle, and Yanique Bennett to earn silver only .03 seconds behind Western Kentucky.

Bennett also claimed silver in the women’s 400m hurdles with a season best time of 58.27.

The men’s 4x400m relay squad of Esteban Montanez, Horn, Isak Washington and Guevara finished third in the men’s race with a time of 3:11.98.

The NCAA West Preliminaries will take place in two weeks in Lawrence, Kansas.

Murfreesboro, Tenn. – After three days of the 2016 Outdoor Conference USA Championships, the UTEP women’s team is in tied for fifth place with 25 points and the men have tallied 11 points for seventh place.

Host Middle Tennessee State leads the women’s title chase with 60 points and UTSA (59 points) leads the men’s race.

The UTEP women picked up points in two field events on the afternoon: Tobi Amusan took silver in the long jump with a bound of 6.06m for eight points and Adebola Akomolafe placed sixth with a personal best discus throw of 46.13m for three points. For the men, Daniel Cheruiyot scored for the second time this week.

24 hours after running a 10,000m run, Cheruiyot turned in an admirable performance in the 3,000m steeplechase. The Kenya native placed fifth with a personal best time of 9:01.61 to cap day three.

Other than field events and the 3,000m steeplechase, Saturday was qualifying day and a slew of Miners advanced to the finals on Sunday. Asa Guevara (100m dash and 200m dash), Jonah Koech (800m run and 1,500m run), Tobi Amusan (100m hurdles and 200m dash) and Florence Uwakwe were the four Miners that advanced to the finals of two events tomorrow.

Cosmas Boit (800m run), Bria Love (100m hurdles), Ada Benjamin (400m dash), Carnell Horn (400m dash), Yanique Bennett (400m hurdles), Dreshanae Rolle (400m hurdles) and Tommy McCoy (400m hurdles) were the rest to qualify for finals.

The Conference USA Championships will conclude tomorrow.

Murfreesboro, Tenn. – Lucia Mokrasova’s attempt to win her first Conference USA heptathlon came up just a bit short in a valiant effort on Friday afternoon during day two of the C-USA Championships. The sophomore still earned the Miners eight crucial points with a second-place finish.

Mokrasova finished with a final tally of 5,579 points, which was only 28 points off of the champion’s, Elizabeth Dadzie (MTSU), pace. Mokrasova collected a mark of 5,48m in the long jump, a heave of 40.46m in the javelin throw and an 800m time of 2:20.47 to close out the event.

Freshman Rebecca Oshinbanjo pitched into the team scoring effort with a seventh-place showing in the heptathlon with 4,844 points. Oshinbanjo excelled in the long jump with a personal best leap of 5.59m. The Nigeria native closed out the event with a javelin throw of 28.17m and 800m run time of 2:27.67.

All in all, the Orange and Blue escaped with 10 total points in the heptathlon (eight from Mokrasova and two from Oshinbanjo).

The distance duo of Daniel Cheruiyot and Evans Kiprono ran to third and fourth place finish in the 10,000m run. Cheruiyot crossed in 31:05.74 and Kiprono registered a time of 31:09.16.

To close out the night, Gladys Jerotich picked up a fifth-place showing in the 10,000m run with a time of 35:36.17 for four more UTEP points.

After day two, the UTEP women are in fifth place with 14 points and the men are in fourth place with 11 points.

Murfreesboro, Tenn. – After day one of the heptathlon, the Miners have two women inside the top eight. Lucia Mokrasova is in first place with 3,384 points and Rebecca Oshinbanjo sits in sits in sixth place with 2,954 points.

Mokrasova, the UTEP school record holder, ran the second fastest time of any athlete in the competition in the 100m hurdles to being the day.

The Slovakia native clocked a time of 14.01 seconds for 977 points. She followed that by clearing 1.62m in the high jump for 759 points. She then launched the furthest shot put in the competition with a mark of 741 points. The school record holder closed out the night with a 200m dash time of 24.78 for 907 points.

Oshinbanjo clocked the third fastest 100m hurdle time with a readout of 14.12 seconds for 961 points. The freshman cleared 1.53m (655 points) in the high jump and tossed the shot put 9.50m (497 points). She finished off day one with the third-fastest 200m dash time in the competition with a mark of 25.51 for 841 points.

Mokrasova and Oshinbanjo will compete in the final three events (long jump, javelin throw and 800m run) tomorrow.

Adebola Akomolafe, Fayon Gonzales and Kevin Rincon will all compete in the hammer and Evans Kiprono, Daniel Cheruiyot and Kayla Pallares will run the 10,000m run.