UTEP XC Men Capture Second, Women Place Top 10 at Arturo Barrios Invite Saturday Morning

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The UTEP cross country men’s team finished in second place in the 8K out of 32 teams and the women’s squad finished 10^th out of 33 programs in the 6K event at the Arturo Barrios Invitational hosted by Texas A&M at Dale Watts Cross Country Course on Saturday morning. 

The UTEP men, who entered the meet ranked no. 12 in the Mountain Region, recorded 141 points behind champion Lipscomb (93 points). The Miner women tallied 340 points, while Lipscomb also came out on top on the women’s side (72 points).

“This was a great performance for both teams, especially the men who finished in second place,” UTEP Head Coach Paul Ereng said. “Rodgers had a great race, finishing in eighth-place overall. The women’s team, although we need more depth, managed a 10^th-place showing. Ruth’s performance was great, coming in seventh. This meet has given us what we need to do as we prepare for [Conference USA Championships] in the next two weeks.”

UTEP’s Rodgers Korir clocked in a personal-best 23:47.09, placing in eighth out of over 260 competitors. Ruth Jerubet ran her first career 6K, placing seventh with a time of 20:49.05 out of 260 runners.

A total nine Miners set personal bests on Saturday morning.

Rounding out the men’s side are Maxwell Kipkosgei (24^th, personal-best 24:09.4), Titus Cheruiyot (28^th, 24:10.4), Gabriel Armijo (35^th, personal-best 24:21.6), Kenneth Talavera (50^th, personal-best 24:40.7), Juan Olmos (62^nd, personal-best 24:47.5), Yusuf Mohamud (141^st, personal-best 25:48.9) and Michael Sims (149^th, personal-best 25:59.5).

Finishing out the women’s side are Carolyne Chepkosgei (16^th, 20:59.05), Karoline Daland (69^th, 21:56.2), Joan Kimaiyo (131^st, 23:04.6), Andrea Lucero (146^th, personal-best 23:16.7), Jacquilyn Orozco (215^th, personal-best 24:33.4) and Victoria Ovalles (221^st, 24:43.4).

Rice’s Grace Forbes won the women’s individual title, setting an Arturo Barrios women’s 6K record at 19:53.2. LSU’s Davis Bove won the men’s championship, clocking in a 23:28.6.

Up next, the Miners will compete at the 2021 Conference USA Championships on Oct. 30 in Charlotte, N.C. The NCAA Mountain Regionals will follow on Nov. 12 in Provo, Utah.

For all things UTEP XC, click here; for our complete coverage of the Miners, click here.