UTEP Track and Field to Compete at NCAA Championships

by Dr Alex Jimenez DC, APRN, FNP-BC, CFMP, IFMCP | UTEP (Local) RSS

The UTEP track and field team will be sending nine student-athletes to compete at the 2017 NCAA Championships this week in Eugene Ore., starting Wednesday June 7 through Saturday, June 10.

Wearing the Orange and Blue for the women’s team will be Tobi Amusan (100m Hurdles), Samantha Hall (Discus Throw), Lucia Mokrasova (Heptathlon), Winny Koech (10,000m) and Lilian Koech (800m).

On the men’s side, Emmanuel Korir (800m and 4x400m relay), Michael Saruni (800m and 4x400m relays) and the 4x400m relay ream of Korir, Saruni, Asa Guevara and James Bias will represent the Miners at the NCAA Championships.

Tobi Amusan | Sophomore | Hurdles

The Sophomore makes her return to the NCAA Championships after taking runner-up last year. Amusan heads into the championships with the fastest qualifying time, when she clocked 12.57w at the West Region Prelim. The Nigerian native has yet to lose a 100m hurdles in five races thus far.

The school record holder will compete in the semifinals for the 100m hurdles on Thursday at 6:32 p.m. MT on ESPN2. A total of eight runners out of the 24 will advance to the finals. Three heats will be held (eight athletes in each heat) and the top two finishers from each heat plus the next best two fastest times will advance.

Samantha Hall | Senior | Discus

The senior will make her final appearance in the Orange and Blue at the national stage for the second time in her career after earning 13th overall at the 2015 NCAA Championships. Hall holds the school record in the discus throw with a mark of 58.50m and qualified for the NCAA Championships tossing for 56.50m at the West Region Prelims.Hall will compete on Saturday’s final starting at 4:05 p.m. on ESPN3.

Lucia Mokrasova| Junior | Heptathlon

Mokrasova will take the track in the heptathlon on Friday and Saturday morning for the Miners. The junior broke her previous school record earlier this year at the Texas Relays, she scored 5,671 points.

That point total for Mokrasova ranks her 12th nationally headed into the competition. The Slovakia native will take the track on Fridayat 1:30 p.m. on ESPN3.

Winny Koech | Sophomore | 10,000m

Koech will compete in the 10,000m Final on Thursday night at 8:08 p.m on ESPN2. Koech has clocked a personal-best 33:51.31 when she ran at the Mt. SAC Relays earlier this year. The C-USA champion ranks 17th among the 24 student-athletes competing, after running a qualifying time of 34:39.41. This will be the first trip to the national stage for Koech.

Lilian Koech | Sophomore | 800m

Making a her first appearance at the national stage, the Kenya native will run in the 800m semifinal on Thursday at 7:14 p.m on ESPN2. Koech clocked her personal best earlier this year with a time of 2:04.68 at the Brutus Hamilton Challenge. The sophomore earned one of the automatic qualifying spots from the West Region Prelim with a time of 2:07.68.

Emmanuel Korir | Freshman | 800m

The Kenya native has taken track and field by storm this year. Breaking numerous meet records and school records, including the indoor 600m world record (1:14.97). Korir is undefeated in the 800m through three races. The freshman clocked the fastest-time in the 800m earlier this year with a time of 1:43.73 at the Brutus Hamilton Challenge. Korir is just one of three athletes in the world to run sub-1:44 in the 800m and sub-45 in the 400m.

The All-American will take the track on Wednesday in the 800m semifinal starting at 7:14 p.m on ESPN2.

Michael Saruni | Freshman | 800m

Saruni has been just as spectacular as his teammate Korir. Saruni clocked a personal best 1:45.92 at the Texas Relays beating the 2012 Olympic silver medalist (Leonel Manzano) and the collegiate record holder (Donavan Brazier). Saruni heads into the championships ranked sixth in the nation.

Men’s 4x400m Relay Team

The Men’s 4x400m relay team will consist of both freshman 800m runners, senior James Bias and junior James Bias. The team registered the second-fastest time in program history with a time of 3:03.15 and ranks as the fourth-fastest qualifying time to the NCAA Championship. The team will compete on Wednesday in the 4x400m relay semifinal with the final set for Friday at 8:51 p.m. on ESPN.

You can watch the 2017 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships live on the ESPN family of networks. Both the final day of the men’s championship and women’s championship will be aired in prime time on ESPN.

For live results and breaking news be sure to follow @UTEPTrack on Twitter and uteptrack on Instagram.

Koech Garners First Career Gold Medal in the 10,000m

by Dr Alex Jimenez DC, APRN, FNP-BC, CFMP, IFMCP | UTEP (Local) RSS

UTEP�s Winny Koech set the pace during the 25-lap race, crossing the finish line to garner the Miners� first gold medal (10,000m) at the Conference USA Championships on Friday evening.

Koech ran a time of 35:44.15 to gather 10 precious team points. Teammate Gladys Jerotich finished in fifth place with a time of 37:57.56 to grab five points.

On the men�s side, Antony Kosgei took silver with a time of 31:05.55, raking in eight points. Evans Kiprono clocked 31:36.33 to place fifth, adding another four points.

Lucia Mokrasova garnered silver in a valiant effort on day two of the C-USA Championship in the women�s heptathlon. The junior still earned the Miners eight crucial points.

Mokrasova finished with a final tally of 5,525 points. The heptathlete battled against Elizabeth Dadzie (Middle Tennessee) for the conference title for the second consecutive year. Mokrasova collected a mark of 5.52m (18-01.5) in the long jump, a heave of 39.79m (130-06) and an 800m time of 2:30.86 to close out the event.

The Miners had two third-place showings in the men�s and women�s hammer throw with a couple of personal-bests.� Senior Fayon Gonzales tossed 56.82m (186-05) in her last competition as a Miner. In his first conference championship, Karol Koncos rocked 64.29m (210-11), both garnering six team points.

The men�s team sits in second place with 18 points, while the women�s team hangs on to first place with 28 points through three events.

Saturday�s action will showcase plenty of action as the Miners will have Tobi Amusan, ranked No. 2 in the in the country in the 100m hurdles, Michael Saruni, No. 3 in the nation in the 400m and Emmanuel Korir, ranked first in the country in the 800m.

The action kicks off at 1:00 p.m. MT. For Live updates and breaking news be sure to follow @UTEPTrack on Twitter and uteptrack on Instagram.