UTEP Track and Field Garner Multiple Regional Awards

The UTEP track and field program received multiple Mountain Region awards for this season announced by the USTFCCA (U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association) on Monday.

Emmanuel Korir and was named male Mountain Region Track Athlete of the Year, Tobi Amsuan was named female Mountain Region Track Athlete of the Year, men’s assistant coach Paul Ereng was named the Mountain Region Assistant Coach of the Year, women’s assistant coach Lacena Golding-Clarke was named the Mountain Region Assistant Coach of the Year.

Korir showed incredible talent during the season. He ran the second fastest 800m in collegiate outdoor history (1:43.73). The freshman is just one of three athletes in the world to have run sub-45 in the 400m and sub-1:45 in the 800m. Korir set the school record in both the 400m (44.53) and the 800m (1:43.73).

Korir clocked 1:45.88 at the West Region Preliminaries to qualify for the NCAA Championships. The Kenya native will run on Wednesday in the 800m semifinal starting at 7:45 p.m. MT on ESPN2.

Ereng, in his 15th year with the program, has guided an impressive 1-2 punch in the 800m with Emmanuel Korir and Michael Saruni clocking 1:43.73 and 1:45.82, respectively this season. Korir’s time is the second-fastest in collegiate history and a 44.53 in the 400m, along with a 43.34 4x40m relay split as landed the freshman on The Bowerman watch list. His athletes scored three Conference USA crowns this season.

Amusan set an NCAA Division I West Prelims record in the 100m hurdles with a wind-aided time of 12.57, a time that doubled as the sixth-fastest time in the world in the event on the season. The native of Ijebu-Ode, Nigeria, totaled 24.5 points to help lead the Miners to the program’s first ever outdoor conference title.

The sophomore makers her return to the NCAA Championships after placing runner-up last year. Amusan will compete in the semifinals for the 100m hurdles on Thursday at 6:32 p.m. on ESPN2.

Golding-Clarke, in her sixth year with the program, guided Tobi Amusan to an NCAA Division I West Prelim victory in the 100m hurdles with a wind-aided time of 12.57. Amusan also totaled 24.5 points at the C-USA Championships to help the Miners claim the team title, thanks in large part to Golding-Clarke’s guidance.

Both coaches were important to helping seven individuals and the men’s 4x400m relay team qualify to the NCAA Championships held at Hayward Stadium in Eugene, Ore., starting June 7-10.

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