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Totaling an impressive 153 points on a sunny Sunday afternoon, the UTEP women’s track and field team secured its first Conference USA outdoor championship in program history.
The squad beat out the likes of Middle Tennessee (126 points), who led the championships going into the final day of action.
Head coach Mika Laaksonen was named women’s C-USA Coach of the Year for his efforts in the outdoor season.
“Our women’s team capturing their first outdoor title ever is a huge deal and to do it here at home makes it that much more special,” he said. “We have a pretty well bunch team, we have scorers in multiple events and unfortunately a lot of them are seniors. So, we’re going to have to rebuild and rebuild in a hurry.”
The team was led by standout sophomore Tobi Amusan, who scored 24.5 points for the Miners. She won the gold in the 100-meter hurdles and the 4×100-meter relay, a silver medal in the 200-meter dash and fifth-place in the long jump.
For the men’s, the squad ended up in third place with 117 points. They missed second place by about 20 points to UTSA.
Freshman Emmanual Korir had an outstanding performance as he set the world’s fourth-fastest time in the 400-meter run (44.53).
Next up for those advancing will be the NCAA West Regional meet in Austin, Texas. The action will start on Thursday, May 25, and will span until Saturday, May 27.
