UTEP sophomore runner Michael Saruni set the No. 2 NCAA all-time mark in the 800m race with a 1:45.19 finish at the Texas Tech Invitational Saturday afternoon in Lubbock.

“Saruni had another outstanding performance and puts himself in a class of his own,” head coach Mika Laaksonen said. “I would not be surprised if he takes down coach Ereng’s NCAA record.”

Saruni continues his record-breaking season, with today’s NCAA No. 2 finish (1:45.19) that put him only behind his coach, Paul Ereng (1:44.84, 1989) for the NCAA’s top mark in the 800m.

The Kenya native opened the season by breaking the school record running a time of 1:45.92 in the 800m at the Commodore Invitational and followed that performance with a world-record time 1:14.79 in the 600m at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational.

The Miners will return to action on Feb. 2-3 for the New Mexico Classic in Albuquerque, N.M.