May 15, 2008

Day One Results (PDF)

Japheth Ng'ojoy won the men's 10,000 meter race and Nina Schvedoff captured the women's hammer throw crown, highlighting the homestanding UTEP Miners' performance on day one of the C-USA Outdoor Track & Field Championship on Thursday at Kidd Field.

It was the third straight C-USA 10,000 meter title for Ng'ojoy and the third consecutive league hammer championship for Schvedoff, both seniors.

"We're right on pace for where we want to be and where we need to be," UTEP coach Bob Kitchens said. "Rice actually did better in the [women's] 10,000 meters than I thought they were going to do. But basically we're right where we want to be."

Ng'ojoy recorded a time of 30:15.12 to edge teammate Patrick Mutai, who crossed the line in 30:37.77 for second place.

Ng'ojoy became the first distance runner to win three-straight C-USA individual crowns in the men's 10,000-meters.

The UTEP men are in first place in the team standings through two events with 32 points. Memphis is second with 17 points and Tulsa is third with 14 points.

Schvedoff threw a best of 59.11m (193-11) in the hammer to easily win the event. Memphis' Susan King was runner-up with a long of 55.40m (181-9).

Schvedoff becomes the first three-time C-USA individual champion in the women's hammer throw.

The Miners' Dimitrios Fylladitakis and Hans Eriksson took second and third respectively in the men's hammer. Fylladitakis threw a season-high 65.65m (215-5), and Eriksson had a top performance of 63.14m (207-2). Memphis' Steffan Nerdal was the winner, setting a meet record with a best of 66.36m (217-8).

Rice picked up a 1-2 finish by Marissa Daniels and Becky Wade in the 10,000 meters to vault to the top of the women's standings. Daniels posted a time of 36:22.93 and Wade clocked in at 36:48.45. UTEP's Crystal Garcia completed the race in 40:16.60 to claim 11th place.

The Rice women tallied 21 points on Thursday. Tulane is second with 11 points and UTEP third with 10 points.

The meet continues on Friday with the conclusion of the decathlon at 9 a.m. and the heptathlon at 9:30 a.m. Friday afternoon's field events will begin at 4 p.m., with the running events starting at 5:30 p.m. The majority of Friday's events are preliminary races, building up to Saturday's championship races starting at 5 p.m.