Oct. 27, 2007

Miners Take Conference Title, Break Meet Record For Good

For the second consecutive year, the UTEP men's cross country team broke their own previous year's record at the Conference USA championship meet - and this time it's for good. The Miners scored a perfect 15 points, besting last year's record of 21 points, as they finished first through fifth place to take the men's title at the Santa Teresa Country Club in Santa Teresa, N.M.

Stephen Samoei took the men's individual title, finishing with a time of 24:40.01. He was followed by Patrick Mutai (25:02.3), Nicodemus Ng'etich (25:05.7), Japheth Ng'ojoy (25:07.3) and Dominic Tanui (25:14.3). Aggrey Chirchir finished in 19th place with a time of 27:07.5.

"The men did very well today. Stephen Samoei and Patrick Mutai did a super job and the team finished just as they wanted to," Head Coach Paul Ereng said. "This is just one more step for the team, as they prepare for regionals."

The University of Tulsa placed second at the meet, with a score of 42, followed by Rice University in third place with 110 points.

"Getting the perfect score was good encouragement for us and shows us where we stand right now. Qualifying in the regional is our goal," Samoei said.

On the women's side, Rice University won the team title with 26 points, followed by Tulsa with 54 points and SMU with 105 points. UTEP placed fifth with 124 points.

"The women have been improving over the last two years and they ran just as I expected them to," Ereng said.

Kelly Young was the top Miner finisher, placing 14th with a time of 18:56.9.

"Kelly Young ran a very brave race. She challenged All-Americans from Rice and Tulsa and came in a very respectable place for being an 800 meter runner," Ereng said.

Other finishers for the women included Brissia Montalvo (21st, 19:09.2), Jepchirchir Kigen (26th, 19:31.1), Laura Clarke (31st, 19:43.6), Crystal Garcia (32nd, 19:47.6), Perla Retana (44th, 20:12.3), Delia Cesar (49th, 20:40.0) and Megan Chojnacki (21:14.6).