Oct. 5, 2009
CROSS COUNTRY
Upcoming: The Miners will run in the ISU Pre-Nationals on Oct. 17 in Terre Haute, Ind. -- the site of the NCAA Championships in late November.
Looking Back: Freshman Risper Kimaiyo was UTEP's top finisher for the fourth consecutive meet as the Miner women finished fourth and the men seventh at the Bill Dellinger Invitational on the campus of the University of Oregon on Friday. The Miner women scored 109 points behind three top ranked teams. Fifth-ranked Villanova took first place with 22 points, No. 2 Oregon was second with 41 points and 14th-ranked Baylor was third with 86 points. Kimaiyo finished the 5K race with a time of 16:46.58 for a seventh-place finish, breaking the 17-minute mark for the first time in her young career. Jepchirchir Kigen was the second finisher for the Miners for the first time this season, clocking in at 17:13.61 for 14th place. Kigen also posted a career-best, breaking the 18-minute mark in the 5K. Kathya Garcia was 23rd, recording a time of 17:29.13. Gladys Chumba was the fourth UTEP finisher for 32nd place (17:37.98), while Karina Garcia followed in 33rd with a time of 17:38.66. On the men's side, UTEP scored 196 points. All-American Nicodemus Ng'etich led all Miners with a 17th-place showing, posting a time of 24:04.37. Justice Chirchir clocked in at 24:38.85 (36th), Robert Menjo 45th (24:58.37), Elkana Rotich 24:59.22 (46th) and Felix Maritim 25:18.51 (52nd).
FOOTBALL
Upcoming: UTEP (2-3, 1-0 C-USA) plays at Memphis on Saturday at 6 p.m. The game will be televised in El Paso on The CW Network and is presented by Pizazz. UTEP has never beaten Memphis (0-2), and Tiger coach Tommy West has never lost to the Miners (3-0). Memphis and East Carolina are the only teams that UTEP hasn't beaten since joining Conference USA in 2005. UTEP is 2-2 in C-USA road openers. After losing their first league road game of the season in 2005 (27-20 at Memphis) and 2006 (34-17 at Houston), the Miners have won back-to-back C-USA road openers in nail-biting fashion. In 2007, UTEP prevailed in overtime at SMU 48-45, and a year ago the Miners knocked off Southern Miss in Hattiesburg, 40-37 in double OT. Following Saturday's game, UTEP will have a bye week and return to action on Wednesday, Oct. 21 in a nationally televised game versus Tulsa in the Sun Bowl.
Looking Back: Donald Buckram rushed 32 times for 262 yards -- the second-highest total ever by a UTEP player -- as UTEP downed Houston 58-41 in the Sun Bowl for its first victory over a ranked team since 1997. The Miners outscored the Cougars 41-24 in the second half to break a 17-17 deadlock at the midway point. Trevor Vittatoe completed 19 of 30 passes for 276 yards and two TDs, and Jeff Moturi caught six passes totaling 127 yards with a score. With 581 yards of offense, UTEP survived a monster night by Cougar signal-caller Case Keenum, who completed 51 of 76 passes for 536 yards and five scores. Keenum's pass attempts and completions were both Sun Bowl records.
MEN'S GOLF
Upcoming: UTEP joins the field of the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate on Monday and Tuesday in Palm Desert, Calif.
Looking Back: The Miners finished 17th in their first tournament of the season, the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate in Albuquerque, N.M. Sept. 11-12. The Miners posted rounds of 305, 303 and 314 for a two-day total of 922. UNLV won the 17-team event (282-273-288-843), and had two players tie for the individual title - Derek Ernst (67-68-73-208) and Colby Smith (73-64-71-208). UTEP was led by senior Tanner Taff, who tied for 61st place with an 11-over-par 227 (77-72-78-227). Four UTEP freshmen participated in the tournament, with Jerry Castrellon tying for 69th place (76-79-74-229), Devin Miertschin tying for 75th place (74-75-82-231), David Persons tying for 96th place (78-78-82-238) and Chris Ortiz tying for 102nd place (84-78-80-242).
WOMEN'S GOLF
Upcoming: UTEP will play in the ORU Invitational on Monday and Tuesday in Tulsa, Okla.
Looking Back: UTEP played in two tournaments the week of Sept. 14. The Miners finished 17th at the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational Sept. 19-20 in Albuquerque, with Pepperdine winning the 18-team tournament. The Miners put together rounds of 308, 301 and 308 for a total of 917. Deborah Martinez and Teresa Nogués tied for 50th place, each carding a nine-over-par 228 to lead UTEP. Shang-Fan Huang tied for 70th place (232), Rosana Gomez tied for 80th place (236) and Stephanie Herrera tied for 84th place (237). The Miners also took 14th place at the Ptarmigan/Ram Fall Classic in Fort Collins, Colo. Sept. 14-15. UTEP compiled a total of 905 with rounds of 305, 297 and 303. Idaho won the 16-team tournament (291-277-291-859). Martinez tied for 40th place with an eight-over-par 224 (74-75-75). Huang tied for 49th place (82-70-74-226), Herrera finished 57th (77-76-75-228), Gomez tied for 64th (77-76-79-232) and Samantha Garza tied for 73rd (77-76-83-236).
RIFLE
Upcoming: The Miners will shoot at Nevada on Saturday after hosting the Wolf Pack last week.
Looking Back: UTEP fell to Nevada on Saturday at the UTEP Rifle Range. The Miners finished with an aggregate score of 4570, firing 2319 in air gun and 2318 in smallbore. Nevada ended with a combined score of 4578. UTEP dominated the air rifle portion of the match, posting a score of 2319 to the Wolf Pack's 2305. Nevada out-gunned the Miners in the smallbore portion, shooting a team score of 2273, 22 points higher than the Miners' 2251. UTEP's Alix Moncada recorded a career-high of 593 in air rifle. Andrea Palafox also had a commanding performance in air rifle, shooting 584. They were followed by Josie Burzynski who fired 572 and Morgan Glenn with 570. Moncada also led the team in smallbore, shooting 579, and was followed by Burzynski (562). Palafox followed with 559 and Hannah Muegge rounded out the squad with 551.
SOCCER
Upcoming: UTEP (9-3, 3-1 C-USA) continues its road swing with matches at no. 21 UCF (Friday) and Southern Miss (Sunday).
Looking Back: The Miners posted a 3-2 win at two-time defending C-USA champion Memphis on Friday before falling in overtime, 1-0, at UAB on Sunday. Freshman Skye Schultz was a force to be reckoned with offensively versus the Tigers, scoring once (31:53) while assisting on goals by seniors Chelsea Winbush (13:51) and Jo Radcliffe (35:54) to help stake UTEP to a 3-0 lead at the break. Netminder Chandra Morden was magnificent throughout the match, finishing with nine stops. The Miners were edged by UAB on a golden goal by the Blazers' Tiffani Turpin (92:19). The loss snapped UTEP's six-match winning streak.
TENNIS
Upcoming: UTEP will participate in the ITA Southwest Regional Oct. 16-19 in Waco, Texas.
Looking Back: The Miners competed at the Stephen F. Austin Invite this past weekend, helping comprise a massive field consisting of Lamar, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana Tech, McNeese State, Sam Houston State, the homestanding Ladyjacks, Texas State and Tyler Junior College. The Miners were led by third-place outcomes from Marina DeLuca and Alexandra Glebova. DeLuca, who was competing in her first event of the year, played well en route to a team-best 2-1 record at the event. Glebova started slowly but picked up steam, culminating with a three-set defeat of Maartje de Wit from La. Tech. She fell in the first set, 6-2, before rallying to take the second set by the same score and the super tiebreaker, 10-8. Other notables for UTEP included freshman Veronika Makashov securing her squad-leading fifth win of 2009. Makashov has forged a mark of 5-2 in two events this year. Ximena Fuentes, Austin Lavallii and Carla Murguia were also in action at the event, with each picking up at least one win. Carolina DeLuca did not play in singles, but teamed with her elder sister, Marina, to go 2-1 in doubles action.
VOLLEYBALL
Upcoming: UTEP (9-9, 2-3 C-USA) will host UCF on Friday (7 p.m.) and Southern Miss on Sunday (noon).
Looking Back: The Miners dropped a couple of 3-0 matches on the road over the weekend, falling at Rice (25-20, 25-19, 25-21) on Friday and Houston (25-18, 26-24, 25-20) on Saturday. Rice remained unbeaten (3-0) in C-USA action by outhitting UTEP .252 to .117. Aidan Mooney led the Miners with eight kills while firing at a .278 clip. UTEP hit .245 to the Cougars' .283. Catherine Chavez had a near double-double with nine kills and 11 digs to pace the visitors.
