The UTEP track and field will open the 2004 indoor season this Saturday at the Texas Tech Quadrangular in Lubbock, Texas.
Competing in the meet with be Baylor, Texas Tech, SMU, North Texas and UT-San Antonio (women).
All-American Henderson Dottin look to get the season off the ground in the high jump. He will also compete along with T.J. Fakehinde, who comes to UTEP with a PR of 7-0 1/2.
Mircea Bogdan will compete in the mile with teammates Dirk de Heer and Frank Lozano. Bogdan placed 22nd at the 2003 NCAA Cross Country Championships.
In sprinting events, Yinka Bello and Daniel Ward will each run the 55-meter dash, while Ryan Shields and John Alipio will compete in the 400-meter dash. Shields is a transfer from Wayland Baptist, where he was the NAIA champion in the 200 last year.
The women will be led by sophomore All-American Desiree Crichlow. Last year, she gained All-America honors in the high jump. She will also participate in the triple jump.
Distance runner Adriana Pirtea, who was a NCAA qualifier in the outdoor 10,000 last year, will open the indoor season with the mile.
The Miners are counting on El Paso natives Briana Houston, Jackie Ike and Alisha Leverett to be key contributors this year. Houston will run the 55-meter hurdles with Ike, who will also compete in the long jump. Leverett will sprint the 55-meter dash.
Olatunde Okusanya and Fatimoh Muhammed will tune up for the season by running the 200-meter dash and the 800-meter run, respectively. The two will also team up with Ike and Leverett as part of the 1,600-meter relay.
In the 20-pound weight throw, Kaisa Kiintonen returns to competition after taking last year off to recover from injury. Kiintonen missed gaining All-America honors in the hammer by two places in 2002.
The meet begins with the field events at 9 a.m. MST, followed by the running events at 11 a.m. MST.
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