April 20, 2010
EL PASO, TEXAS - Basketball's Randy Culpepper and track & field's Blessing Okagbare were recipients of the UTEP Male and Female Athlete of the Year Award, respectively, at the 36th annual "Dinner With The Miners" banquet on Tuesday night at the Wyndham El Paso Airport.
Softball's Stacie Townsend received the Golden Miner Award, and Don Henderson was honored with the Silver Anniversary Award.
Culpepper averaged 17.9 points per game, leading UTEP to one of the best seasons in school history. He was named the Conference USA Player of the Year, joining Tim Hardaway as the only Miners to garner circuit player of the year honors. Culpepper was also an All-District selection by the NABC and USBWA and was an honorable mention All-American by the Associated Press. He led UTEP in scoring a team-leading 16 times this season, with ten 20-point games and three 30-point games. A three-time Conference USA Player of the Week, he finished third in the league in scoring and will enter his senior year ranked fourth in school history with 1,664 points. Culpepper is already 15th on the all-time Conference USA scoring list.
Okagbare became the first woman in UTEP history to win two titles at the NCAA Championships, finishing first in the long jump and 60 meters at the 2010 indoor meet. She was named to the Bowerman Watch List, which recognizes the top collegiate track and field athlete, and was selected the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Female Field Athlete of the Year and the Mountain Region Track and Field Athlete of the Year during the indoor season. She began the outdoor season by setting a personal best and the world's top time in the 100 meters and establishing a new stadium record and the world's top mark in the long jump at the Texas Relays.
A five-time C-USA Player of the Week, Townsend will leave UTEP as the career leader for hits, home runs, RBI, walks, total bases, stolen bases, victories, complete games, shutouts, innings pitched and strikeouts. She was tabbed the NFCA/Louisville Slugger Division I National Player of the Week on Feb. 23 and is a three-time NFCA Academic Scholar, two-time All-Conference USA and a 2009 NFCA All-Midwest selection. A graduate student in Business with a concentration in Economics, Townsend boasts a 4.0 GPA. She graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2009 and was named the C-USA Scholar Athlete of the Year, the UTEP Woman of the Year, a Top-10 Senior and the C-USA Spirit of Service winner.
The Silver Anniversary Miner Award is presented to an individual who had a distinguished college athletic career, and has continued to contribute to UTEP and the El Paso community.
Henderson was a member of the UTEP (then Texas Western College) basketball and track teams in the 1950's. He was president of his fraternity (TKE), a member of Delta Sigma Pi business fraternity, and student body president. After graduation, Henderson entered the army and was promoted to captain in four years. Upon concluding his service, he began a highly successful career in the insurance field. He served as the Mayor of El Paso from 1975-77 and was honored as UTEP's Outstanding Alumnus in 1980.
The team grade point average award went to women's golf. The community service award was presented to the volleyball program.
In addition, team MVP awards were presented to Donald Buckram, Da'Mon Cromartie-Smith & Greg Hiett (football); Culpepper (men's basketball); Jareica Hughes (women's basketball); Alix Moncada & Andrea Palafox (rifle); Tanner Taff (men's golf); Rosana Gomez (women's golf); Catherine Chavez (volleyball); Jo Radcliffe (soccer); Camilla Carrera & Stacie Townsend (softball); Nicodemus Ng'etich (men's indoor track and field); Dimitrios Fylladitakis (men's outdoor track and field); Okagbare (women's indoor track and field); Anna Wessman (women's outdoor track and field); Ng'etich (men's cross country); Risper Kimaiyo (women's cross country); Marina DeLuca (tennis); Jimmy Salais and Kaleena Roche (cheerleading); Stacie Townsend (women's strength & conditioning); Austin Contreras & Steve Riddick (men's strength and conditioning); and Casey Rangel (athletic training).
"Dinner With The Miners" is made possible by the El Paso Downtown Lions Club. The event was inspired by past Lion president John Phelan. In 1979, a $10,000 memorial endowment was established. Due to the overwhelming community support of the event, the memorial fund was raised to $100,000 in 1983. A second endowment has already been established and continues to grow each year. These two endowments provide funds annually to offset the cost of student-athlete scholarships.
