Albuquerque N.M. – The UTEP track and field team concluded day two of the Cherry & Silver Invitational at the Albuquerque Convention Center with a good overall team performance.

“Emmanuel’s performance in the 600m was special and Tobi in the hurdles was also impressive,” Head coach Mika Laaksonen said. “This was a decent meet but I expected more. We have some improving to do heading into our bye-week.”

Freshman Michael Saruni set a new personal best in the mile run, clocking in at 4:13.40 and notching a first place finish. Antony Kosgei finished not far behind, taking home bronze with a time of 4:15.81. Daniel Cheruiyot (4:23.40) finished 11th place overall.

Asa Guevara ran 47.36 in the 400m sealing a second place finish. Donivan Ortega competed in the triple jump making the final with a jump of 14.39m (47’ 2.50”) giving him seventh place overall. Kevin Rincon sealed a 9th place finish in the men’s weight throw after tossing the weight 15.76m (51’ 8.50”).

Tobi Amusan cruised into the finals for the 60m hurdles, where she was pushed to a close finish posting a new personal best 8.08 notching a first place finish. Her time is the fifth fastest time in the nation and second in UTEP history.

In the women’s Mile run Linda Cheruiyot pushed her pace late in the last lap to seal a seventh place finish with a time of 5:04.23. Teammate Truphena Sum (5:22.84) earned 14th overall.

Florence Uwakwe dazzled in the 400m (54.49) earning a second place finish. Imani Adams and Yanique Bennett finish eighth and 10th respectively in the event.

The Miners had Samantha Hall and Lucia Mokrasova in the shot put. Hall earned a spot in the finals throwing 13.95m (45’ 9.25”) earning seventh place. Mokrasova finished eleventh overall with a throw of 13.04m (42’ 9.50”).

Wearing the orange and blue in the 800m were Brittney Adams, Linda Cheruiyot and Truphena Sum. Cheruiyot earned a second place showing with a 2:16.26 time. Adams finished 10th with a time of 2:20.23, followed by Sum 2:21.08.

The A team (Bias, Guevara, Koech, Korir) for the men’s 4x400m relay ran 3:10.42 to finish first place and the B team (Oyebanjo-Odofin, Alcazar, Horn, Montanez) ran 3:21.90 finishing third. The women’s A team (Gibson, Uwakwe, Adams, Benjamin) finished in first with a time of 3:42.25 and the B team (Bennett, Mokrasova, Molinar, Ramsay) posted a time of 3:53.04 to finish in third.

The Miners will return to the Albuquerque Convention Center next Friday and Saturday (Feb. 3rd and 4th) for the New Mexico Classic.