UTEP Cross Country Feature: Cheruiyot the Champion

UTEP Miners

The 2018 UTEP Women's Cross Country team accomplished a first in program history. The Miners raced out to their first Conference USA Championship on Oct. 27 in Boca Raton, Fla. Leading the charge for the Orange and Blue was Linda Cheruiyot, who posted a time of 16:56.12 in the 5K and captured gold at the C-USA Championships.

What made the championship special for Cheruiyot were her teammates. The UTEP women took four of the top six spots on the leaderboard. Winny Koech (second place), Carolyn Chepkosgei (fifth place) and Lilian Koech (sixth place) rounded out the final spots.

"It felt great," Cheruiyot said. "Mostly because the team had come together as a group and we helped each other. Without that group working together, we could not have won the C-USA Championship."

Cheruiyot, who is humble and recognizes her team's effort, racked up multiple accolades during the last two seasons. She was All-C-USA first team in 2018 and third team in 2017. She was named the 2018 C-USA Cross county Female Athlete of the Year, while taking in a 2018 NCAA Division I Cross Country All-Region honor. To add to the mix, she was also named the C-USA Athlete of the Week on Oct. 2, 2018.

Before receiving all her collegiate honors, Cheruiyot started to excel in Cross Country and Track & Field at Sing'ore Girls High School in Kenya. She also had an instructor who motivated her to keep moving forward.

"When I was in primary school I had a good teacher named Julias Maiyo," Cheruiyot said. "He used to take the team in the morning for runs to prepare for our competitions. He saw I had a talent and he pushed me harder."

Following her time on the course at Sing'ore, Cheruiyot chose to compete as a student-athlete at The University of Texas at El Paso. The then-freshman had a few challenges along the way as it took time for her to settle in the United States.

"It was kind of challenging when I was a freshman because of the language. Interacting with new people and getting to know them," she said. "But it was good, because I have a Kenyan coach and Kenyan teammates. They really helped me a lot in the beginning of college"

Cheruiyot is now a senior and striving right along in the Sun City and mentioned during the interview, "I love El Paso."

The 2019 season will commence on Aug. 31, while this Saturday's event will begin the title defense. Recently, C-USA Cross Country coaches voted UTEP as preseason no. 1. Cheruiyot and her teammates are looking for back-to-back championships in a highly competitive cross country league.

"I'm ready for the new season," she said. "But I have to put more effort since it's my last year competing. I have to finish strong and put the effort in at the end of the day."

Cheruiyot is an occupational therapy major and has expressed interest in perusing a career in that field. But she has dreams like any other NCAA student-athlete – to compete at the professional level.

"For me, I love track and would love to sign a professional contract after my senior year," Cheruiyot said. "I have talent and I feel like I should use it to earn my living for the future. But I have to put more effort during my senior year in order to set a good place for a contract."

Miner fans will have a chance to witness Cheruiyot and the defending C-USA Champions compete at the Lori Fitzgerald Invitational Sept. 13 at Chamizal Memorial National Park.

For complete coverage of UTEP Cross Country, be sure to follow the Miners on social media at @UTEPTrack on Instagram and Twitter or visit the official home of UTEP Athletics at UTEPMiners.com.

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