Belik, Kibiego Take Gold on Day 3 at the C-USA OTF Championships Saturday

Burgher Sets School Record in 200m

5/13/2023 7:02:00 PM

DENTON, Texas – UTEP's Jakub Belik used a personal-best leap to capture gold in the high jump, Victor Kibiego crossed the finish line first in the 3000-meter steeplechase, and Niesha Burgher set a school record on day three at the 2023 Conference USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Denton, Texas, at UNT Track & Field Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Belik began third-day action with a 2.16-meter (7-1) leap in the men's high jump final, beating out Rice's Ese Amata (2.13m) for 10 points and his second career C-USA gold medal (won the indoor high jump in February). Belik was the first UTEP male high jumper to claim gold in the conference championships since 2008 (Mickael Hanany). Emilio Rios had a solid outing, placing fourth and tallying five points with a season-best 2.01 meters (6-7).

Kibiego concluded day three by earning his first ever gold medal. He ran an 8:51.93 in the men's 3000m steeplechase final and gained 10 more points for the Miners, along with some hardware to take home. He beat out two of Charlotte's competitors Gunner Hogston (8:57.49) and Hunter White (8:59.61). It was only the freshman's third career steeplechase event. Kibiego is also the first male Miner since 2015 (Anthony Rotich) to claim gold in the event at the conference championships.

Ruth Jerubet got the women's side on the board as she placed fifth in the women's 3000-meter steeplechase final, clocking in an 11:13.40 and tallying four points. Former Miner Karoline Daland won the event (10:34.47).

QUALIFYING DAY
The preliminaries in the running events started earlier in the day with the women's and men's 1500-meter race.

Jerubet finished eighth in the women's 1500 with a 4:43.21 to qualify for Sunday's final, Kibiego placed second with a 3:55.96 to advance to tomorrow's men's final.

In the preliminary hurdles, Marissa Simpson took first with a personal-best 13.34 to advance to the women's 100-meter hurdles final. Jordani Woodley (13.78) took fourth to qualify in the men's 110-meter hurdles final on Sunday.

A trio of Miners advanced to Sunday's 400-meter final. On the women's side, Zani Meaders finished third with a 56.01 to advance, while on the men's side Joshua Hill (47.22 – fourth) and Julio Pacheco Estrada (47.57 – seventh) qualified for tomorrow's championship.

A trio of Miners set PRs in the 100-meter dash as Burgher took first with a personal-best 11.08, and Denae McFarlane placed fourth with a personal-best 11.41 to move on to the final. On the men's side, Karon Dean advanced with a personal-best 10.27.

Yusuf Mohamud finished second in the men's 800-meter preliminary with a time of 1:54.25. He'll compete in Sunday's final race.

In the women's 400-meter hurdles, Loubna Benhadja (1:00.13) finished third and Carshaylah Harrison (1:01.47) placed fourth to advance to Sunday's final. On the men's side, Ronaldo Griffiths advanced to the men's 400m final with a 54.41.

Burgher advanced to her second Sunday final, this time in the women's 200-meter dash with a personal-best and school-record 22.90 and a first-place showing. Burgher broke Tobi Amusan's time of 22.92 in 2017.

McFarlane and Simpson just missed out at ninth, and tenth, respectively (top eight finishers advance). On the men's side, Abdulraof Rashid used a PR 21.03 to advance to Sunday's men's 200m final.

"It was a typical conference championship qualifying day," UTEP Head Coach Mika Laaksonen said. "Every team here tries to maximize their possible points. Many of the student-athletes participate in multiple events, and have to run rounds. Strength and stamina are needed and always prevails at this meet. It's a good reminder for us next year when we are hosting this meet!"

HEADING INTO SUNDAY
Throwers Arianne Morais and Roosa Yloenen will headline the field athletes for the Miners. Morais (57.38m – 188-3) leads C-USA, while Yloenen is third (51.40m – 168-8) in the women's javelin. The final starts at 11:30 a.m. MT.

The men's and women's 4x400-meter relays will conclude the championships as the women will shoot off at 4:50 p.m. MT, following with the men wrapping up the weekend at 5 p.m.

NOTABLE EVENTS ON DAY 4 SCHEDULE (times changed due to weather)
RUNNING EVENTS (FINALS)
2:00 pm           W4x100 relay (Meaders, Burgher, McFarlane, Brume)
2:05 pm           M4x100 relay (Hill, Dean, Rashid, Johnson)
2:15 pm           W1500m (Jerubet)
2:25 pm           M1500m (Kibiego)
2:35 pm           100m H (Simpson)
2:40 pm           110m H (Woodley)
2:50 pm           W400m (Meaders)
2:55 pm           M400m (Hill, Pacheco Estrada)
3:05 pm           W100m (Burgher, McFarlane)
3:10 pm           M100m (Dean)
3:25 pm           M800m (Mohamud)
3:35 pm           W400m H (Benhadja, Harrison)
3:40 pm           M400m H (Griffiths)
3:50 pm           W200m (Burgher)
3:55 pm           M200m (Rashid)
4:05 pm           W5000m (Jerubet, Ovalles)
4:25 pm           M5000m (Kibiego, Cheruiyot, Mohamud, Sims)
4:50 pm           W4x400m (Brume, Benhadja, Harrison, Burgher)
5:00 pm           M4x400m (Hill, Dean, Rashid, Pacheco Estrada)

FIELD EVENTS (FINALS)
11:30               W Javelin (Morais, Yloenen)

*ALL TIMES MOUNTAIN

MEET INFO | SCHEDULE | HEAT SHEETS | LIVE RESULTS

LIVE STREAM - CUSA.TV: Sunday

MEN'S SCORES
TM       PTS
Rice     92.5
CLT      72
UTSA   48.5
UTEP    30
UNT     29
FIU       14
MT       11
WKU    9
LT        5

WOMEN'S SCORES
TM       PTS
Rice     55
CLT      50
UTSA   36
FIU       27
MT       27
UNT     11
UAB     11
FAU     5
WKU    5
UTEP    4
LT        3

REMAINING 2023 UTEP OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD SCHEDULE
May 11-14 C-USA OTF Championships Denton, Texas
May 24-27 NCAA OTF Championships 1^st Round Sacramento, Calif.

Jun. 7-10 NCAA OTF Championships Austin, Texas

For complete coverage of UTEP Track & Field/Cross Country, be sure to follow the Miners on social media at @UTEPTrack (Twitter/Instagram/Facebook) or visit the official home of UTEP Athletics at UTEPMiners.com.

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