UTEP XC Opens ’23 Campaign at 37th Lori Fitzgerald Saturday Morning

9/1/2023 5:04:00 PM

EL PASO, Texas – The UTEP cross country team will open the 2023 season at the 37^th Lori Fitzgerald at the NM State Golf Course on Saturday morning.

The women's 5K race will start at 7:30 a.m. MT, while the men will take the course in the 5K at 8 a.m.

Junior Ruth Jerubet will defend her title after winning the 36^th edition with a 17:40.74 last year. Jerubet is the reigning Conference USA Female Cross Country Athlete of the Year.

Also competing on the women's side are junior Victoria Ovalles and sophomore Alexa Rangel. The newcomers competing includes a graduate of Eastwood High School freshman Salma Licon. Graduate transfer from USC Upstate Elise Wilcher will get rolling after just joining the team. Freshman Vallary Kiplagat, a native of Kenya, will also make her UTEP debut.

Sophomore Victor Kibiego, who competed at the 2022 NCAA Championships as freshman, placed third in last season's event in his UTEP cross country debut.

Joining him are seniors Titus Cheruiyot and Kenneth Talavera, and junior Juan Olmos. Freshman Alejandro Tarin, a graduate of Hanks High School, will run in his debut with the Orange and Blue.

A BIT OF LORI FITZGERALD HISTORY
Lori Fitzgerald, a native of Denver, Colo., was recruited to UTEP by then-cross country and distance coach Gary Mazziotti in 1985. She was offered a full academic scholarship to attend Brown University at the end of her high school career. Fitzgerald chose to become a student-athlete at The University of Texas at El Paso.

Fitzgerald was with the program for only three weeks in El Paso before a tragic accident. She was hit by a farming truck in the Upper Valley of Sunland Park Drive while warming up for the teams' last time trial run to determine the top seven runners. It happened a week before what would have been her first cross country competition at UTEP.

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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