UTEP XC Opens Campaign in Las Cruces at the 39th Lori Fitzgerald Saturday Morning

8/29/2025 11:17:00 AM

EL PASO, Texas – UTEP Cross Country will start the 2025 cross country season at the 39^th Lori Fitzgerald Open in Las Cruces, N.M., on Saturday (Aug. 30) on the NM State Golf Course.

The women's 5k will shoot off at 7:30 a.m. MT, while the men's 5k will follow at 8 a.m.

Follow live results here: https://results.chronotrack.com/event/results/event/event-87356.

First-year UTEP cross country/track and field head coach Francesca Green and distance coach Justin Herbert, also making his UTEP coaching debut, will get a glimpse at the newest edition of the Miners.

"We're really excited to get up to New Mexico State and open up the season. We have a good group, I think our men's in particular can be pretty strong this year," Herbert said. "Right now, it's building those foundational building blocks for the season, trying to get everybody on the same page and trying to get to a point where we're feeling confident and ready to roll."

Traveling for the women's squad are Isabella Campa, Andrea Castillo, Bobbi Guillen, Brenda Jerop, Vallary Kiplagat and Salma Licon.

Campa, a freshman from Franklin High School in El Paso, will make her collegiate debut. Juniors Jerop and Kiplagat, who were named All-CUSA third team last season, are headlining the returnees. The women's squad has featured multiple El Paso natives, including Rangel, a senior from Montwood, Licon, a junior from Eastwood High School, and sophomores Castillo (El Paso High School) and Guillen (Del Valle High School).

For the men, Evan Avitia, Carmelo Corral, Matthew Guerra, Andrés Gurrola, Christian Hurtado, Juan Leal, Luis Pastor, Israel Quintana, Paul Rotich, Aron Tanui and Jacob Yeager are competing Saturday.

Corral, a redshirt junior transfer from Adams State, will make his UTEP debut, along with Texas transfer and El Paso product Pastor. Yeager, a freshman from Burges High School, will make his collegiate debut. Gurrola will also make his UTEP debut after transferring from UTA.

"The goals [this season] are to do what we can do," Herbert added. "I think it's a competitive conference (CUSA), I think our goal is to not concern ourselves with what other teams are doing, and be focused on what we're doing here at UTEP, and trying to build the program that we've got. We want to continue to develop the student-athletes we have and continue to build the newcomers, and hopefully show up to conference and surprise some people."

Following the Lori Fitzgerald, the Miners will compete up the road at New Mexico's Lobo Invitational on Sept. 13.

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.

2025 UTEP CROSS COUNTRY SCHEDULE
Aug. 30 (Sat) – 39^th Lori Fitzgerald Open (Las Cruces, N.M.)
Sept. 13 (Sat) – Lobo Invitational (Albuquerque, N.M.)
Sept. 27 (Sat) – Davy Murray Invitational (Tucson, Ariz.)
Oct. 17 (Fri) – Arturo Barrios Invitational (College Station, Texas)
Nov. 1 (Sat) – Conference USA XC Championships (Huntsville, Ala.)
Nov. 14 (Fri) – NCAA Mountain Regional Championships (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Nov. 22 (Sat) – NCAA XC Championships (Columbia, Mo.)

Help support UTEP student-athletes by making a gift to the Miner Athletic Club. Visit https://givingto.utep.edu/mac today!

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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