UTEP TF’s Leal Wins Gold, Miners Take Home Four Medals on Final Day at the 2026 CUSA ITF Championships Saturday

2/28/2026 7:06:00 PM

FINAL RESULTS: MEN | WOMEN

LYNCHBURG, Va. – UTEP track and field's Oleksandr Blonskyi (pentathlon), Praise Djoma (triple jump), Juan Leal (mile), and Cydni Martin (200m) each medaled in their respective events on the last day of competition at the 2026 Conference USA Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Liberty Indoor Track Complex on Saturday.

Overall, the Miners set 16 personal bests and took home five medals (two gold, two silver, one bronze) during the two-day championship meet.

Leal won his first career gold medal in the men's mile, placing first with a personal-best time of 4:07.50. It's Leal's second overall gold medal in his career (DMR at the 2025 CUSA Championships). Leal is the first Miner since Kenneth Talavera (2023) to win the men's mile at the championships. Leal finished the weekend on the All-CUSA first team, while gaining 10 points. Leal scored 11.25 points on the weekend, also tallying 1.25 in Friday's DMR.

"It was a strong way to close out the Conference USA Indoor Track and Field Championships. Juan Leal delivered a big-time performance in the mile, winning the conference title in 4:07.50. That was a confident, championship-level race and a great example of rising to the moment," first-year UTEP Head Coach Francesca Green said. "Cydni Martin stepped up with a second-place finish in the 200 meters at 23.68, and Praise came back in the triple jump to place second with an indoor personal best of 12.58 meters after winning the long jump earlier in the meet. To compete at that level across multiple events on a championship stage shows toughness and belief.

Djoma took home her second medal at the championships, this time a silver medal in the women's triple jump. Djoma leaped a personal-best 12.58 meters (41-3.25). She won gold in yesterday's long jump competition. Djoma finished the weekend as an All-CUSA first team performer in the long jump and an All-CUSA second team performer in the triple jump. Overall, Djoma tallied a team-high18 points on the weekend.

Martin clocked in a personal-best time of 23.86 to finish in second place in the women's 200-meter dash final. Martin wraps up the weekend as an All-CUSA second team competitor. She scored eight points for UTEP.

Blonskyi scored 4,823 points, placing third in the heptathlon and winning his second career heptathlon bronze medal. The two-time All-CUSA third team performer last won bronze in 2024. Overall, it's Blonskyi's third career medal (won silver in the decathlon at the 2024 OTF Championships). Blonskyi scored six points for the Miners. Blonskyi won the heptathlon pole vault with a 4.45m (14-7.25) and placed second in the heptathlon 1000m with a time of 2:50.24.

The women's 4x400-meter relay team – Cydni Martin, Peace Ewa, Oghenekaro Brume, Amai Newman – clocked in a season-best 3:43.75 and finished fifth with four points.

The men's 4x4 team – Elias Munoz, Mathew Polk, Amari Taylor, Timothy Grice – also turned in a season best, this time with a time of 3:12.88.

"Our 4x400 relay teams ran season-best marks, and that speaks to the competitiveness and unity of this group. Overall, we finished the meet with 15 personal bests — 11 on day one and four more on day two — which reflects the consistency, growth, and preparation that's been building all season," Green said. "I'm incredibly proud of how this team competed from start to finish. We showed heart, confidence, and resilience, and we proved we can perform in championship environments. This indoor season gives us momentum and belief, and we'll use it as a springboard into the outdoor season as we continue raising the standard of this program."

Londyn Colon recorded a personal-best 7.47 in the women's 60-meter dash final. She finished fourth, scoring five points for the Miners.

Salma Licon clocked in a personal-best 10:31.62 in the women's 3000-meter.

The UTEP men's team finished with 30 points in seventh place, and the women's team scored 45.6 points with a fifth-place finish of 12 teams. The Miners finished ahead of NM State (31.6 points).

The Liberty men's team won the team championship with 196 points. Kennesaw State was second (159 points), and Middle Tennessee finished third (101.5). The Kennesaw State women's squad took home the team title with 140.5 points. Liberty was second (126.5), and FIU placed third (81.6).

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