UTEP T&F Completes Day One at Miners Invitational with Six Personal Bests, Four First-Place Finishes Friday

3/21/2026 12:04:00 AM

EL PASO – The UTEP track and field team hosted its first March meet in seven years as the first day of outdoor competition concluded late Friday night in the Miners Invitational at Larry K. Durham Track at Kidd Field.

On a hot and sunny first day of action, the women's 200-meter dash kicked off the Miners' outdoor campaign with blazing speed. Freshman Cydni Martin opened her outdoor career with an impressive time of 23.48 (2.0) and a first-place finish out of 31 competitors. Addison Stricklin started her second outdoor season with a personal-best time of 23.80 (2.0) and a second-place showing. Freshman Londyn Colon (24.20 [2.0], third), redshirt freshman Juantai-Shay Williams (24.28 [2.0], fourth), and senior Oghenekaro Brume (24.30 [2.0], fifth) finished in the top five.

In the men's 200, senior Mathew Polk clocked in a personal-best 21.35 (0.7) and a fourth-place showing, while Sebastian Avena turned in a 21.35 (1.5) in his first collegiate outdoor 200. Avena edged out Polk 21.341 to 21.342 for a third-place finish.

"It was a great first day of competition for our group. We had amazing weather and saw some strong performances across the board, including six personal best marks from our Miners," first-year UTEP Head Coach Francesca Green. "It was great to see Addison step up with a 23.80 in the 200 meters, and Elijah Munoz come back with a PR throw of 57.55 meters in the javelin after sitting out last year due to injury—that's a testament to his resilience and the work he's put in."

In the women's 400-meter hurdles, sophomores Samahri Foster (1:02.53) and Cailee Phillips (1:05.98) clocked in personal-best times. Foster finished first in the event.

Senior Zacarius Velasquez leaped 7.15 meters (23-5.5) in the men's long jump, taking first.

Senior Elijah Munoz threw a personal-best 57.55 meters (188-10) in the men's javelin.

Senior Andres Gurrola finished first with a time of 14:52.49 in his first outdoor season with the Miners.

"We also saw some really solid efforts from our distance athletes, which was encouraging. As we're training through this meet, it was good to see our team compete and execute while working through some heavy training cycles," Green said. "That's part of the process, and today was a strong step forward for us. We're excited to build on this momentum tomorrow."

Day two will wrap up on Saturday with events beginning at 9 a.m. with the men's hammer, followed by the running events starting at 11 a.m. with the girls' 200 final. The college track events will start at 11:43 a.m. with the women's 4x100-meter relay. The meet will conclude at 3:15 p.m. with the men's 4x400-meter relay.

Individual day passes are $15, or $40 for a season ticket. The season ticket gets fans into both days at the Miners Invitational (March 20-21) and the Sun City Classic (April 11). For tickets, visit www.utepminers.com/tickets, call (915) 747-UTEP, or email tickets@utep.edu.

2026 MINERS INVITATIONAL INFORMATION
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