LONG BEACH, Calif. – The UTEP track and field team opened a busy weekend at the Pacific Beach Invitational in Jack Rose Stadium on Thursday.
The Miners combined for 12 personal bests and a pair of season bests with the men's 4x100 and women's 4x400 relay teams. Cydni Martin headlined the day with a PR in the women's 100, as the freshman now ranks first in Conference USA.
The men's 4x100-meter relay team, comprised of Amir Williams, Elias Munoz, Deondre McIntosh, and Timothy Grice, opened Thursday's action, clocking in a season-best 40.23, placing third overall of 13 teams. The time beat last season's best of 40.32, and ranks fourth in CUSA.
In the women's 100-meter dash, Martin turned in a personal-best time of 11.42 (3.7), the top time among the 85 competitors. Martin's new time ranks No. 1 in CUSA after coming into the weekend tied for 11th. Martin is tied for 23rd in the NCAA West Region.
Addison Stricklin also had a PR in the 100, clocking in at 11.53 (3.7) and placing eighth overall. Stricklin, who entered the weekend ranked ninth in CUSA, moved up to third after her career performance.
Oghenekaro Brume clocked in a personal-best 23.85 (2.0) in the women's 200-meter dash. The senior finished 11th of 91 competitors. Brume ranks seventh in the CUSA in the 200.
Juantai-Shay Williams turned in a personal-best 23.86 (1.7), placing 12th overall. Williams ranks eighth in CUSA.
In the men's 200, Elias Munoz finished fifth of 63 sprinters with a time of 21.08 (1.1). Munoz finished ninth of 83 competitors in the 100 (10.39 [4.0]).
Kalix Robinson clocked in a personal-best 53.96, placing eighth overall in the men's 400-meter hurdles. Robinson ranks fifth in CUSA.
The women's 4x400-meter relay team registered a season-best time as Martin, Brume, Williams and Amai Newman clocked in a 3:45.88, finishing second. UTEP is ranked fifth in CUSA.
"It was a really strong day for our group. We had 13 new personal best performances along with two season-best marks in the men's 4x100 relay and the women's 4x400 relay, which shows the depth and progress we're continuing to build," first-year UTEP Head Coach Francesca Green said. "The day was highlighted by some outstanding sprint performances. Cydni Martin had a huge personal best in the 100 meters, running 11.42w, and Addison Strickland followed with a big run of her own at 11.53w. Those are really good marks and a great sign of where they're trending. We also saw two strong performances in the women's 200 meters, with Karo Brume running a personal best of 23.85 and Shay Williams right behind her at 23.86. That kind of competitiveness and depth in our sprint group is exactly what we're looking for. Overall, I'm really proud of how our team continues to step up, compete with confidence, and push their limits. We're looking forward to another strong day tomorrow, with our distance athletes getting started at the Bryan Clay Invitational and another day of competition at the Long Beach Invitational."
BRYAN CLAY INVITATIONAL PREVIEW
At the BCI on Friday, the running events begin at 7 a.m. PT/8 MDT, and the field events at 10 a.m. PT/11 MDT.
Running the distance events for the men's squad at the BCI are Evan Avitia (800m), Carmelo Corral (1500m), Andres Gurrola (5000m), Paul Rotich (800m, 1500m), and Jacob Yeager (800m). Vallary Kiplagat (1500m) and Salma Licon (1500m) will compete on the women's side.
The 1500 events are scheduled for Saturday.
BEACH INVITATIONAL PREVIEW
The Beach Invitational begins at 8:15 a.m. PT/9:15 MDT on Saturday, April 18.
Competing for the women's side at the Beach Invite are Oghenekaro Brume (400m), Londyn Colon (100m), Grace Culver (100H, long jump), Sarah Dovenbarger (pole vault), Samahri Foster (400m), Cydni Martin (100H), Amai Newman (400m), Braela Sargent (100H, long jump), Addison Stricklin (100m), and Juantai-Shay Williams (100m).
Going for the men at the Beach Invite are Sebastian Avena (400m), Oleksandr Blonskyi (110H, shot put, long jump, high jump), Alex Brown (long jump, triple jump), Joshua Ford (100m), Timothy Grice (100m), Arion Hill (110H), Deondre McIntosh (100m), Elias Munoz (100m), Elijah Munoz (javelin), Kalix Robinson (400m), Amari Taylor (400m), Zacarias Velasquez (100m, long jump), and Amir Williams (110H).
MEET INFORMATION
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