While the UTEP track and field teams will not be at full strength this weekend, head coach Bob Kitchens will still look for his squads to continue to post NCAA qualifying marks at the ISU Classic in Ames, Iowa, on Friday and Saturday.
Kitchens' teams will be without sprinter Olatunde Okusanya for the second weekend in a row. She will remain in El Paso to rest a sore hamstring. Sophomores Yinka Bello and Kaisa Kiintonen, who are suffering colds, will also be held back.
On the upside, UTEP hopes to qualify both of its distance medley relay teams for the national meet.
The men's team is comprised of Dirk de Heer (1,200-meter), Ryan Shields (400-meter), Frank Lozano (800-meter) and Mircea Bogdan (mile). The Miner men have not had taken All-America honors in the event since 1980.
The women's will run Corine van Beek, Alisha Leverett, Fatimoh Muhammed and Adriana Pirtea in the DMR. The relay will not be at full power without Okusanya in the 400 and with Pirtea and van Beek each nursing colds.
If healthy, van Beek seeks to qualify in the mile, after just missing the provisional standard last weekend with a time of 4:49.11.
Pirtea, who was named the WAC Athlete of the Week on Monday, ran a qualifying mark in the 3,000-meter run at the Husker Invitational last week by winning the event in 9:23.78. She looks to better her standing on Saturday in Iowa. Currently, she is listed as the 11th best runner in the event by Trackwire.com.
Bogdan and de Heer will also try their luck in the 3,000. Kitchens was disappointed with their showing last week in Nebraska, as they ran 8:14.03 and 8:14.76, respectively.
All-American Desiree Crichlow continues to be one of the nation's best high jumpers. Ranked seventh by Trackwire.com, she is a provisional qualifier in the event with a mark of 5-11 1/4 (1.81) at the Husker Invitational.
Henderson Dottin is also considered the seventh-best high jump in the country by Trackwire.com. An All-American in the event last year, he was second last Saturday with a provisional mark of 7-2 1/4 (2.19).
The ISU Classic, which is run on a 300-meter oversized indoor track, has been one of the top indoor meets in the country over the last 14-years, producing more NCAA qualifiers than any other meet in the country. Competition begins Friday and continues through Saturday.
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