Two earn gold as UTEP Track & Field posts good showing at Desert Heat Classic
TUCSON, Arizona - In their last regular season meet before next week's Conference USA Championships the UTEP track and field team picked up momentum, as well as some hardware.
UTEP track and field’s Roosa Yloenen won her third javelin event of the season, and Titus Cheruiyot won his first career 3000m race in his first collegiate 3000m outdoor competition. The Miners also finished with seven top-three performances at the Desert Heat Classic hosted by the University of Arizona at Roy P. Drachman Stadium on Saturday.
“Good showing from us in our last meet before the conference championships,” UTEP Head Coach Mika Laaksonen said. “We had respectable numbers of new personal bests or season bests which builds confidence for the championships. No injuries, of course, is a must at this point of the season, so I’m very happy about that goal achieved from this meet. Next week we’ll be mostly tinkering and charging up the batteries a bit for the finals and the championships.”
Yloenen launched a personal-best mark of 53.89 (176-9). Yloenen beat out Arizona State’s Alizee Minard (53.22m). Her mark ranks second in Conference USA.
Titus Cheruiyot registered a victory with a time of 8:32.49. Cheruiyot’s time ranks top three in C-USA. Teammate Rodgers Korir finished third with a personal-best time of 8:37.94. His previous best was 8:57.74 in 2019.
Jevaughn Powell registered a person-best time 20.70 in the 200m, crossing the finish line third. His time also ranks top three in C-USA.
Sean Bailey placed second in the 400m dash, posting at time of 45.66, while teammate Chevannie Hanson followed with a third-place showing with a personal-best mark of 45.86.
Kenneth Talavera turned in a third-place finish in the 1500m run with a time of 3:51.78.
Ruth Jerubet clocked in a 17:50.14, placing third in the 5000m run.
The men’s 4x400m relay team capped the evening with a second-place finish. Bailey, Joshua Hill, Hanson and Powell clocked in a 3:07.08. The Miners finished in front of Arizona’s relay team (3:10.11).
