Miners Begin Competition at NCAA OTF Championships West First Round on Wednesday in Fayetteville
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Twenty-one UTEP track and field student-athletes are set to compete in 19 events at the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships West First Round in Fayetteville, Ark., at John McDonnell Field on May 22-25.
2024 NCAA OTF CHAMPIONSHIPS WEST FIRST-ROUND INFO:
Live Results | Schedule | ESPN+ Links: Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat
Seeing action on the men’s side for the Miners are Jakub Belik (high jump), Xavier Butler (100m, 200m, 4x100), Jalen Cadet (long jump, 4x100), Karon Dean (4x100), Aleks Hristov (discus), Atiq Muhammad (100m, 4x100m), Julio Pacheco Estrada (400m), Abdulraof Rashid (100m, 4x100), Aron Tanui (800m), Maurice Westmoreland (discus) and Jordani Woodley (110H).
Competing for the UTEP women’s squad are Loubna Benhadja (400H, 4x400), Niesha Burgher (100m, 200m, 4x100m, 4x400m), Sandra Maiyo (10,000m), Zani Meaders (4x100m), Arianne Morais (javelin), Esther Osisike (discus), Alla Parnov (pole vault), Marissa Simpson (100H, 4x100m), Rejoice Sule (100m, 200m, 4x100m, 4x400m) and Princess Uche (4x400m).
The west preliminaries will begin on Wednesday, May 22 with the men’s field events. Cadet will kick off competition in the first round of the men’s long jump at 5 p.m. MT/6 CT. The gun goes off for the track events at 5 p.m. MT/6 CT with Woodley (heat 1, lane 3) running the 110-meter hurdles first round. The men’s first-round field events will begin on Friday – with Hristov hurling the discus (noon MT/1 CT) and Belik leaping in the high jump (1 p.m. MT/2 CT).
The women will start on Thursday, May 23 with Morais throwing in the javelin first round at 1 p.m. MT/2 CT. Parnov will follow in the field events with the pole vault first round at 5:30 p.m. MT/6:30 CT. The track events will start at 5 p.m. MT/6 CT with Simpson (heat 3, lane 9) sprinting in the 100-meter hurdles. Osisike will throw the women’s discus in first-round action on Saturday at noon MT/1 CT.
The men’s 4x100-meter relay team will run on Friday, May 24 at 4 p.m. MT/5 CT in heat 3, while the women’s 4x100 (4 p.m. MT/5 CT) and 4x400 (7:45 p.m. MT/8:45 CT) relay teams will compete on Saturday, May 25. Of the 24 teams in each relay event, 12 will advance to Eugene – top three from each heat plus the next fastest times.
This year’s list of 21 student-athletes nearly doubles last year’s total (11) who competed at the preliminaries in Sacramento.
The Miners are looking to punch their tickets to Eugene, Ore., and compete at the Mecca of the track & field world in historic Hayward Field at the 2024 NCAA OTF Championships on June 5-8.
MEN’S EVENTS (WEST REGIONAL RANKING, NAME, TIME/MARK)
100m first round (Wed., 6 p.m. MT/7 CT)
7. Xavier Butler – 10.12 (Heat 5, Lane 5)
21. Abdulraof Rashid – 10.22 (Heat 4, Lane 8)
48. Atiq Muhammad – 10.28 (Heat 4, Lane 4)
200m first round (Wed., 7:45 p.m. MT/8:45 CT)
13. Xavier Butler – 20.51 (Heat 1, Lane 8)
400m first round (Wed., 7:20 p.m. MT/8:20 CT)
43. Julio Pacheco Estrada – 46.41 (Heat 6, Lane 8)
800m first round (Wed., 6:50 p.m. MT/7:50 CT)
36. Aron Tanui – 1:48.93 (Heat 3, Lane 8)
110m Hurdles first round (Wed., 5 p.m. MT/6 CT)
11. Jordani Woodley – 13.44 (Heat 1, Lane 3)
4x100m Relay quarterfinals (Fri., 4 p.m. MT/5 CT)
21. Dean, Cadet, Rashid, Butler, Muhammad – 39.71 (Heat 3, Lane 3)
High Jump first round (Fri., 1 p.m. MT/2 CT)
14. Jakub Belik – 2.17m (7-1.5) (Flight 1, Position 6)
Long Jump first round (Wed., 5 p.m. MT/6 CT)
47. Jalen Cadet – 7.54m (24-9) (Flight 1, Position 8)
Discus Throw first round (Fri., Noon MT/1 CT)
16. Aleks Hristov – 58.47m (191-10) (Flight 3, Position 16)
47. Maurice Westmoreland – 54.41m (178-6) (Flight 1, Position 2)
WOMEN’S EVENTS (WEST REGIONAL RANKING, NAME, TIME/MARK)
100m first round (Thurs., 6 p.m. MT/7 CT)
2. Niesha Burgher – 11.04 (Heat 2, Lane 7)
26. Rejoice Sule – 11.32 (Heat 2, Lane 3)
200m first round (Thurs., 7:45 p.m. MT/8:45 CT)
1. Niesha Burgher – 22.51 (Heat 6, Lane 4)
20. Rejoice Sule – 23.17 (Heat 5, Lane 3)
10,000m semifinals (Thurs., 8:10 p.m. MT/9:10 CT)
29. Sandra Maiyo – 33:45.74 (Semi 1, Position 29)
100m Hurdles first round (5 p.m. MT/6 CT)
4. Marissa Simpson – 12.92 (Heat 3, Lane 9)
400m Hurdles first round (7:20 p.m. MT/8:20 CT)
25. Loubna Benhadja – 58.03 (Heat 4, Lane 8)
4x100m Relay quarterfinals (Sat., 4 p.m. MT/5 CT)
18. Meaders, Burgher, Simpson, Sule – 44.18 (Heat 3, Lane 2)
4x400m Relay quarterfinals (Sat., 7:45 p.m. MT/8:45 CT)
23. Uche, Benhadja, Sule, Burgher – 3:36.12 (Heat 1, Lane 7)
Pole Vault first round (Thurs., 5:30 p.m. MT/6:30 CT)
20. Alla Parnov – 4.25m (13-11.25) (Flight 1, Position 20)
Discus Throw first round (Sat., Noon MT/1 CT)
48. Esther Osisike – 51.63m (169-5) (Flight 1, Position 4)
Javelin Throw first round (Thurs., 1 p.m. MT/2 CT)
4. Arianne Morais – 57.26m (187-10) (Flight 3, Position 5)
For complete coverage of UTEP Track & Field/Cross Country, be sure to follow the Miners on social media at @UTEPTrack (Twitter/Instagram/Facebook) or visit the official home of UTEP Athletics at UTEPMiners.com.
