UTEP women’s T&F concludes ’24 Season at NCAA Nationals Thursday
(Courtesy: UTEP Athletics)
EUGENE, Oregon - The UTEP track and field women’s squad wrapped up a memorable 2024 season at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field on Thursday.
Niesha Burgher finished in 10th overall in the 200-meter dash, two-tenths of a second short of advancing to Saturday’s final.
She clocked in a 22.73 finishing behind Florida State’s Dajaz Defrand (22.71).
Before advancing to her first outdoor nationals, Burgher took three gold medals at the Conference USA OTF Championships and was named the female track performer of the meet.
Arianne Morais placed 11th, just outside the top nine in the women’s javelin. Morais concludes her three-year career at UTEP with a trio of NCAA Championships appearances in the event. Morais won back-to-back gold medals in the javelin at the CUSA OTF Championships. She was named the female field performer of the meet this past season.
Marissa Simpson, who advanced to her second consecutive NCAA Nationals, also won back-to-back gold medals in the 100 hurdles at the conference championships. Simpson also ran a personal-best 12.93 that helped push her to Eugene.
Sandra Maiyo concluded her first year as a Miner with a bronze medal in the 10,000-meter race at the CUSA Championships and an NCAA Nationals appearance.
The women’s 4x400-meter relay team made some news during the last few weeks when it broke a 24-year-old record. The squad clocked in a new program-record time of 3:33.02 at the NCAA West Prelims on May 25 in Fayetteville. The blazing time surged Princess Uche, Zani Meaders, Loubna Benhadja and Burgher to TrackTown, USA.
A few of the highlights included when the women’s team finished in second place at the CUSA Championships. UTEP was ranked as high as 17th in the nation following week three of competition. The Miners were the lone Group of Five program in the top 25 for four weeks in a row during the 2024 outdoor season.
COMING UP
Belik will leap in the men’s high jump final (position 6) on Friday at 6:30 p.m. MT/5:30 PT on ESPN+.
2024 NCAA DI OTF CHAMPIONSHIPS LINKS
Live Results | Schedule | TV: Fri (ESPN+)
SCHEDULE
Fri., June 7
High Jump (final) – 6:30 p.m. MT/5:30 PT
Jakub Belik (position 6)
JAKUB BELIK | HIGH JUMP | JR. | JAROMER, CZECH REPUBLIC
Jakub Belik leaped a personal-best 2.20 meters (7-2.5) in the first round of the men’s high jump on May 24. He reached his PB on his third and final try following two failed attempts. Belik was one of six competitors to leap the 2.20-meter mark and was sixth overall. Belik’s new mark ranks ninth best in program history. Belik will compete in his second consecutive NCAA Championships, while the junior jumper is making his first trip to Eugene as the championships were held in Austin, Texas, last season.
