El Paso, Texas- Senior Anthony Rotich was named the Track Performer of the Meet and freshman Lilian Koech was named the Co-Performer of the Meet for their efforts last weekend at the Conference USA Championships. The awards were voted on by head coaches throughout the league.

 

This is the third consecutive year Rotich has earned Performer of the Meet honors. The Kenyan native was named High Point Scorer of the Meet for the third year in a row as well. The senior won his first race of the weekend on Saturday night in the 3,000m steeplechase with a time of 8:59.64, beating the second-place finisher by 15 seconds. He then returned on Sunday to win two more races. He ran the 12th-fastest 1,500m time in the country with an altitude converted time of 3:40.31 to take gold. Rotich closed out the weekend in stunning fashion by capturing gold in the 5,000m run (14:47.03). All in all, he collected 30 points for the UTEP men.

 

Koech was the catalyst for the women’s team last weekend. On Sunday, she dazzled the crowd a Kidd Field with two first-place finishes. She won her first race early Sunday afternoon in the 1,500m run with a time of 4:42.70. The freshman then came back late Sunday evening to defeat a field of 34 runners in the 5,000m run with a time of 16:58.11 which set a new Kidd Field record. Koech earned the Miners 20 points and was also named Freshman of the Meet.

 

Both Rotich and Koech will join their teammates next weekend in Austin, Texas, for the NCAA West Preliminaries (May 28-30). Rotich is chasing his third-straight 3,000m steeplechase national title and Koech will be looking to qualify for nationals in the 5,000m run.