Miner Rush, a UTEP Miners community

UTEP track star, and four time national champion, Blessing Okagbare was named the C-USA Female Athlete of the Year today. Rice baseball star Anthony Rendon was named the Male Athlete of the Year. She becomes the first Miner, male or female, to win the conference award.

Chalk up another National Championship for UTEP's Blessing Okagbare. She already had two indoor titles, but now she can add an outdoor title to her considerable list of accomplishments.Okagbare ran the 100m dash in 10.98, dusting the second place competitor who ran an 11.12. Her three national titles sets a school record.

Excerpt: "The Texas-El Paso senior smashed a 5-year-old meet record with a leap of 22 feet, 7 inches, winning Friday's event with the longest jump in the world this year. She landed just an inch shy of her personal best and bronze-medal winning mark at the 2008 Beijing Olympics."

The Miners are off to a great start at Texas Relays. I've attended the event, and it's quite incredible. The nations best collegiate stars, Olympians, and past stars are all there. Austin is the center of the track universe this weekend and UTEP is doing very well. Excerpt: "Two runners from UT-El Paso, sophomore Risper Kimaiyo and junior Kathya Garcia, got off to an early lead. Although Texas sophomore Laleh Mojtabaeezamani was hot on their heels for the first 11 minutes of the race, the UTEP pair pulled away in the last 1500 meters. "

Bob Kitchens has made UTEP a consistent national power in track and field over the course of his remarkable 22 years as a Miner. At 65, Kitchen's has decided to retire. It's a sad day in Minerland, because we are losing a giant Here's wishing Kitchens a happy retirement. Excerpt from Bill Knight's excellent article on Kitchens: "The man has pieced together a stunning résumé -- 133 outdoor All-Americans, 73 indoor All-Americans, 14 cross country All-Americans, six top-five finishes in the nation, 15 conference championships, 21 NCAA champions, 28 Olympians and a lifetime of gifts and memories."

Excerpt: "Trailing Rice by half a point in the Conference USA meet's climactic 1,600-meter relay, UTEP took the silver in that event to the Owls' fifth, giving the Miners a 113.5-110 victory over Rice. The women's track program's first-ever league title was the third in UTEP women's sports history and the second in the last two decades."