UTEP Men’s Cross Country Picked to Finish Fifth in C-USA

The UTEP men’s cross country team was picked to finish fifth for the 2018 season in the Conference USA preseason poll, as announced by the league office last week. The Miners notched one first-place vote in the poll.

The men’s cross country team will go into the season with three returners and six newcomers.

Among those returnees is senior Anthony Kosgei, who finished ninth overall at the C-USA Championships last season. He earned All-C-USA second-team honors by clocking in a time of 24:45.9 in the 8K run. He also was named to the 2017 All-C-USA Academic Team by sporting a 3.42 GPA in industrial engineering.

The women’s team was picked to finish seventh in the preseason poll. The Miners return experience on the course with six returners and only one newcomer.

Standout Winny Koech will lead the Miners this season. The All-American claimed a silver medal at the C-USA Championships with a time of 16:38.6 in the 5K. She went on to finish 19th at the NCAA Championships with a personal-best time of 19:53.7 in the 6K.

Also adding depth to the women’s team is Lilian Koech. The senior received All-C-USA first-team honors with a time of 17:19.1 in the 5K. She posted a personal-best clocking of 20:22.4 in the 6K at the Adidas DI Pre-Nationals meet.

UTEP is set to start the season at the Lobo Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M. on Saturday, Sept. 1.