Nov. 15, 2009

EL PASO – For the first time in more than 20 years, the UTEP women’s cross country team earned a bid to the NCAA Cross Country Championships set for Nov. 23 at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Indiana.

All-American Nicodemus Ng’etich and freshman Elkana Rotich will join the women as automatic qualifiers for the UTEP men’s team. The women travel to nationals on an at-large bid.

“This is great news for our women’s team,” head coach Paul Ereng said. “The men fell short, but we’re still going to be represented by two of our runners in the men’s race.”

The last time the women competed in the national meet was in 1987 and finished fifth.

“The commitment our women showed through the season is really paying off for us in the long run,” Ereng added. “They competed very strongly at yesterday’s meet (regionals) and they’ve really earned this. This is not only great for our program, but it’s great for our athletics department and our institution. We’re really looking forward to going to the dance and representing UTEP with a lot of pride.”

Leading the women, as she has this entire season, is freshman Risper Kimaiyo. Kimaiyo finished fourth overall at Saturday’s Mountain Regional Championship. A team bid is an exclamation point for Kimaiyo’s breakout season that included a Conference USA individual crown and silver team finish. Her supporting cast is made up of junior Kathya Garcia, Gladys Chumba, Karina Garcia, Jepchirchir Kigen, Kim Martinez and Kitria Stewart.

Ng’etich returns to the national stage looking for a second consecutive All-American honor. The senior finished 30th at last year’s championship clocking in a time of 30:06 in the 10K race.

The men’s race will begin at 10:08 a.m. (MT) and will be followed by the women’s race at approximately 10:58 a.m. (MT). Both championship races will be broadcast live on Versus Network and streamed online via NCAA.com.