Miners to compete in Olympics

Four Miner track-and-field athletes have qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.

Mickael Hanany, Halimat Ismaila and Blessing Okagbare will join former Miner Oludamola Osayomi in the summer games.

Hanany	Okagbare

Ismaila and Osayomi qualified in the women’s 4x100 meter relay, while Osayomi was a triple qualifier in the 100 and 200 meters as well. Osayomi won the 100 and the 200 with times of 11.08 and 22.74 seconds, respectively. Both times were personal records.

Okagbare also achieved a personal record in the long jump with a first place leap of 6.86 meters to earn a spot in Beijing.

Hanany had secured a spot in the Olympic Games by winning the national title in the high jump with a personal record of 2.32 meters in June. Hanany will be competing for his native France.

The Olympics will cap an overall successful season for the track and field team.

The women finished in 10th place with 25 points and the men tied for 13th with 21 points at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in June.

Hanany has been named Conference USA Outdoor Track and Field Male Athlete of the Year; while triple and long jumper Okagbare has been named Conference USA Female Newcomer of the Year.

Overall, 13 All-American honors went to 11 Miners. N


Football to rock Sun Bowl, Longhorns

Head Coach Mike Price and the Miners are suiting up for an exciting football season as they prepare to face off against a series of formidable foes.

UTEP’s first home game promises to be a crowd pleaser as the Miners will take on the UT Austin Longhorns. The teams will square off for the third time in school history at 8:15 p.m. (MST) on Sept. 6. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN2 and can be heard on KOFX 92.3 FM.

			2008-09 SCHEDULE
			Date	Opponent	Time (MST)
			Aug. 28	at Buffalo	5 p.m.
			Sept. 6	UT Austin (ESPN2)	8:15 p.m.
			Sept. 20	New Mexico State	7:05 p.m.
			Sept. 27	UCF * (CBS C)	6 p.m.
			Oct. 4	at Southern Miss, Hattiesburg *	5 p.m.
			Oct. 11	Tulane *	7:05 p.m.
			Oct. 18	at Tulsa * (CBS C)	6 p.m.
			Nov. 1	Rice *	7:05 p.m.
			Nov. 8	at Louisiana-Lafayette	5 p.m.
			Nov. 15	SMU *	7:05 p.m.
			Nov. 22	at Houston *	1:30 p.m.
			Nov. 28	at East Carolina, Greenville * (CBS C)	11 a.m.
			* C-USA; CBS C (CBS College Sports Network, formerly CSTV)
			Ticket information: www.utepathletics.com

“I think it’s a really exciting schedule,” Price says. “We’re kind of breaking it up into three seasons. We have the Buffalo and UT Austin season, then we have a bye, then we have five games and a bye and another five games. It should be a fantastic home schedule with UT Austin, New Mexico State and UCF.”

During the annual UTEP Spring Game at the Sun Bowl, fans got a glimpse at the teams new 3-3-5 defensive scheme and saw an improvement in the Miners’ passing game with sophomore quarterback Trevor Vittatoe connecting passes to junior wide receiver Tufick Shadrawy.

The Miners will open two-a-day drills in August in preparation for the season opener Aug. 28 at Buffalo. N