The joy of a season-opening home track meet is that all the freshmen — and UTEP had 25 of them making outdoor debuts this weekend at the Miner Invitational — are going to set a personal best of some sort.
For Jacob Yeager, a Burges alum running his first collegiate outdoor race in his hometown, it was a huge personal best. Running a tactically perfect 800 meters, Yeager stalked the leaders, then took command and charged home in 1 minutes, 51.00 seconds, shaving more than three seconds off his personal best from indoor season.
Two spots behind him was a former teammate, Tyson Cotchery, a junior at Franklin who ran unattached in the collegiate division and was third in 1:52.30, which will be one of the top high school times in the nation in this early season.
Yeager was one of several freshmen from Texas who started their UTEP outdoor careers with a bang.
Burges alum Jacob Yeager: ‘In my hometown it’s amazing’
“It was a great race, I really enjoyed it,” Yeager said. “The experience has been fun, I’m enjoying the ride. I’m training with the best group in El Paso right now, they push me a lot.
“To be able to compete like this, at a level like this, in my hometown it’s amazing. I love running here, I love that I’m able to do it at the next level. It means a lot to me. It means the sacrifices I’ve put in are working.”
This marked the first outdoor meet at UTEP for new coach Francesca Green and the first regular-season outdoor meet at Kidd Field since 2019. Green has made it a stated goal to change the recruiting focus at UTEP to Texas and El Paso high schoolers and that was on display.
Cyndi Martin, a freshman from DeSoto High in the Dallas area, won the 200 and 100 hurdles, while Amai Newman, a freshman from Pearland Shadow Creek in the Houston area, won the 400. Elias Munoz, one year removed from helping Franklin to a stellar showing at the UIL Texas state meet, won the 100 in his collegiate outdoor debut.
His former Franklin teammate Juan Leal counts as an old man on this team since he’s a sophomore and he was a champion in the 1,500.
It was that kind of meet for the new-look Miners.
“I am absolutely excited,” coach Francesca Green said. “We have a lot of work to do. When you’re getting something started, sometimes that’s the hardest part. We learned a lot this weekend, we had some good teams here and everybody competed hard and got the opportunity to compete at a high level.”
There was encouragement to be found across the board.
Cydni Martin: ‘Really fun being out here’
For Martin, that came in the form of a big personal best in the 200 when she knew there was more in the tank. She feels her time of 23.48 seconds in the 200, almost 0.4 faster then her 23.86 at conference, only hints at her potential.
“I felt like I could have pushed harder in the curve and I was running with my chest up, my head up, if I had leaned forward I probably could have gone 23.0,” Martin said. “But 23.4 is not that bad.
“It was hot, but it was really fun being out here. It’s my first year, I’m getting a lot of good p.r.s, I’m getting a lot of good training. I’m trusting my coaches and putting it all together when it matters.”
She led a 1-2-3-4-5 UTEP finish, as she was chased in by her sophomore teammate Addison Stricklin, who ran 23.80.
As for her meet, “It’s fun getting out there and putting everything we go through at practice on the track and seeing where the times are, especially as a freshman,” Martin said. “Being at the top of the conference in some things, that’s good to hear.”
Amai Newman: ‘Way different from high school’
Newman had similar things to say after her time of 55.00 was just 0.01 off her indoor personal best.
“It’s fun,” she said of her first collegiate outdoor meet. “It’s way different from high school, I am a freshman. The competition, not just from my teammates but to run against other collegiate athletes is pretty cool.
“It shows what I have to do more at practice, to push out and finish. It’s a good opener because I know what I need to work on.”
Elias Munoz: ‘Grateful’ to represent El Paso
Munoz just missed a lifetime best in the 100, which he won in 10.44. He ran a 10.39 late last season and is beginning this outdoor campaign in a good spot. And he’s beginning it at home.
“Getting out here in outdoor was a great experience for me,” Munoz said. “I’m blessed to run what I did in my opener, it’s close to my p.r. I’m grateful to be out here.
“It’s a great feeling running in front of the home crowd. Representing UTEP and being a Franklin grad, I’m grateful to represent the city.”
That’s something more and more members of the UTEP track team are able to say.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: New-look UTEP track team uses Texas flavor to start strong at home
Reporting by Bret Bloomquist, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
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