UTEP's Hanany And Memphis' King Earn C-USA's Outdoor Track & Field Top Honors
June 23, 2008 C-USA OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD YEAR-IN-REVIEW NOTEBOOK & TOP PERFORMANCES IRVING, Texas - After becoming Conference USA's first male to win an individual national title at the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, UTEP's Mickael Hanany was a unanimous selection for C-USA Outdoor Track and Field Male Athlete of the Year award on Monday following a vote of the league's head coaches. Taking the women's top honor was All-American Susan King of Memphis. In its second year of existence, C-USA Newcomer of the Year accolades goes to UTEP's Blessing Okagbare and Aggrey Chirchir as well as Seth Major of Memphis. Chirchir and Major tied for the men's award. Hanany, a native of Cergy, France, won a gold medal and recorded a personal-best and school-record tying 2.32m (7-7 1/4) high jump mark at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The 6-7 senior's performance currently ranks tied for second on the French list and tied for ninth on the all-time collegiate list. He also automatically qualified for the Olympics with that jump. In addition, he picked up a pair of gold medals in the high and long jumps at the conference championship, earning him Performance of the Meet merits. Hanany closed out his career as an eight-time All-American and 17-time conference champion as well as the 2008 Mountain Region Outdoor Men's Field Athlete of the Year. At the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, King captured silver medalist and All-America honors in the shot put with a throw of 17.68 (87-0.25"). The senior also won the event at NCAA Mideast Regionals (17.60m/57-9") and C-USA Championships (17.84m/58-6.5"), as well as recording one of the all-time best marks of 18.10m (59-4.25") at the Tucson Elite Throwers meet in April. At the conclusion of the league championship, King was named the 2008 C-USA Outdoor High Point Scorer of the Meet, with 26 points, and earned Performance of the Meet after winning the shot put crown. King, a native of League City, Texas, wrapped up her Tiger career as Memphis' all-time record holder in the shot put (18.10m) and discus (51.23m).
Major, a transfer from Rend Lake College in Illinois, captured the Newcomer of the Year honor after earning all-conference in the men's shot put and discus throws at the C-USA championship meet in May. Major finished second in the discus and third in the shot put at the event. The junior from Decatur, Ill., also produced a season-best mark of 53.92m (176-11") in the discus and 16.91m (55-5.75") in the shot put that qualified him for the NCAA Mideast Regionals in both events. A transfer from the University of Nairobi, Chirchir concluded his sophomore season with the Miners by advancing to the semifinals of the men's 800m at the NCAA Championships. He clocked a time of 1:49.69 to finish 14th behind senior teammate Elias Koech's 13th-place time of 1:49.34. However, he posted his season-best time of 1:48.28 in the 800 at the NCAA Midwest Regional, taking fifth place. Chirchir won the event at the prestigious Texas Relays with a time of 1:50.54. He assisted UTEP to its second team title in the last three years by scoring points at the conference meet in two events. The Kapsobet, Kenya, native, scored in the 800m, with a second-place time of 1:50.21, as well as fourth in the 1,500m, clocking 3:54.35. Okagbare, a transfer from Vik Grammer School in Nigeria, swept C-USA's Indoor and Outdoor Newcomer of the Year accolades as the 5-9 sophomore dominated the jumping events. The three-time outdoor All-American finished second at NCAA's in the triple jump (14.01m/45-11 3/4), third in the long jump (6.59m/21-7 1/2) and ran the final leg on the Miners' 4x100 relay that took sixth place at nationals with a school-record time of 43.95 seconds. The Sapele, Nigeria, native, also captured the indoor and outdoor Mountain Region Women's Field Athlete of the Year honors, after winning the league's outdoor titles in the long jump (6.70m/21-11.75") and triple jump (13.86m/45-5.75"). She's currently the school record holder in both events.
FEMALE NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR MALE NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR |
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