Beyond the Pressbox

Abie Han to fight in March in Tucson

El Paso junior middleweight prospect Abie Han will fight March 23 on a card in Tucson, Ariz. Han (15-0) will meet Rahman Yusubov in a scheduled six-round fight. Yusubov is 8-5 with six knockouts. Han is part of a card that will be televised by Showtime. The main event is a 10-round junior lightweight bout between Miguel Beltran and Diego Magdaleno. 

 

UTEP tennis team falls on the road

The UTEP tennis team was upended in a pair of road matches on Sunday. The Miners (1-8) lost to Texas State, 6-1, to start the day before falling 4-1 to UTSA. 

UTEP returns home to challenges UTPB at 1 p.m. MST on Friday. The match will be held at the El Paso Tennis Club, and admission is free. 

UTEP rifle wins against Nevada

The UTEP rifle team edged Nevada, 4,648-4,645, over the weekend at the UTEP Rifle Range closing the Miners’ 2011-12 regular season campaign.

The Miners bested the Wolf Pack in smallbore, 2,290-2,309, and in air rifle, 2,358-2,336 to take the match.

Andrea Palafox fired 595 in air rifle which was best among all shooters. Jennifer Armendariz fired a 590 for third in air gun. Andrea Vautrin gunned 587 for the day.  Korina Rodriguez and Hannah Muegge both posted a mark of 586. Alix Moncada (583), Atenas Bojorquez (581) and Areli Oros (528) rounded out the shooting for UTEP.

Palafox was the Miners’ top shooter in smallbore at 576.Vautrin and Muegge recorded scores of 573 and 571, respectively. Moncada (570), Rodriguez (569) and Aremndariz (564) also competed in smallbore for the Miners.

UTEP softball team falls to Louisiana Tech

The UTEP softball team suffered its fourth loss in a row on Sunday as they fell to Louisiana Tech in the conclusion of the 8th annual Mardi Gras Classic in Lafayette, La. The Miners (4-4) managed only three hits in the 5-0 loss. 

Colleen Hohman started the game for UTEP in the circle, pitching six innings allowing three earned runs and one earned on six hits and three walks. Hohman had a season high in strikeouts with nine. Her previous high was five against Santa Clara.


Two of Louisiana Tech’s runs came in the third inning after an error by Samantha Alvillar at shortstop allowed a run to score and another error by Chelsea Troupe in center field allowed the second to score.  Hohman held Tech scoreless in the next three innings. Louisiana Tech added three runs in the seventh.

Chelsea Troupe had two of the Miners’ three hits in the game. Hohman had the other hit for the Orange and Blue.  


UTEP will return home to face NMSU in a rematch on Tuesday, Feb. 21 at the Helen of Troy Softball Complex. 

Miertschin shoots Hole-in-One; UTEP golf in seventh

The UTEP men's golf team is is in seventh place through 36 holes of the Arizona Intercollegiate on Monday in Tucson.

The Miners opened their spring season with rounds of 303 and 287 for a total of 590.  Arizona leads the 12-team field with a 554.

 Jerry Castrellon fired a one-under-par 141 (70-71).  He is tied for 12th place to lead UTEP.  Devin Miertschin is tied for 23rd place (74-72-146), 

 Miertschin recorded a hole-in-one on the par-3, 227-yard 17th hole.

 The final round will be played on Tuesday.

 

Local horse owner Kirk Robison will have horse in Kentucky Derby prep race

El Paso horse owner Kirk Robison and local horse trainer Henry Dominguez will run 3-year-old Isn't He Clever in the Grade II, one and 1/16th mile, $200,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes race on Saturday at Santa Anita Racetrack in California. The race is a prep race for the Kentucky Derby and a strong showing for Isn't He Clever could mean a spot in horse racing's biggest race in May. 

Isn't He Clever has won three of four races, including an 11 3/4 length win in the Riley Allison Futurity at Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino on Dec. 30. 

Dominguez said this weekend's race was a good test for Isn't He Clever and a chance to see if the horse is strictly a sprinter or whether he can two-turn and become a factor on the Kentucky Derby trail. 

UTEP picks up four votes in AP Top 25 women's basketball poll

The UTEP women's basketball team picked up four votes in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll on Monday. The Miners, 19-2 overall and 8-0 in Conference USA lead the league and have won nine straight games. 

UTEP is 3-1 against teams currently in the top 100 of the RPI with wins against Tulane (36), Idaho State (64) and Memphis (82). UTEP suffered a two-point loss to Arizona State (51). UTEP next plays at Rice on Sunday. 

El Paso and Triple-A baseball

El Paso is once again back in the discussion for a minor league baseball team.

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, Jeff Moorad is looking to sell the Tucson Padres, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Deigo Padres. And El Paso apparently contacted Moorad.

"We heard from three cities outside the state today (El Paso was one, Tucson was not)," Moorad said, according to the newspaper. "We have not heard directly from any city inside the state (California)... . In the next 90 days we will know if there is any serious interest in the North County. Our interest is to probably sell the team if it is not located in the North County."

Moorad, also the owner of the MLB Padres, originally had plans to build a stadium for the minor league team in Escondido, Calif., about 30 miles away from San Diego. But due to a California law that abolished redevelopment agencies, the stadium is unlikely.

The Padres have a contract in Tucson through 2012. If El Paso is to compete for the Triple-A team, the city will likely need to overhaul and update Cohen Stadium or break ground on a new stadium — such as the much-discussed downtown revitalization plan.

Here's the full article in the San Diego paper.

UTEP picks up vote In ESPN/USA Today Top-25 Coaches' Poll

A day after picking up a vote in the Associated Press top-25 poll, UTEP has received a vote in the ESPN/USA Today top-25 coaches’ poll which was released Tuesday. It marks the first time this season that the Miners have been recognized in both of the top-25 polls in the same week. 

There have now been two campaigns (2007-08 & 2011-2) where the UTEP has grabbed a vote in both top-25 polls at the same time, with both coming during the Keitha Adams era.

UTEP has won seven straight games and sits atop the C-USA standings. It is one of 10 teams nationally to be both undefeated in league play and have two or fewer total losses.

Thirteen of the 17 victories on the year have been by double figures, including a school-record-tying eight triumphs by 20+ points. Depth has been an important key to the season, with 12 different players logging at least 10 minutes per game.

That depth was on display in the 87-43 dismantling of Houston on Jan. 22, which marked the largest margin of victory for a league game in program history. All 13 Miners who saw action against the Cougars scored at least four points, with sophomore Kayla Thornton leading the way with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting. The Miners’ bench poured in 48 points, out-scoring the entire UH squad in the process.

UTEP will be back in action when it concludes a stretch of three of four away from home at Southern Miss at 6 p.m. Thursday. The game will be broadcast locally in EL Paso on 1150 AM. 

 

UTEP tennis upended at No. 46 Texas Tech In dual-match opener

The UTEP tennis team fell at No. 46 Texas Tech, 7-0, in the dual-match opener for both squads Monday afternoon. The Miners (0-1) came up shy in doubles play and couldn’t get on track after singles play commenced against the Red Raiders (1-0).

At No. 1 doubles the tandem of Rebeca Calvillo/Martina Trierweiler played well in spurts but was sent packing by Samantha Adams/Kenna Kilgo, 8-3. It was a similar story for the duo of Dariya Abdrakhmanova/Marie LeBlond at No. 3 doubles, which was bounced 8-2 by Elizabeth Ullathorne/Sandra Dynka. At the No. 2 spot it was the home side pairing of Nikki Sanders/Caroline Starck toppling Gabi Vazquez/Carolina DeLuca, 8-0.
There was a short break before focus switched to singles, where the Orange and Blue would need to claim four of six to post a come-from-behind triumph. It was not to be, though, with the Red Raiders taking care of business.
Calvillo had the most success for the Miners, picking up a 6-4 win in the first set against Ullahtorne, at No. 2 singles. Her foe would rally to secure the second set, 6-3. At this point the team outcome was decided, so a super tiebreaker was used in the third set. Ullathorne grabbed control early and rode it to a 10-5 victory.
Trierweiler fought hard against Adams at the top slot only to ultimately come up shy, 6-4, 6-3. Dynka snuck past Abdrakhmanova, 6-4, in the first set at No. 5 singles before having it go her way, 6-0, in the second set. Vazquez had a few good moments against Starck at No. 3, but came up shy, 6-2, 6-1 while Kilgo derailed DeLuca, 6-1, 6-3, at No. 4. LeBlond couldn’t get on track early and was saddled with a 6-2, 6-0 setback against Sanders.
UTEP will play the second of three straight road matches to start the year when it takes on Denver at 5 p.m. Friday.