UTEP Miners
is the name given to the sports teams of the University of Texas at El Paso. Informally, the UTEP Miners have also been referred to as the Miners
, UTEP
, or simply El Paso
. After the departure of four members of the Western Athletic Conference including UTEP
in 2005, in which all four became members in the same conference, the Miners joined Conference USA as a part of the West Division.The UTEP Miners are best known as the only team in Texas to win a NCAA Men's Basketball Championship. UTEP's colors are Orange and Blue and the mascot is a miner named Paydirt Pete. The athletic director for the Miners is Bob Stull.
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UTEP MINERS TICKETS
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Athletics
The University of Texas at El Paso competes with teams in the following sports:
Football
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Playing their first game in 1914, the UTEP Miners football team currently compete in the
NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The team plays its games in the
Sun Bowl Stadium, and
Mike Price is at the helm for his 5th season at UTEP in 2008.
NCAA Division I National Championships
UTEP's sports programs have won a total of 21 NCAA Division I national championships.
[1] UTEP is currently tied for 10th overall among schools in Men's Sports Division I championships.
- Men's Basketball: 1
- Men's Cross country: 7
- Men's Indoor Track & Field: 7
- Men's Outdoor Track & Field: 6
Men's Basketball
1966 Texas Western basketball team
As Texas Western, the Miners won the
1966 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. The 72-65 victory over
Kentucky in
College Park, Maryland is considered one of the most important in the history of college basketball, as it marked the first time that a team with five
African-American starters won a title game. It came against a Kentucky team that had no
African-American players, during the period of the
Civil Rights Movement.
The title team has been chronicled throughout the American media, including the book
When the Walls Came Tumbling Down
by
Frank Fitzpatrick and the
2006 Disney movie
Glory Road
.
The team was inducted into the
Basketball Hall of Fame
2008 Olympics
UTEP students and alumni participated in track and field events.
[2]
| Athlete
| Event
| Team
|
| Mickael Hanany
| high jump
| France
|
| Blessing Okagbare
| long jump
| Nigeria
|
Blessing Okagbare
Oludamola Osayomi
Halimat Ismaila
| women's 4×100 meter relay
| Nigeria
|
| Oludamola Osayom
| 100M women
| Nigeria
|
| Oludamola Osayom
| 200M women
| Nigeria
|
| Halimat Ismaila
| 100M women
| Nigeria
|
| Churandy Martina
| 100M men
| Netherlands Antilles
|
| Churandy Martina
| 200M men
| Netherlands Antilles
|
| Ronalds Arajs
| 200M men
| Latvia
|
| Caiman Douglas
| men 4×100 meter relay
| Netherlands
|
| Erma-Gene Evans
| javelin
| Saint Lucia
|
| Alexandros Papadimitriou
| hammer throw men
| Greece
|
| Henderson Dottin
|
| Barbados
|
| Fatimoh Muhammed
|
| Liberia
|
Traveling Trophies
The winner of the UTEP vs
New Mexico State University football game receives a pair of traveling trophies;
The Silver Spade
and
The Brass Spittoon
. The first spade used for this purpose was an old prospector's shovel dug up from an abandoned mine in the
Organ Mountains near
Las Cruces, New Mexico in 1947. This was the symbol of victory, and the spade was given to the winner of the football game between the Miners and Aggies each year.
The idea of the present Silver Spade was from UTEP student Don Henderson, the student association president and now a very successful
El Paso businessman and former mayor of the city. In 1955 Henderson secured the present spade and each year the score of the game is engraved on the blade.
Perhaps the idea behind the spade is the fact that at the time the prospector's spade was uncovered, both schools' major field of study had use for the tool, mining and metallurgy for the College of Mines and agriculture at then New Mexico A&M. The Brass Spittoon, officially known as the Mayor's Cup, came into existence in 1982 when the mayors of the two cities; Jonathan Rogers of
El Paso, and David Steinberg of
Las Cruces decided to present another traveling trophy to the winner of the UTEP vs
New Mexico State University game. This game is more commonly known as "
The Battle of I-10.
Sports Venues
UTEP owns the two largest stadiums in El Paso:
- Sun Bowl Stadium, seating capacity 52,000, opened its doors in 1963 and is currently the home to the UTEP football team and to the annual Brut Sun Bowl game. Sun Bowl Stadium is also now home to the Texas vs. The Nation Game, a college football all-star game.
- Don Haskins Center, seating capacity 12,222, was built in 1976 and is primarily used by the men's and women's basketball teams.
- University Field (UTEP), seating capacity 500, was built in 1991 and hosts the women's soccer team.
References
- Schools with the Most NCAA Championships
- http://wikirun.com/University_of_Texas_at_El_Paso#2008_Olympics Retrieved 2008-08-25.