The U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced UTEP’s freshmen star Emmanuel Korir as a semifinalist for college track and field’s highest individual honor, The Bowerman Award.
Korir has been on the Bowerman Watch List three times this season.
Korir accomplished something not many freshmen have—he won two national titles in both the indoor and outdoor 800-meter races. He is the first Miner ever to come out victorious on both indoor and outdoor events. The Kenyan native is also the first UTEP student-athlete to win the 800-meter NCAA title since Peter Lemashon in 1978.
After Korir’s record-setting year, he holds three records in UTEP’s track and field history. Korir is the school’s record holder in the indoor 800-meter (1:46.75), the outdoor 800-meter (1:43.73) and the outdoor 400-meter (44.53). He is also one of the three athletes in the world to run a sub-45 400-meter and a sub-1:44 in the 800-meter.
Korir won gold at the Conference USA Championships in the 400-meter and helped the 4×400-meter relay team take home second place, clocking in at 3:06.94.
In large part, Korir helped the UTEP men’s track program rank 10th in the nation. UTEP’s cross country team finished 29th at the 2016 NCAA Cross Country Championships, and finished 22nd in track and field at the indoors and 23rd in outdoors. The Miners recorded 77 total points this season.
The semifinalists for The Bowerman Award include:
Keandre Bates, junior, jumps, Florida.
Edward Cheserek, senior, distance, Oregon.
Christian Coleman, junior, sprints/jumps, Tennessee.
Grant Holloway, freshman, hurdles/jumps, Florida.
Fred Kerley, sophomore, springs, Texas A&M.
Josh Kerr, sophomore, mid-distance, New Mexico.
Emmanuel Korir, freshman, mid-distance, UTEP.
Loannis Kyriazis, junior, throws, Texas A&M.
Filip Mihaljevic, junior, throws, Virginia.
Lindon Victor, senior, combined events, Texas A&M.
Three finalists from the field will be announced on Thursday, June 22, in Phoenix, Arizona at the annual USTFCCCA Convention.
