UTEP Miners

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UTEP Miners
University	University of Texas at El Paso
Conference	Conference USA (primary) Patriot Rifle Conference (women's rifle)
NCAA	Division I (FBS)
Athletic director	Jim Senter
Location	El Paso, Texas
Varsity teams	15
Football stadium	Sun Bowl
Basketball arena	Don Haskins Center
Softball stadium	Helen of Troy Softball Complex
Soccer stadium	University Field
Other venues	Memorial Gym Kidd Field
Mascot	Paydirt Pete
Nickname	Miners and Lady Miners
Fight song	El Paso Fight
Colors	Dark blue, orange, and silver accent[1]
Website	utepminers.com

The UTEP Miners is the name given to the sports teams of the

Playing their first game in 1914, the UTEP Miners football team currently competes in the

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

UTEP was a member of the

Men's basketball

1966 Texas Western basketball team

As Texas Western, the Miners won the

The title team has been chronicled throughout the American media, including the books Basketball's Biggest Upset by Ray Sanchez and When the Walls Came Tumbling Down by Frank Fitzpatrick, and the 2006 Disney movie, Glory Road.

The team was inducted into the

Cross Country

The UTEP Miners' men's cross country team has won 7 national cross country championships, the most recent of which came in 1981 and including a four-year streak of national championships from 1978-1981. They have qualified for 18 national championships, finishing first 7 times, second twice, third twice, and fifth once. They were originally awarded the

Rifle

In June 2013, the Miners' rifle team became a charter member of the Patriot Rifle Conference.^[4]

NCAA Division I national championships

UTEP's sports programs have won a total of 21 NCAA Division I national championships.^[5] UTEP is currently tied for 10th overall among schools in Men's Sports Division I championships.

• Men's basketball
  : 1 (1966)
• Men's cross country
  : 7 (1969, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981)
• Men's indoor track & field: 7 (1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982)
• Men's outdoor track & field: 6 (1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982)

UTEP's fight song was written by the school's music department in the late 1980's. It is based on Marty Robbins's Grammy-winning song "El Paso" with slightly rewritten lyrics and tempo, and was used with the permission of Robbins's estate.^[6]

2008 Olympics

UTEP students and alumni participated in track and field events.^[7]

Athlete	Event	Team
Mickaël Hanany	high jump	France
Blessing Okagbare	long jump	Nigeria
Blessing Okagbare Oludamola Osayomi Halimat Ismaila	women's 4×100 meter relay	Nigeria
Oludamola Osayomi	100M women	Nigeria
Oludamola Osayomi	200M women	Nigeria
Halimat Ismaila	100M women	Nigeria
Churandy Martina	100M men	Netherlands Antilles
Churandy Martina	200M men	Netherlands Antilles
Ronalds Arājs	200M men	Latvia
Caimin 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

Venues

UTEP owns the two largest stadiums in El Paso:

• Sun Bowl Stadium, seating capacity 51,500, opened its doors in 1963 and is currently the home to the UTEP football team and to the annual Sun Bowl
  game.
• Don Haskins Center, seating capacity 12,000, 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.
• Kidd Field, former home to the Miners football team and current home of the track and field teams.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to University of Texas at El Paso athletics.

• Official website