Following are El Paso’s Best in Sports for 2015. Making the athletes and coaches selections more substantial is the fact they were selected by a seven-man panel of El Paso media. The panel included Kevin Lovell of KVIA-TV, Beau Bagley of KTSM-TV, Steve Kaplowitz of KROD radio, Bob Nitzburg of Entravision, former sportscaster Tom Ciaburri, UTEP statistician/analyst Charles Hill and your friendly sports columnist (me).
The winners:
SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR – Anthony Rotich of UTEP. He was a unanimous
UTEP Track and Field Mugs for 2013-2014. Photo by Ivan Pierre Aguirre
choice of the panel. The cross country star was so outstanding during the year that he was also the unanimous choice of Conference USA cross country coaches as Conference US Cross Country Athlete of the Year. Rotich led the Miners to victories at five meets during the season. On Oct. 2 at the Notre Dame Invitational, he took gold and helped UTEP knock off five men’s teams on their way to capturing the team title. His storybook career ended with a whopping 63 races won (track and field and cross country combined), 19 individual conference titles, 11 All-America honors and four national titles.
COLLEGE ATHLETE of the Year – Anthony Rotich.
COLLEGE COACH of the Year – Not surprisingly, it’s Rotich’s coach, Paul Ereng, who was also a unanimous choice. Every athlete needs a good coach to help him, shape him and develop him. A former Olympic gold medalist, Ereng’s men’s team reached a ranking as high as seventh in the country prior to the NCAA Championships. In the fall of 2015, Ereng led the men’s cross country team to its first team conference title since 2009.
HIGH SCHOOL Athlete of the Year — Paulo Benavides of Franklin High School, who set a national high school indoor record of 17 feet, ll inches. He won the state 6A UIL meet each of the past two years and represented the U.S. in the World Youth Championships in Ukraine. He is attending Kansas on scholarship and almost surely has a future as a U.S. Olympic pole vaulter. The son of a pole vaulter father, Paul, young Benavides was described by Mile Split Magazine as “one of the greatest high school pole vaulters of all time.”
HIGH SCHOOL Coach of the Year – Tony Carter, Hanks High School wrestling coach. He has built Hanks into a state power. Four of his girls reached the state finals and two, Daniela Flores at 128 pounds and Adrienne Holguin at 148 pounds, won state titles.
The following are selections of El Paso Inc.:
RADIO SPORTSCASTER of the Year –Tim Hagerty of the El Paso Chihuahuas, whose radio reports of the games were not only delightful but his deep knowledge of the goings-on with the entire Pacific Coast League conference kept us informed.
TV SPORTSCASTER of the Year – Beau Bagley of KTSM-TV who seems to be everywhere covering every sport. His nightly reports are exceptional in every way.
SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHER of the Year – Mark Lambie of the El Paso Times. Year after year he comes up with exceptional images in sports that leave readers agog. This year was no different.
SPORTSWRITERS of the Year – The entire crew of the sports department of the El Paso Times. They keep us informed on UTEP, high schools and other sports and editor Bob Moore gives them so much space to do it that it’s a delight to pick up the morning paper each day.
SPORTS INFORMATION Director of the Year – Jeff Darby of UTEP. He not only turns out information, he goes beyond the call of duty and gives us special stories, like the Q&A piece on Gerina Spiller. Not only that, his reports of games are so good and informative they could appear in local news outlets.
OTHERS RECEIVING votes and thus getting honorable mention status were: Basketball coach Jim Forbes of Andress High School, Chapin High wrestler Andy O’Brien, Cathedral High swimming coach Jack White and San Elizario Cross Country and track star Michael Johnson.