For the first time since 2010, two UTEP softball athletes juniors Courtney Clayton and Kaitlin Ryder, were named to the 2017 Conference USA Preseason team as annouced by league coaches on Wednesday, Jan. 18.
The 2016 C-USA Player of the Year, Clayton, batted for an impressive .416 average throughout the 2016 season. The strong average was enough to be the third best average in UTEP history. She set both school records for 21 doubles and 79 hits in a single season. Clayton was the squad’s leader in almost every hitting category. She led the Miners with 45 runs scored, .