1981 UTEP would annihilate Colorado

ok

Foreigners are an Obamanation.

Polly p wrote:

3 guys running 27:30s, plus Sulemein Nyambui- scored 17 points plus 6th and 7th men under 30:00

If it was a dual meet: UTEP 15 Colorado 50

Polly p wrote:

3 guys running 27:30s, plus Sulemein Nyambui- scored 17 points plus 6th and 7th men under 30:00

Any of them under 25 years old in 81?

Polly p wrote:

3 guys running 27:30s, plus Sulemein Nyambui- scored 17 points plus 6th and 7th men under 30:00

Yes, they were a great team. I ran against them . . . well, if you can call it that. I went through the first mile in about 4:40 with them, and then I slowed down while they just kept going. And yes, they were mostly mid- to late-20s in age. Nyambui was 27 and Musyoki was 24. They were awesome and very intimidating for an 18-year-old college freshman like me.

Actually, I just looked up some information about that 1981 UTEP team. I ran against them in the fall of 1980, not 1981. They were awesome both years, but the 1981 team was as close to perfect as any team in history could hope for. Nyambui won the NCAA individual title in 1980, but something happened to him in 1981 because he only finished 7th. Here's a recap:

1981 MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY

NCAA Champions

Possibly one of the most dominating performances in any NCAA Championship, the 1981 UTEP cross country team scored a record-low 17 points and had seven All-Americans for the first time in meet history ... UTEP's 17 points were only two points from perfection and 92 points better than nearest opponent Providence ... Mathews Motshwarateu outsprinted teammate and senior Michael Musyoki for the individual 10k title ... Gabriel Kaman, who came down with stomach problems midway through the race, still finished third ... senior Suleiman Nyambui took seventh for his fourth consecutive All-American honor ... Gidamis Shahanga was eighth behind Nyambui ... UTEP's non-scorers, Sam Ngatia and Tom Mawan, still finished as All-Americans ... Ngatia was 19th, while Mawan was 20th ... UTEP's record performance still holds today. The closest any team has come was Arkansas, which scored 31 points in 1993.

That was a college team that would have medaled in the World Championships. They were the greatest NCAA team in any sport of all time.that year.

Its arguable if the Oregon teams of that era weren't the next best NCAA team ever.

George Atlas wrote:

That was a college team that would have medaled in the World Championships. They were the greatest NCAA team in any sport of all time.that year.

Its arguable if the Oregon teams of that era weren't the next best NCAA team ever.

Yes, they were. But you have to remember, these guys were much older than your typical college runner, and they had Olympians on their team. When I started my first and only college cross country season in 1980, I was the number one runner on my team at the start of the season. I then had a bad case of acute sciatica that plagued me in high school come back, I had to take a lot of time off, and my season was ruined. Before college, I thought I was a pretty good runner, and I did earn a four-year scholarship at the University of Utah. But those UTEP guys were like a Super Bowl team playing against the rest of us who were like a high school team. It was within the NCAA rules at the time, but it was outrageously unfair. So yes, that team would wipe out Colorado's current team, but it would be a farce. Here's something I wrote about my race with the Africans at the 1980 WAC Championships:

Crash And Burn

As I reach the four-mile mark, the leaders pass me going the other way. Today’s Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Cross Country Championship is on a large golf course in Idaho, and during the race we have to double back multiple times to cover the full 10,000 meters. The first runner I see go by in the opposite direction is 27-year-old Suleiman Nyambui of Tanzania, running for UTEP. Several months ago, Nyambui won a silver medal in the 5,000 meters at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, which were unfortunately boycotted by the United States. Not far behind Nyambui are several of his teammates, from Kenya. I think the second runner is 24-year-old Michael Musyoki, who recently finished second at the Commonwealth Games to the greatest of all Kenyan distance runners, multiple world record holder Henry Rono. Most of the other front runners in the race are also Africans.

As the lead Africans fly by in the opposite direction, I hear one of them say something to another in Swahili. The fact that they're talking during a fast race is intimidating. Before the race even started, I was in awe of the Africans. I couldn't help but stare at them on the starting line. They run as I only dream of running, their long, lean legs propelling them smoothly over rough ground, their ebony faces focused and tranquil during an all-out effort as if they were simply sitting and meditating under a blue African sky. I love watching them run. They are truly magnificent. But now, to be in a race with them, to even presume to be their competitor, suddenly seems ludicrous.

At the same time I admire the Africans, I resent them. Because of them and the American universities that recruit them, there are American runners sitting at home today without scholarships. While I certainly don't blame the African runners for jumping at their opportunities in America, I despise the universities that recruit them. Because of their participation, today's race is a farce. Not only are the Africans the most talented distance runners in the world, but they are often significantly older than the average American college runner. While the average American runner enters college at the age of 17 or 18, finishing four years of athletic eligibility by the age of 21 or 22, many of the African runners recruited by American universities begin their own collegiate running career in their early or even mid-twenties, prime years for a distance runner. The best example: in 1978, when he set all four of his world records, the great Henry Rono was 26 years old and on an athletic scholarship at Washington State University. Like Nyambui and Musyoki, he was literally a man among boys.

What makes me resent the Africans even more is that, while they are fed, sheltered, educated, and honed to a fine racing edge in American collegiate competition, when it comes time for the Olympic Games they will sweep the distance events and take their medals and glory home to Africa.

I actually ran with the Africans for the first mile. They were all around me when a timer called out “Four-thirty-nine, four-forty,” as I passed the one mile marker. But I was just a boy among men, because after that first mile I had to slow down, while they just kept going and pulled away. I don't know what got into me today. I know better than that.

I'm really dying now. And I'm so congested that I cough, hack and spit every hundred yards or so. Gradually, I'm passed by every one of my teammates. Glancing over my shoulder as I struggle through the last half mile, I see only a handful of runners behind me and realize I'll have to push even harder just to hold this pitiful position.

At last I stumble across the finish line, searching the crowd for Coach Jones and my teammates. I walk toward them through the fog of my fatigue. I am ashamed. I feel worthless. I'm on a four-year athletic scholarship, and today I finished last on my team. What's more, I ran a stupid race. If I were a dog, I'd be walking with my tail between my legs right now.

This is the last NCAA race I’ll ever run.

Shawn H, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but could you stop posting under the name "Shawn H"? It's freaking annoying hearing you weigh in on everything and then turn it into your own personal anecdote.

Great description of that era. I competed right after when the backlash against UTEP was heavy. Wisconsin beating them in 1982 has got to be one of the most significant moments in NCAA cross country history, Especially with mostly sophomores all from the home state.

Then right after college I ran the roads for a year when the top guys were Keith Brantly and John Sinclair. The next year the Kenyans showed up. Names you never heard of. They swept the top 10 spots at Cooper River Bridge in April and this was shocking and unprecedented in the American road race circuit.

It was shocking. They looked so different, like from another planet. And with groups of 5 to10 at every money race that you never heard of. They made the best American based Kenyans like Steve Kogo or William Musyioki look like hacks.

That was over 20 years ago

pretty police? wrote:

Shawn H, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but could you stop posting under the name "Shawn H"? It's freaking annoying hearing you weigh in on everything and then turn it into your own personal anecdote.

You'd rather I be like you and hide behind a ridiculous name on one thread and another ridiculous name on another, free to anonymously spout stupidity and talk about how annoyed I am at everyone and everything while contributing nothing to any conversation? Nah, that would be juvenile.

George Atlas wrote:

Great description of that era. I competed right after when the backlash against UTEP was heavy. Wisconsin beating them in 1982 has got to be one of the most significant moments in NCAA cross country history, Especially with mostly sophomores all from the home state.

Then right after college I ran the roads for a year when the top guys were Keith Brantly and John Sinclair. The next year the Kenyans showed up. Names you never heard of. They swept the top 10 spots at Cooper River Bridge in April and this was shocking and unprecedented in the American road race circuit.

It was shocking. They looked so different, like from another planet. And with groups of 5 to10 at every money race that you never heard of. They made the best American based Kenyans like Steve Kogo or William Musyioki look like hacks.

That was over 20 years ago

Yeah, once the bigger money came to road racing, that's where their best runners came. And they've totally dominated the roads ever since.

pretty police? wrote:

Shawn H, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but could you stop posting under the name "Shawn H"? It's freaking annoying hearing you weigh in on everything and then turn it into your own personal anecdote.

To add to this, I don't see a "Shawn H" in the 1980 results:

fact checker wrote:

pretty police? wrote:

Shawn H, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but could you stop posting under the name "Shawn H"? It's freaking annoying hearing you weigh in on everything and then turn it into your own personal anecdote.

To add to this, I don't see a "Shawn H" in the 1980 results:

http://trackandfieldnews.com/images/stories/NCAA_XC_PDFs/1980-men.pdf

Nope, I never ran in an NCAA Championship. Re-read my post. That was the 1980 WAC Cross Country Championship. Geez, another kid interrupting the adults with nonsense.

Polly p wrote:

3 guys running 27:30s, plus Sulemein Nyambui- scored 17 points plus 6th and 7th men under 30:00

I would say this doesn't even count. The rules back then are different than the rules now.

What was UTEP like in '75-76 I think Waigwa was 26 or 27?

That team set the Kenyan NR at 4x1 mile 16:14 x