James Hogue 2.0: Sub-4 miler and Texas grad Brendan Hebert illegally runs Texas state HS xc meet, finishes 2nd.

Being a high school runner, I find this hilarious.

Yeah based on that interview, he answered one question, was called out and chose not to reply, which was "smart" on his behalf. Whole situation is really funny, couldn't imagine going to watch the state meet in my home state, knowing pretty much what every top runner looks like, then to see a really fast guy in 2nd place from a school that had 0 qualifiers.

I laughed out loud watching the video during the jersey pop, so funny yet so strange.

He’s certainly book smart get into Texas, Academic All American, and get into UCLA. There is something else going on spectrum wise, but have no clue. Personality disorder so self absorbed doesn’t consider any impact on others? in the interviews he’s seriously perplexed why anyone would even question his actions.

there are some BAD people that harm others with similar traits.

Not slow at all, very sharp and knew a lot about running. Very polite, I don't wish bad on him at all. This may not be the first thing like this in his life, but who knows.

Y'all accused Kevin of cheating and said I was in on it. Then the other guy suggested that the race needed to be run again. That is a strange solution. I felt bad for Kevin because he was a total victim and it slightly tainted the race. Rosie Ruiz again

I wish him nothing but the best and hope if he needs some kind of help, he gets it, and this can be something that is forgotten about and he can move on with his life.

But the fact that he knows a lot about running and is such an accomplished runner makes what he did just inexcusable. If a random hobby jogger jumped into the race and didn't know this was a closed event for high school kids who had qualified, I could ALMOST understand those actions. But this is a guy who has competed on a big stage and has produced some big time results...he should have known better, period.

And as I alluded to earlier, the fact that no one is stepping up and saying "hey this was just a dumb bet" or a teammate/coach/parent stepping up and helping him put out a statement addressing this, that concerns me.

Article even on it in mainstream media:

dallasnews.com

Former University of Texas athlete ran in UIL 6A state cross country competition

@dallasnews

ROUND ROCK — In a bit of an odd story out of Friday’s races, a former Lake Travis and University of Texas athlete ran in the Class 6A boys competition. UIL...

Link:www.dallasnews.com/high-school-sports/...

Article said he’s a college graduate, meaning he’s not even a college student anymore. Yet, a full grown man, decided to put on his high school uniform and sneak into race for high school boys. Then, pops his singlet as if he’s accomplished something great at the finish.

Nonsense. Saying that cheating was on the table is not the same as conclusively saying it was proven that he cheated. No one said you were in on it, but rather that your initial story lacked depth (but you've since fixed that). It was not suggested that the race ACTUALLY be re-run (as if that would ever happen), but in a PR way, Kevin would have looked better and less suspicious if he asked that the race be re-run. See the difference? Finally, Kevin may have been a victim, but he was not a total victim as much as others. According to Kevin himself, his coaches were upset and said that he didn't need pacing. How does that look to you? No need to respond - we're not going to see this the same way. You're unable to view this objectively because you know Kevin and family and can not conceive that possibilities (at least in absence of information) could include people cheating. I will give you props, however, for attempting to defend your friends.

As txRUNNERgirl says, this gives the impression that he was pacing, or trying to pace, or intending to pace, Keven Sanchez. Did this not raise a red flag with UIL? Did they even look into it? Of course it's not Sanchez' fault, but the illegal pacing element is there. Comments have been made here about Hebert taking the other high school runners out too fast, so they faded. This could also be construed as illegal aid to Sanchez. Is UIL just going to say nothing and hope this goes away? And Hebert may be an Academic All American but "I ran it, me and Kevin" hints that he did not major in English.

Kevin

So what's the verdict?

Did he do it as a prank/dare?

Was he there to pace the leader?

People need to back WAY off from any accusation that there was a conspiracy to pace the winner.

Watch the available video. If he was pacing, it would be just about the worst pacing job in running history.

Add the the comments from the winner and there’s just no case at this time. It only smears the accomplishment of the winner to suggest otherwise.

Simple solutions tend to be correct; An idiot did an idiotic thing.

And on the contrary, Kevin does not know that bandit at all.

Maybe it’s a different Kevin that he knew? That looks like Kevin Sanchez? Or a different Kevin Sanchez? Doesn’t sound like an uncommon name to me at all

I would love to see him get interviewed

Well Kevin has got to be thankful for him at least in some ways for pacing him

“I just did it for fun,” he said. “I ran it, me and Kevin. I knew me and Kevin from high school.”
“You know that’s not allowed, right?” we have answered. “You’re a college kid. You can’t enter a race, right?
“I don’t race anymore in college,” he said.

Nice logic, huh?

Clearly, he knows that he can’t run in that as a COLLEGE student

So he's unstable... what a nut case.

He should have gone all in and ran the girl’s race.