Ben L Wrong wrote:
It's not difficult to find college track/XC rosters...lets see if he had a track scholarship after all.
Although it may seem something of a side issue, this is something I've wondered about from early on, shortly after I first read about his world-class age-group performances. Based on his own statements that he "went to college on a track scholarship," I looked for additional information about his college track career, but had a difficult time figuring out what college he allegedly attended on a track scholarship. One article, from 1993, says that he was a pre-med student at UC Berkeley, and that "he went on to earn a bachelor's degree in biology and a master's in public health from UCLA, bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from Cal State Northridge, and an MD from UC Davis."
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-05-24-vw-39157-story.htmlLater biographical summaries also cite his two journalism degrees from Cal State Northridge, but say nothing about his undergraduate studies at Berkeley or his bachelor's degree in biology.
http://www.insearchofaztlan.com/bio2.html"Dr. Frank Meza received B.A. and M.A. degrees in Journalism from California State University at Northridge (1972 and 1974), an M.P.H. degree in Epidemiology from U.C.L.A. (1974) and an M.D. degree from UC Davis (1978)."
I'm pretty sure that I've never seen anything about his track career at Berkeley, Cal State Northridge, or any other college. I did see that, at a masters track meet in 1981, Frank Meza ran a 4:39 1500m for second place in the 30-39 age group, which is not bad, but obviously nothing close to the level of a college student on a track scholarship.
In any event, I don't think that it's necessary to go down these rabbit holes. Regarding the legitimacy of his marathon performances, the evidence that I've seen thus far appears utterly damning, and I am skeptical about the veracity of anyone who claims otherwise. Although I understand that a general newspaper audience can't be expected to appreciate fully the evidence that's been assembled, I'm disappointed that the current article in the LA Times may suggest that Frank Meza or any of his close associates are genuinely baffled by the allegations against him.