Cheserek Wins!!!!!!!!!!

Bob Kennedy first ran sub 13 minutes in 1996 and by then 7 others had already accomplished the feat with Said Aouita being the first in 1987.

Hopefully Edward Cheserek join that club while a collegian since he and Bob Kennedy are the only two Freshman teenagers to ever win a NCAA X Country title! By then Edward should be an American citizen.

Wow smart runner is a racist g@y

I thought Kenyas dominate distance running because they grow up in such difficult conditions, run barefoot, eat ugali and are suffer genital mutilation.

Cheserek doesnt seem to fit the NPR model?

"Quite a few times. Lawi LaLang and Bob Kennedy come to mind immediately."

----------

Totally wrong. The only one to do this before Cheserek was the great Bob Kennedy.

Read more:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=5500808&page=0#ixzz2lcbPDF3F

Lawi Lalang won an individual track title before he won his cross country title and then there was one other Freshman but he was 21 years old; however, Bob Kennedy and Edward Cheserek are the only two runners who won their X Country title in their very first championship race and while being a teenager!

Second place wrote:

Rono, Lindgren and Prefontaine won 3 out of 4 years. Difficult to tell if they redshirted the odd year or got beat. There was a time when freshman were not allowed to compete in varsity sports. Ches puts himself in line to be the first to do the quad.

It's not difficult to tell; freshman weren't allowed to compete in Lindgren's day so he won 3 of 3; Pre finished 3rd his freshman year, 1st his other three seasons and redshirted after the Olympics; Rono finished first every year except when it was cold and icy when he finished at the back of the race.

I think Kithuka overestimated his speed on a very cold, windy day with a sloppy course. You just can't expect to run fast in those conditions. Cheserek said he thought Kithuka tightened-up, and that sounds/looked true to me.

Ches was smart to run in a long sleeve shirt. He hung in there and didn't give up. Kithuka definitely would have been passed by Kolorev if the race was 50 meters longer.

Futsum Z. in 4th place closed the fastest in the final 2k, running about 5:56, while Kituka was 6:23!

Anyone think the teenager will dominate NCAA X Country for the next 3 years, how fast will Kithuka and Lalang run outdoors this year and does Cheserek have a chance at a outdoor title in 2014?

Hardloper wrote:

Critical Thinking wrote:

I'll still maintain that if Cheserek were, say, Jamal Washington from Alabama, no one would have a problem.

But what if he were Joseph Kipchirkorirkemboilagat, the Alabama-born kid of Kenyan decent?

you mean like Cerake Geberkidane from Denver East. Born and raised in Denver and has the grades to be IVY league?

VIPAM wrote:

Lawi Lalang won an individual track title before he won his cross country title and then there was one other Freshman but he was 21 years old; however, Bob Kennedy and Edward Cheserek are the only two runners who won their X Country title in their very first championship race and while being a teenager!

OK, Lawi was still a freshman. This is just moving the goalposts.

My point is Bob Kennedy and Edward Cheserek are the only two that won it as a TEENAGER AND their VERY FIRST NCAA Championship race.

sub

5000m........13:30

10000m.......28:20

for Edward Cheserek outdoors his Freshman year would be outstanding and very possible

Stuff happens. It is easy to pencil him in for a dozen titles but he might not even win XC again. Look at Kennedy. He won in 88 but then he had to redshirt a year to come back and win a 2nd time. He ran well in 89 and 90 but he got beat by better runners. In 88 things just happened to break his way. In 89 and 90 they didn't.If you would have told me the German Ferandez would only win 1 NCAA title, I would have been shocked. Stuff happens.Personally I hope he cranks out 12+ titles. Having superstars is good for the sport

VIPAM wrote:

Edward Cheserek dominated his first NCAA Championship race and the overwhelming favorite Kennedy Kithuka. To overcome a 10 second lead, blow by Kithuka, and then win by 19 seconds speaks volumes of Edward's performance. How good was it?

I was actually cheering for Edward, Futsum, and Jim Rosa and glad to see all three finish in the top 5. CONGRATS!

Just how good is Edward? Can he do the same indoors and outdoors? How many NCAA titles will this young man win in his collegiate career?

Cheserek is definitely older than 19. I'd say he should be a junior right now

Why do you think he's "definitely" older than 19? Do you have any reason at all?

If he runs 13:2X this year he'll be at the same level as Fernandez and Derrick were as freshmen, but a year older. What about this is unbelievable to you?

Mike Honcho wrote:

Congrats...another Kenyan. And we wonder why the sport has plummeted so badly in America. You don't see Americans going to Kenya and waving their golf clubs around like fools. People ask where has track gone in America? Blame college coaches for giving "20" year old Kenyan freshman scholarships when there are decent high schoolers who have worked here in the states to earn it just as much. Cheresek is great, I'll give him that but a freshman? C'mon he's going off a midwifes say of how old he is and when he was born.

***************************************************

This is coming from someone who has posted extensively about African age cheating. Do a search and you will see that I have looked at the issue from a number of angles. With that said, I saw Cheserek when he was 16, his physical appearance and demeanor seemed very much like a 16 year old. Keep in mind that Cheserek didn't just appear from out of nowhere to compete in Youth and Junior world competitions. That is what age cheating is usually about, backdating your age to win international sub-senior competitions and get a pro contract. In Cheserek's case, he competed in Kenyan grade school and age group competitions, he came from an orphanage and has a documented DOB.

I don't think anyone expected him to win NCAA XC, but I was expecting top-3. Go back and look at his conference and regional races, he spent half the race looking for his teammates and it looked like a tempo run. In fact, last year a lot of people thought he was capable breaking Chapa's 10K HSR off of middle distance training. If you talk to the folks from NJ, they will tell you Cheserek always had incredible endurance, his 1:49 800m in H.S. was actually more of a surprise. From memory, he did a training run with the Rosa's over the summer when he first came to the U.S., and as a sophomore he held his own. In high school, he trained like a H.S. athlete and mostly for middle distances and at Oregon he is getting a chance to train and compete at distances that show his true talent.

So if Cheserek's has a documented birth certificate then 1994 is his correct birth year, yes age cheating does goes on in Kenyan but not every athlete/coach is guilty! Cheserek is indeed a 19 year old who is being categorized with athletes (small percentage out of all the athletes) who may have age cheated.

Congrats to the teenager Edward Cheserek and hopefully like a poster said earlier, "he wins 12+ titles" or close to it.

I recall Cheserek saying when he was a prep that he'd run incredible distances to and from home to Kenyan school each semester.

[/quote]

I'll still maintain that if Cheserek were, say, Jamal Washington from Alabama, no one would have a problem.[/quote]

Hardly...Jamal is an Arabic name. They would have another reason to hate him.