Edward Cheserek to Arizona

Isn't Sambu gone after this year?

If Cheserek is smart he should stay away from Arizona or any of those Kenyan schools. If he wants to be accepted as an American citizen in the future best to forge his own path. Colorado would be awesome but Wetmore doesn't want a KIP.

A question mark in the thread title wouldn't have been as deceiving.

mathguy wrote:

Coach Li has a pretty good record with Kenyan athletes.

Who doesn't have a good record with Kenyan athletes???!

BAMBAM wrote:

Colorado would be awesome but Wetmore doesn't want a KIP.

Why not? Is he prejudiced?

J.R. wrote:

Why not? Is he prejudiced?

See: Mark Wetmore's stance on foreigners.

BAMBAM wrote:

J.R. wrote:

Why not? Is he prejudiced?

See: Mark Wetmore's stance on foreigners.

What is his stance on foreigners? Can you shed light?

Internet wrote:

What is his stance on foreigners? Can you shed light?

I am sure you could find more, but I'm too lazy to dig further.

Like a number of top NCAA programs, Colorado is really just an all-star team.

That home-grown talent card is disingenuously played; if you can't build a program with a Ritz or Torres or Hurysc you really shouldn't even be coaching.

And most any kid who goes to a school with that level of talent -- facing the adjustment to altitude to boot -- will of course appear to be coming along slowly, waiting for some others to graduate.

Cheserek publicly stated last season that his "dream" is to be an Oregon Duck, and I haven't heard anything about him changing his mind yet... He got his NCAA qualifying SAT score in October, and his grades are okay, so qualification shouldn't be a problem for a D1 school.

Stephen Sambu is done competing at Arizona. He only had one season of X-Country left going into this year, and he has no eligibility left in indoor or outdoor track and field.

Coach Li has obviously done well in Kenya, and even took a recruiting trip there to see Lawi Lalang before recruiting him. I imagine that the fact that Coach Li has athletes like Bernard Lagat and Lawi's older brother Boaz Lalang as volunteer assistant coaches at the UofA helps with the Kenyan recruiting too.

How old is Cheserek? I mean really?

jx10 wrote:

How old is Cheserek? I mean really?

He is 18. He will turn 19 no sooner than next April

dsrunner wrote:

Like a number of top NCAA programs, Colorado is really just an all-star team.

That home-grown talent card is disingenuously played; if you can't build a program with a Ritz or Torres or Hurysc you really shouldn't even be coaching.

And most any kid who goes to a school with that level of talent -- facing the adjustment to altitude to boot -- will of course appear to be coming along slowly, waiting for some others to graduate.

This is perhaps the dumbest post ever on here. Please tell us which "star" CU had this year to finish 3rd. Arizona had 2 stars. How did they fare this year?

Wetmore constant takes homegrown guys from Colorado and turns the great NCAA XC runners. They might be "stars" at the end of their career but the were mostly nobodies at the start.

Not a temp fan. wrote:

This is perhaps the dumbest post ever on here. Please tell us which "star" CU had this year to finish 3rd. Arizona had 2 stars. How did they fare this year?

Wetmore constant takes homegrown guys from Colorado and turns the great NCAA XC runners. They might be "stars" at the end of their career but the were mostly nobodies at the start.

Jake Huryz ran an 8:50 2 mile in high school.

tgh wrote:

Jake Huryz ran an 8:50 2 mile in high school.

Hugh Dowdy ran 9:39 in high school.

he ran a 4:15

J.R. wrote:

BAMBAM wrote:

Colorado would be awesome but Wetmore doesn't want a KIP.

Why not? Is he prejudiced?

No. He follows ethical precepts in recruiting American runners to the amateur American college running scene, unlike the unethical clowns at Arizona and their like who recruit foreign professional runners, overaged and of indeterminate age in any event to stack their team and destroy the amateur running scene in the US. Kudos to Wetmore and look for this issue to finally be tackled at the NCAA level as more devious coaches jump on the unethical recruiting bandwagon. These coaches should hang their heads in shame and be banned from the college coaching scene.

Well, perhaps not all competing for them this year at NCAA's... but their roster is stacked:

Huryz: 1:52/4:06/8:49

Moussa: 4:10/8:49/14:05

Bosshard: 9:11/15:12

Goodgder: 4:14/9:12

Dowdy: 4:15

Thoroux: 4:14/9:13/15:09

Stevens: 9:18

Murphy: 9:14

Kilgore: 14:50

Winter: 1:52/9:09

Pearson: 9:02 (would have broken 9 at NJ MOC but it was suspended with a lap to go)

I'd say all these guys were serious HS studs.

Why didn't you include Dowdy's 3,200m PR? They have talent on the roster, no one can dispute that, but compared to other teams like Oklahoma State, Oregon, Wisconsin, Stanford, etc., they have less proven talents coming out of high school on their roster. Huryz and Moussa were the only proven champions.

When people say that Wetmore develops kids, they are talking about their 5-10 runners, who more times than not are good in high school, but not necessarily state champions or All-American types.