Over the weekend, Edward Cheserek did something that Steve Prefontaine, Alberto Salazar and Galen Rupp were all unable to accomplish: The Kenyan-born distance runner out of St. Benedict Prep in Newark, N.J., became the first freshman in Oregon history to be crowned NCAA cross country champion.
Cheserek and Texas Tech senior Kennedy Kithuka separated themselves from the rest of the field by the halfway point of the 10,000-meter race before Kithuka quickly built a 10-second lead. Cheserek surged to catch Kithuka with less than 2,000 meters left and went on to beat the Red Raider by 18 seconds, navigating the course in a time of 29 minutes and 41 seconds. On Monday afternoon, Cheserek talked to reporters about the historic day.
On the sub-30 degree weather, the wind and how it affected his race strategy:
“The conditions was really, really bad. I try not to pass everyone and stay in front until maybe 5k. My strategy was: I run next to somebody so they can prevent the wind just a little bit for 5k — and then maybe the last 5k I can run for myself. And that’s what I did. It was really tough. Muddy and cold. I was freezing really, really bad.”
On Texas Tech’s Kithuka pulling away at 5k:
“(The wind) was really difficult. It was really tough. I can’t even tell (you). I was just running next to Kithuka, behind him all the time. And then he made his move and I was like ‘Okay, I’m done. This guy is gone, I’m done.’”
On his mindset at that point:
“I was just going for second. When the wind was at my back, I saw my coach (and the Oregon guys) running on the side and I was like, ‘Okay, I gotta go.’ So I tried to chase him back.”
On the emotions of running the final straightaway knowing he had won:
“I was really, really, really good. I was like, today, I’m going to go for this national championship. I was really happy for it.”
On what his goal was going into the race:
“Before the race I was like, ‘I’m going to go top five.’ That’s what everyone expected me to do. Coach was like, ‘Just focus on top five.’ And that was what I was aiming for.”
On the advice Oregon distance legend Alberto Salazar gave the team prior to the NCAA championships:
“He said just run smart and be strong. Don’t give up when somebody passes you or someone tries to take the race crazy. Run with somebody and then stay behind somebody. Don’t go ahead of somebody.”
On training mostly by himself during high school compared to training with a team in college:
“It was really hard when I was in high school, but when I came here it was easy. When I was in high school, I was running 50 miles a week for myself, but it was really hard. When I came here, I was just running like 80+ but it was really comfortable.”
On possibly defending the NCAA championship next year:
“Maybe next year I’ll try to see if I can defend or maybe there will be someone else. You never know. If I stay healthy next year, maybe I’ll defend it.”
Follow Chris Mosch on Twitter @chris_mosch