http://bouldernews.com/bdc/cu_cross_country/article/0,1713,BDC_2450_1566274,00.html
Both had to race against older foreign runners By Michael Sandrock, For the Camera November 24, 2002 Alberto Salazar can relate to the situation Jorge Torres will face Monday at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., because the former world and American record holder has been there before. Torres, the Colorado senior, will be going for his first national title against older, more experienced Kenyan runners. He is in the best shape of his life, but it might not be enough to become the first U.S.-born NCAA winner since Colorado's Adam Goucher's took the 1998 title. However, even if he does not win on Monday, pushing himself to the limit against top foreign runners will make Torres a better runner in the long run, said Salazar. Salazar, now an executive with Nike, is speaking from experience, as he faced the same situation back in the late 1970s when he consistently raced multi-world record holder (and former Boulder resident) Henry Rono in Pac-10 and national races. Washington State and UTEP had coaches who consistently brought in top East African runners such as Rono, while Oregon, where Salazar went to school, focused on developing young American talent, much as CU head coach Mark Wetmore does now. "When I was running against Rono and several of the other Kenyans, Tanzanians and others, it was definitely tough to often feel like you were ready to win a championship but then have some new African runner appear who was 24 or 25 (years old)," said Salazar, who nevertheless won the NCAA cross country title in 1978. That is the case with Torres, as he is facing not only David Kimani, the 1999 NCAA cross country champion, but also defending champion Boaz Cheboiywo of Eastern Michigan, as well as Alistair Cragg, a South African attending Arkansas. Cheboiywo is looking to become the first back-to-back champion since Arkansas' Godfrey Siamusiye in 1995-96. Said Salazar. "I always focused on my own improvement, so even if I lost again, I was happy if I ran faster." And that, he says, furthered his career that culminated with a world best in the marathon at the New York City marathon as well as the American record for 10,000 meters on the track. "I think it definitely helped me," Salazar said. "By the time I was graduating I didn't have a fear of any runner in the world after having competed against a lot of the best since I was 18. As long as Jorge is looking at a career in running after college, he should be motivated that he is ultimately becoming better runner by having to run against the best." Torres, who said he was inspired by meeting Salazar at a Nike camp when he was a prep, has a goal of competing the 2003 World Track and Field Championships and the 2004 Olympics. But right now, Torres is focused only on winning on Monday. "This is my last run," he said before leaving Boulder for Terre Haute on Friday. "I am not going to be happy unless I come away with a national championship. I feel I have done the work and am ready to go and contend. The question is whether it is enough. I will answer that question come Monday. I feel fitter than last year, and the individual race is going to be something to watch for. It is going to be slugfest, five really good guys shooting for the national title. So it is going to be very interesting to see who is going to come out and be known as King of the NCAAs." Added Salazar, "It certainly will be hard if Jorge doesn't win an NCAA title despite being one of the fastest American collegians ever. I was lucky to win one! But I think he's going to have a career running professionally for many years after college, and that ultimately he will look back at the foreigners that he had to compete against as being part of that success." =========== "Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." Ralph Waldo Emerson _____________________________________________________________ Sign up for a 6mb FREE email from http://www.spl.at Join the buzz, chat with us! http://chat.spl.at _____________________________________________________________ Select your own custom email address for FREE! Get [EMAIL PROTECTED] w/No Ads, 6MB, POP & more! http://www.everyone.net/selectmail?campaign=tag
