Photo by: GoDucks.com
On The Road To History
11/18/16 | Cross Country, @GoDucksMoseley
Edward Cheserek's journey to the start line at cross country nationals, where he'll run Saturday for a place in the record books.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — Arguably the most accomplished distance runner in NCAA history cleared security at Portland International Airport without being recognized Wednesday, and a woman just behind Edward Cheserek in line fell into a fit of laughter.
"Mr. Cheserek, have a nice day," a security guard said, handing Edward Cheserek his ID and his boarding pass for a trip to Indiana, where the NCAA cross country championships will be contested Saturday.
The woman further back in line knew what the security guard didn't. The slight, unassuming young man in the puffy black jacket was on his way to take a shot at his 16th career individual national championship — which would be an NCAA record for a distance runner. On Saturday at LaVern Gibson Championship Course, on the campus of Indiana State, Cheserek will race for an unprecedented fourth NCAA cross country title, after last year becoming the first man ever to win three straight.
The 10-kilometer men's race goes off at 9 a.m. PT, at which point Cheserek's fate will be in his own hands, and those of UO associate head track and field coach Andy Powell, who will help marshal him around the course. But the journey to the start line began Wednesday morning, and illustrated the support Cheserek has had on his way to history, and also his affection for the team that he says repeatedly in interviews is his primary source of motivation.
A bus carrying Cheserek and his teammates pulled away from Hayward Field on Wednesday at 9:17 a.m. Before boarding, each runner grabbed a boxed meal. Inside was a sandwich, they were informed by UO women's coach Maurica Powell, whose team will makes its 10th straight appearance at nationals.
Cheserek, who is as playful with his team as he is stoic in public, affected a dismayed tone: "I really wanted breakfast, so bad …" Everyone on the bus cracked up.
A few years ago, when Cheserek burst on the scene by winning four NCAA titles as a freshman, "breakfast" would have meant fast food. An improved diet is just one way he's demonstrated a willingness not to coast by on talent, but to take advantage of all the resources Oregon provides to help him thrive.
Among those on the staff closest to Cheserek is athletic trainer Grant Wilson. During the season they'll meet multiple times a day, so Wilson can address the inevitable aches and pains that arise.
Wilson said Cheserek has been eager to accept coaching of his lifestyle as well as his running. With the help of Wilson and others, Cheserek has improved his sleeping habits, and his diet; after the Ducks won the 2015 NCAA Indoor title, sprinter Marcus Chambers loudly proclaimed that he couldn't wait to celebrate with some chocolate chip cookies from a local bakery. Chambers was astounded to hear that Cheserek had never tried them, because of his training regimen.
"I think he's learned that all these things are here to make him better," Wilson said. "So he's definitely taken advantage of all those things, and taken personal accountability — if I want to be great, I have to do the right things for my body."
Wilson has helped keep Cheserek healthy through what's been an increasingly aggressive training regimen implemented by Powell. Coming out of high school, Cheserek averaged perhaps 30 miles a week outside of competition. Powell more than doubled that Cheserek's freshman year, balancing the risk of injury with the need for proper training.
"Each year we add a little bit more," Powell said. "He's added more mileage, his training runs have gotten faster, his workouts certainly have gotten better. In running you try to get a little better each year, and not do exactly the same thing each year, and that's what he's done."
It was during his freshman year that Cheserek made a couple of emphatic statements to the NCAA. At cross country nationals, he outkicked Kennedy Kithuka of Texas Tech to win on the same course where the Ducks will race Saturday. Then, at NCAA Indoors, Cheserek beat the collegiate record-holder at 5,000 meters, Lawi Lalang of Arizona, to win that event. There was no denying his potential at that point.
"I think as soon as that happened, we realized," Powell said.
But perhaps Cheserek's most impressive feat of all occurred two years later, at the 2016 NCAA Indoor championships. About a half-hour after winning the 5,000 again, Cheserek agreed to run a mile on the distance-medley relay — and did so in an astounding 3:52.84, giving the Ducks a victory.
With media, Cheserek constantly deflects questions about himself and recasts them about the team. His relay performance that day in Birmingham, Ala., proved that his affection for his teammates was more than just lip service.
"When you're running for something greater than yourself, I think that's when you can do extraordinary things," Powell said. "Nothing was more extraordinary than that."
When Cheserek arrived at Oregon, UO distance stalwarts such as Mac Fleet, Parker Stinson and Trevor Dunbar welcomed him into the program, and guided him through his transition to college. He had the benefit of training with Eric Jenkins, the two pushing each other in training and competition. As a sophomore, Cheserek spent the holidays with the family of teammate Bryan Fernandez.
In all sorts of ways, the Oregon team was there when Cheserek needed them. When he races, he returns the favor.
"That's a big thing for him, not to be overshadowing the group," said Wilson, the athletic trainer. "He wants to be part of the group, not standing out."
That requires holding his own in the usual team banter, of which Cheserek is an avid participant. During Wednesday's flight east, Maurica Powell fell asleep with her mouth hanging open; Cheserek gleefully snapped a photo, giggling as he showed it to her husband.
The treatment goes both ways. Cheserek was scrolling through Instagram, saw a photo that caught his eye and reached out his phone to show a teammate. "Oh, you liked that one?" said senior Jake Leingang, double-clicking the image to "like" it, to Cheserek's chagrin.
"If he sees people uptight, he'll crack a joke," Wilson said. "He definitely likes to keep the mood low-key."
Cliff Stenquist does contract work for the Ducks as a massage therapist. Typically when he works on Cheserek, the runner is on his phone with someone back home in Kenya. Still, Cheserek's easygoing demeanor is apparent.
"A lot of it is in Swahili, so you don't know what's being said," said Stenquist, whose massage table was loaded onto a bus Thursday by, of all people, Cheserek. "But there's just a playfulness in his voice, and laughing, and chuckling."
Powell says that attitude will benefit Cheserek down the road.
"You gotta stay loose," the coach said. "If you're going to have a career in running and you're going to be good at it, you need to be loose and you need to be excited about it. You can't be scared of racing and you can't be nervous — which a lot of people are."
Edward Cheserek isn't like a lot of people. He has the chance Saturday to do something nobody has ever done before.
History is 10,000 meters away.
"Mr. Cheserek, have a nice day," a security guard said, handing Edward Cheserek his ID and his boarding pass for a trip to Indiana, where the NCAA cross country championships will be contested Saturday.
The woman further back in line knew what the security guard didn't. The slight, unassuming young man in the puffy black jacket was on his way to take a shot at his 16th career individual national championship — which would be an NCAA record for a distance runner. On Saturday at LaVern Gibson Championship Course, on the campus of Indiana State, Cheserek will race for an unprecedented fourth NCAA cross country title, after last year becoming the first man ever to win three straight.
The 10-kilometer men's race goes off at 9 a.m. PT, at which point Cheserek's fate will be in his own hands, and those of UO associate head track and field coach Andy Powell, who will help marshal him around the course. But the journey to the start line began Wednesday morning, and illustrated the support Cheserek has had on his way to history, and also his affection for the team that he says repeatedly in interviews is his primary source of motivation.
A bus carrying Cheserek and his teammates pulled away from Hayward Field on Wednesday at 9:17 a.m. Before boarding, each runner grabbed a boxed meal. Inside was a sandwich, they were informed by UO women's coach Maurica Powell, whose team will makes its 10th straight appearance at nationals.
Cheserek, who is as playful with his team as he is stoic in public, affected a dismayed tone: "I really wanted breakfast, so bad …" Everyone on the bus cracked up.
A few years ago, when Cheserek burst on the scene by winning four NCAA titles as a freshman, "breakfast" would have meant fast food. An improved diet is just one way he's demonstrated a willingness not to coast by on talent, but to take advantage of all the resources Oregon provides to help him thrive.
Among those on the staff closest to Cheserek is athletic trainer Grant Wilson. During the season they'll meet multiple times a day, so Wilson can address the inevitable aches and pains that arise.
Wilson said Cheserek has been eager to accept coaching of his lifestyle as well as his running. With the help of Wilson and others, Cheserek has improved his sleeping habits, and his diet; after the Ducks won the 2015 NCAA Indoor title, sprinter Marcus Chambers loudly proclaimed that he couldn't wait to celebrate with some chocolate chip cookies from a local bakery. Chambers was astounded to hear that Cheserek had never tried them, because of his training regimen.
"I think he's learned that all these things are here to make him better," Wilson said. "So he's definitely taken advantage of all those things, and taken personal accountability — if I want to be great, I have to do the right things for my body."
Wilson has helped keep Cheserek healthy through what's been an increasingly aggressive training regimen implemented by Powell. Coming out of high school, Cheserek averaged perhaps 30 miles a week outside of competition. Powell more than doubled that Cheserek's freshman year, balancing the risk of injury with the need for proper training.
"Each year we add a little bit more," Powell said. "He's added more mileage, his training runs have gotten faster, his workouts certainly have gotten better. In running you try to get a little better each year, and not do exactly the same thing each year, and that's what he's done."
It was during his freshman year that Cheserek made a couple of emphatic statements to the NCAA. At cross country nationals, he outkicked Kennedy Kithuka of Texas Tech to win on the same course where the Ducks will race Saturday. Then, at NCAA Indoors, Cheserek beat the collegiate record-holder at 5,000 meters, Lawi Lalang of Arizona, to win that event. There was no denying his potential at that point.
"I think as soon as that happened, we realized," Powell said.
But perhaps Cheserek's most impressive feat of all occurred two years later, at the 2016 NCAA Indoor championships. About a half-hour after winning the 5,000 again, Cheserek agreed to run a mile on the distance-medley relay — and did so in an astounding 3:52.84, giving the Ducks a victory.
With media, Cheserek constantly deflects questions about himself and recasts them about the team. His relay performance that day in Birmingham, Ala., proved that his affection for his teammates was more than just lip service.
"When you're running for something greater than yourself, I think that's when you can do extraordinary things," Powell said. "Nothing was more extraordinary than that."
When Cheserek arrived at Oregon, UO distance stalwarts such as Mac Fleet, Parker Stinson and Trevor Dunbar welcomed him into the program, and guided him through his transition to college. He had the benefit of training with Eric Jenkins, the two pushing each other in training and competition. As a sophomore, Cheserek spent the holidays with the family of teammate Bryan Fernandez.
In all sorts of ways, the Oregon team was there when Cheserek needed them. When he races, he returns the favor.
"That's a big thing for him, not to be overshadowing the group," said Wilson, the athletic trainer. "He wants to be part of the group, not standing out."
That requires holding his own in the usual team banter, of which Cheserek is an avid participant. During Wednesday's flight east, Maurica Powell fell asleep with her mouth hanging open; Cheserek gleefully snapped a photo, giggling as he showed it to her husband.
The treatment goes both ways. Cheserek was scrolling through Instagram, saw a photo that caught his eye and reached out his phone to show a teammate. "Oh, you liked that one?" said senior Jake Leingang, double-clicking the image to "like" it, to Cheserek's chagrin.
"If he sees people uptight, he'll crack a joke," Wilson said. "He definitely likes to keep the mood low-key."
Cliff Stenquist does contract work for the Ducks as a massage therapist. Typically when he works on Cheserek, the runner is on his phone with someone back home in Kenya. Still, Cheserek's easygoing demeanor is apparent.
"A lot of it is in Swahili, so you don't know what's being said," said Stenquist, whose massage table was loaded onto a bus Thursday by, of all people, Cheserek. "But there's just a playfulness in his voice, and laughing, and chuckling."
Powell says that attitude will benefit Cheserek down the road.
"You gotta stay loose," the coach said. "If you're going to have a career in running and you're going to be good at it, you need to be loose and you need to be excited about it. You can't be scared of racing and you can't be nervous — which a lot of people are."
Edward Cheserek isn't like a lot of people. He has the chance Saturday to do something nobody has ever done before.
History is 10,000 meters away.
Players Mentioned
Aaliyah McCormick | NCAA 100M Hurdles National Champion
Thursday, June 19
Matti Erickson | NCAA 800M Runner Up
Saturday, June 14
Hayward Field History
Thursday, June 12
2024-25 Oregon Track & Field Intro Video
Thursday, June 12
