Keflezighi Stuns NCAA Cross-Country Field

UCLA’s Mebrahtom Keflezighi became the first individual NCAA men’s cross-country champion in school history Monday by winning in a course-record 28 minutes 54 seconds at Furman University in Greenville, S.C.

It was the fourth NCAA championship of 1997 for Keflezighi, a 22-year-old senior from Eritrea, who also won this year’s NCAA indoor track 5,000-meter title and outdoor 5,000- and 10,000-meter championships.

It was also something of a surprise for Keflezighi, who had not finished higher than ninth in three NCAA cross-country championship meets and was competing against a field that included three runners who had not lost in 1997--Adam Goucher of Colorado, Ryan Wilson of Arkansas and Kevin Sullivan of Michigan.

UCLA Coach Bob Larsen called it “a stunning type of race,” adding, “Meb beat two undefeated runners and a third who was virtually undefeated [Sullivan tied a Michigan teammate in a race earlier this season]. All of them were picked to finish ahead of Meb. One paper down here chose him for fifth.”

Goucher, in particular, had been a nemesis for Keflezighi, winning all five of their previous races, dating to high school.

But Goucher finished fourth Monday, placing behind runner-up Sullivan (29:01) and third-place Bernard Lagat of Washington State, who upset Keflezighi three weeks ago at the Pacific 10 meet.

Running on Furman’s rolling 10-kilometer (6.2 miles) course, Keflezighi and Lagat broke free from the pack at the three-mile mark, then Keflezighi began to pull away after four miles. Keflezighi ran the last 1 1/4 miles alone, eventually beating Sullivan by seven seconds and a 15-year-old course record by six seconds.

“The guy was awesome today,” Larsen said. “He was running against a stellar field, some very, very talented runners, and he dominated it. It was a beautiful moment when he pulled away from Lagat. It was his day.”

Keflezighi said the race was fun.

“It was just one of those days, with everybody running at a faster pace,” he said. “It kind of seemed shorter than usual. I made my move at the four-mile mark and for the last mile, I knew I had it.”

In previous NCAA cross-country championship meets, Keflezighi finished 15th in 1994, ninth in 1995 and 10th in 1996.

“Today, he ran like did in the 5,000 and 10,000,” Larsen said, referring to Keflezighi’s double at last June’s NCAA outdoor track and field championships. “It was a great way for him to win it, in his last [cross-country] race as a senior.”