http://www.runnersworld.com/high-school/for-foot-locker-champion-america-brings-opportunity-and-victory
HIGH SCHOOL
For Foot Locker Champion, America Brings Opportunity and Victory
Just 17 months after arriving in the U.S. from Eritrea, Weini Kelati has learned a new language, how to handle the media, and how to win.
By Marc Bloom
It all happened so fast for Weini Kelati, the 2015 Foot Locker high school cross-country champion, and not just on the nationals course in San Diego.
In July of 2014, Kelati, then 17, traveled from her homeland in Eritrea to compete in the IAAF World Junior Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon. Within days of placing eighth in the 3,000 meters in 9:12.32 on July 24, Kelati was living in a new home with her cousin and his family in Leesburg, Virginia. The cousin, Amselom Teklai—a runner himself and 1997 Foot Locker finalist for West Potomac High in Virginia—became her legal guardian. Kelati enrolled in Heritage High School as a sophomore.
Kelati prefers not to talk about the details of her family’s hardship in Eritrea. Soon after her Foot Locker triumph, Kelati told Running Times by phone that her mother, two brothers and a cousin live together in the Eritrean village of Tsada Christian, so small it’s not shown on most maps of the area.
Kelati said that she was alone in making her way from Eugene to Leesburg. She said she wanted to stay in America “for running, and for education.”
Eritrea is in frequent conflict with its Ethiopian neighbor to the south. The Sudanese civil war spills into Eritrea from the north. Christians in Eritrea say they are persecuted by the Muslim majority. Last June, according to widespread news reports, ISIS terrorists kidnapped and murdered dozens of Eritrean Christians who had escaped into Libya in an attempt to reach Europe.
“Weini has a better life here,” said Luchia Teklai, Amselom’s wife. “She can do what she wants. In Eritrea, the government is always waging war.”
Kelati, who turned 19 on December 1, completed an undefeated fall season when she won Foot Locker on December 12, running 17:10 on the hilly 5K Balboa Park course. She said of her new life, “I like everything in America because it’s really polite here.”
The Teklais have three children. Luchia said she was proud that Kelati was adapting well and already “Americanized.” So much so that at race headquarters in San Diego, Kelati was walking, texting, and taking pictures all at the same time, said Heritage track and cross-country coach Doug Gilbert.
Kelati spoke no English when she started at Heritage, and she experienced culture shock when media asked her for comment after winning races. Now, a little more than a year later, Kelati’s English is passable and she can respond in interviews. While receiving academic assistance, Kelati is a good student, Gilbert said. “She’s a perfectionist in everything she does,” he said.
Gilbert saw Kelati’s high standards as soon as she joined the team in the fall of 2014. Her arrival in Leesburg was a total surprise to him. When Gilbert found out about Kelati’s 9:12.32 3K, equivalent to a 9:50 3200 meters, and her 4:23.99 1500 meters run two years earlier when she was 15, Gilbert embarked on training her “as an elite American girl.” When he gave her 55 miles a week, with ample recovery days to be cautious, Kelati balked. She insisted on more, with no easy days.
Realizing that Kelati had come from a running culture that stressed long training build-ups and infrequent racing, Gilbert got Kelati up to 65 miles a week and held it there. She won her first six races and went on to place second in Virginia state 4A and fifth at the Foot Locker South Regional, qualifying for nationals. In San Diego in 2014, Kelati finished 20th in the field of 40.
At the 2015 Foot Locker final, Kelati broke away early and hit the mile in 5:13. Having won the Foot Locker South by 22 seconds in 16:43 for 5K, Kelati appeared to be heading for a decisive victory. However, after losing ground with leg pain, Kelati was reeled in. At the finish, she barely held off fast-closing Maryjeanne Gilbert of Illinois.
Two days before departing for nationals’ weekend, Kelati had woken up with swelling in her left shin and pain down her leg and into her foot. Once in San Diego, Gilbert had Kelati alternate soaking the leg in a hot tub with applications of ice. The day before the race, on the course run-through, Gilbert instructed Kelati to run about 12 minutes. She ran 40 minutes. On race day, she eschewed spikes for lightweight trainers. Kelati raced in pain, telling Gilbert, “It’s just one more day.” Once home in Virginia, Gilbert scheduled Kelati for a doctor’s visit.
Considering Kelati’s training load, her injury should not have been too surprising. In September, Kelati got up to 85 miles a week. She would do no less. “Right now,” said Gilbert, referring to the season in general, “her easy days are 60 minutes, just a hair over 6-minute mile pace, covering close to 10 miles.”
“Hammering,” said Gilbert. “That’s all she knows.”
Kelati’s approach may have something to do with her meeting the great American marathoner Meb Keflezighi, a native of Eritrea. “He told me to be strong and work hard,” Kelati said.
Gilbert, a P.E. teacher, said that none of the boys on his Heritage squad can keep up with Kelati. While Heritage has a few boys who can run under 18 minutes for 5K, they cannot maintain Kelati’s training intensity, said Gilbert. He described Kelati, who is five feet tall, as “lungs on legs.”
In one mid-season workout, Kelati did 4 x 2,000 meters, the first three at 6:50 and the last one in 6:30, with 90 seconds to 2 minutes recovery. In a race simulator workout before the Foot Locker South regional, she did a 2K, 400, 2K and 600, all with 60 to 90 seconds recovery. Kelati ran both 2Ks in 6:32, the 400 in 71 and the 600 in 1:45.
Heritage High is in Loudoun County, whose schools have no indoor track season. Once Kelati’s injury has healed, she’ll join with area runners for winter workouts organized by Marc and Joan Hunter, the Loudoun Valley High School coaches whose son, Drew, was this year’s boys Foot Locker champion. Kelati hopes to return to the 5,000 meters at the New Balance indoor nationals in March in New York. Last winter in the indoor 5,000, Kelati took seventh in 16:59.58.
“I think Weini can take a crack at sub-16,” Gilbert said. The high school girls’ indoor record is 16:11.85.
Because Kelati has already turned 19, she will not be eligible to compete for the high school team in her senior year, according to Virginia scholastic rules. As yet, her running plans for next season are uncertain. One good option for Kelati, said Gilbert, would be for her to continue to train in the Heritage program while competing in open competition, before going on to college. Gilbert said that Kelati has told him her dream—to one day become an American citizen and make the U.S. Olympic team.
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Received on Wed Dec 23 2015 - 00:18:41 EST