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Arizona University’s Robert Cheseret, 23, is running his last year of eligibility in cross country. In the past two years, he has placed in the top 10 as an individual (ninth in 2004 and tenth in 2005). This year Cheseret is again a contender for the individual title. At this year’s NCAA Cross Country Championships, he looks to wrap up a phenomenal collegiate career. Cheseret won the 5K in 2004 and the 10K in 2005 at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Cheseret hails from Kapsabet, Kenya.
MensRacing.com: I see that you placed second at Pac-10’s a couple weeks ago. How did the race unfold?
Robert Cheseret:
The race went out in a pretty good pace for the first 5K, then after that, [Galen] Rupp made a little move, and we stayed with him. After 6K, he made another big move and I was able to go with him until 1K to go when he opened a bit on me and we kept the same distance to the finish.
MR: Congratulations on the berth to the NCAA meet. Your team has to be pretty excited. How do you feel you guys can do at the NCAA meet?
RC:
Thanks very much. The team is very excited and looking forward to running at Nationals as a team. Our goal is to place in top 10 and I think we are capable of doing it.
MR: The University of Texas-El Paso did not get an at-large berth. That makes things a lot more wide open as a team race and individually. Do you think it's a fair system where a team like UTEP that was a contender for the title race can be left at home?
RC:
UTEP has a lot of talent and I was expecting them to make it to the nationals at-larger. They ran well at the beginning of the season and at Chile Pepper, but it is just unfortunate.
MR: Are you happy with your performance?
RC:
I have been making improvements since my first race in Roy Griak. At the conference meet, I was expecting to do better but I ended up second. So far I am happy with the progress I am making, but I still want to do better, I thought by Nationals I would be in my top shape of the season and able to put myself in a position for the national title.
MR:
The competition you’ve faced this year has been pretty fierce. Every year it seems the NCAA is getting deeper with its talent levels. What are your thoughts on that?
RC:
For sure every year the NCAA competition is becoming more and more competitive; new guys are coming in with a lot of talent.
MR: You are obviously one of the favorites for the title. In fact, every year you have been! What’s it like preparing every season knowing that you have a shot at the individual title and how do you channel that back to the team?
RC:
It is a good approach in preparations knowing that you are one of the contenders for the National title. It makes you work hard, be optimistic, and have some confidence.
MR: How do you personally handle and prepare for back-to-back 10Ks in cross country and do two 10Ks within eight days wear on your legs at all?
RC:
The preparation basically starts as the season progresses. During the course of the season you do training that corresponds to the 10K race, and sometimes do weekly hard and long workouts. The last week of the nationals you do some ice-baths, light training, and get some rest.
MR: Do you think it would be beneficial if they made regionals and nationals two weeks apart instead of eight days?
RC:
I think getting one more week of rest and training would be beneficial for your recovery, and keep your legs rested, but it wouldn’t make a whole lot of a difference.
MR: With track season cutting into summer cross country conditioning and the early part of the season, what do you do training-wise to make sure that you don’t lose any sharpness?
RC:
For the first part of the summer I take an active break, this includes doing some trails and light weights. Then get back to training, doing long runs. Later in the summer I do hill work and tempo runs.
MR: This being your last season of cross-country, have you changed your training at all (or taken any chances) to go out with your best performance yet?
RC: I haven’t changed my training, but mentally, I am more confident. I have some experience and I look forward to finishing strong.
MR: There has been some talk about switching the course away from Terre Haute and giving athletes the opportunity to go to a different place every year. Do you feel the sport could benefit from a set location, and if so, is Terre Haute a good place to build that location around?
RC:
For my point of view, I think switching yearly to different locations, and different cross country courses would be beneficial to all the athletes. Sticking to one location would be advantageous to some athletes, but not to all. Weather is one factor and the most important one, for instance Terre Haute is wet and cold and not all athletes are training under these conditions and are not used to it.
MR: There have always been international athletes in NCAA track and cross country, but lately that contingent has been very strong. At this past summers NCAA Track and Field National Championships, the top three in the 1500 and the 10,000 were international, and in the 5000, six of the top eight were international. How has that been for you to get to compete against some of the best from multiple nationalities?
RC: [It has been] a good experience. I think it is advantageous in preparations and a confidence-builder to run against people from different parts of the world.
MR: This past year at the NCAA Track and Field Outdoor National Championships, why did you choose not to defend your title in the 10K?
RC: I chose not to defend my 10K title from [the previous year] and try the 1500 meters instead, based on my training and my performance at the conference meet.
MR: So this is it for you after cross country?
RC: This is my last NCAA eligibility.
MR: What are you plans once the season is over? Will you run indoors? Do you plan to stay in Arizona and stay with Coach Li?
RC: I don’t have any eligibility left after this cross-country. So, I am planning on running professionally, training with Coach Li, and my brother [Bernard Lagat] here in Tucson, Arizona.
MR: Being here for so long, and your brother just switching to American Citizenship, have you considered applying for American citizenship or are you going to run for your native Kenya?
RC: I am going to be running for Kenya. I haven’t considered applying for American citizenship.
MR: What are your long-term plans? With your strength, you appear to have marathon potential. Is that something you’ve considered or are you going to stay with the 5K and 10K?
RC: The plan is to stick to 5K and 10K at the moment, but in future I might consider trying the marathon and see how it goes.
Interview conducted November 13, 2006, and posted November 17, 2006.
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