Athlete Feature: Kip Kangogo

By Bob Ramsak

When Brigham Young sophomore Kip Kangogo out-kicked defending national champion Boaz Cheboiywo at September's Griak Invitational, the unheralded Kenyan not only thrust himself to the forefront of the NCAA cross country scene, but with equal speed propelled himself into the role of legitimate contender for the NCAA title.

While the newcomer's comfortable eight-second win in St. Paul caused many heads to shake in disbelief, the congenial Kangogo wasn't too surprised.

"No, I'm not surprised," he says matter-of-factly, "because I was in good shape, I've trained a lot, and I was ready for anything."

Fast-forward two months where his definition of "ready for anything" will be tested at Monday's NCAA Cross Country Championship in Terre Haute, Indiana, just nine days after a hamstring injury slowed him to a hobble at the Mountain Regional Championship in Albuquerque.

"I went into the race with my hamstring bothering me -- I was trying to run with it," Kangogo explains, after running a strong first half before succumbing to the pain in the latter stages. "I bounced back and tried to finish the race, but I could not manage." He pressed on to finish the 10-kilometer course a distant 28th in 30:55. He earned his ticket to nationals the hard way, with BYU's At-Large selection.

"It was basically a slight hamstring strain," says BYU coach Ed Eyestone, adding that the injury stemmed not from training, but from some classroom activity. "It came from a P.E. class on Thursday. They were doing some hurdling drills that Kip wasn't familiar with -- the kind of things that give coaches gray hair." Obviously concerned, Eyestone is nonetheless cautiously optimistic about his runner's shape for Monday's race. "The prognosis is pretty good," he says, noting that in the regional race, "he looked good through the first 5k, but had to pretty much shut it down at the end."

The 23-year-old quietly began his march toward Terre Haute by opening his season with a 19:52 clocking at the four-mile BYU Autumn classic on September 14, two weeks before his victory over a stunned Cheboiywo.

"When I try to flashback on that (Griak Invite) race, I was really feeling strong," Kangogo remembers. "When I got to 600 meters left, and I kicked, he (Cheboiywo) tried to respond, but I think my kick was so hard that he could not keep up. He entered the race expecting a top-three finish, but the vocal crowd upped his expectations when he made his move to catch the front-running defending champion. "I realized that I could still catch Boaz. Because everyone was cheering for me, it seemed that everyone wanted me to beat him. So I got the morale, and I was gaining on him, and realizing that I was gaining on him, then I worked towards beating him." His 23:38 clocking broke the course record, and he was no longer the country's best-kept secret.

Three weeks later came a narrow win over Stanford's Grant Robison at the Pre-Nationals race in Terre Haute.

"That was really a close race. I won by 0.2 seconds -- which was too close," he says of his 23:45.9 run. "I did not want to go and run from the front, so I decided to run with them. They were really strong." He made his move two kilometers from the finish, and, with no one responding, began to ease up. "I opened a few yards (lead) -- 20 yards I think it was -- and I tried to relax. And then Robison came -- he was really, really strong, especially toward the finish."

His unbeaten streak continued with a comfortable 21-second win at the Mountain West Conference meet, in spite of a lingering hip problem. "I think [the hip injury is] from overuse or something like that, because when I started doing my 800 and mile repeats, it started bothering me. Then I had to ease my training."

With the hip problem behind him, the hamstring strain emerged, potentially serious enough to bring his meteoric rise to a screeching, even painful, halt.

"When I was healing my hip, unfortunately was when I was running the regionals and I hurt my hamstring. It's not good (timing)," he says, mixing a smile with a sigh of resignation.

While many fellow Kenyans have shown similar out-of-nowhere leaps into competitive circles, Kangogo's emergence is particularly striking. Born July 20, 1979, in the Rift Valley town of Kabarnet in eastern Kenya (the hometown of distance great Paul Tergat, he proudly proclaims), Kangogo didn't approach running seriously until just two years ago. "Before, I was not running seriously, just running for the love of running, to have fun because my friends were doing it," he says. "But in 2001, I saw that I was improving on the track, so I started to focus on it."

He began as a 1,500-meter runner, finishing his first race in four minutes even. "After a few months I ran 3:57, and after a few months again I ran 3:53. That's when I was impressed," he says.

Urged by his brother-in-law, he began to look into colleges in the United States and Canada. "He was a student in Maryland and he knows the importance of education abroad," Kangogo recalls. A friend lured him to Alberta's Lethbridge Community College in the fall of 2001. In early June he lowered his 1,500 PR to 3:42.36 at the Harry Jerome Classic, and, three weeks later, competing for the Kodiak Track Club, finished second at the Canadian National Championships in 3:46.77. U.S. colleges began to take notice, but BYU got the inside edge early on. Just over a year ago, Lethbridge coach Bertil Johansson, a BYU alum, told Eyestone about the raw but talented Kangogo. The quick 1,500 meter times, a summer visit to BYU's picturesque setting, and, perhaps, his recent conversion to the Church of Latter Day Saints, eventually brought Kangogo to the mountains of Provo.

While he misses his home, he eases his homesickness by regularly staying in touch with his parents, friends and five brothers and sisters in Kabarnet. His 16-year-old brother, Edmund, is a 1:50 half miler, and may be following him to a U.S. program. "I think he's going to be better than me," Kangogo says, laughing. Besides running and his studies, he balances his time by going out with friends, listening to country music, and hiking the mountains near Provo.

He plans on running some 5,000s on the track, but doesn't want to stray too far from the metric mile. "I love the 1,500 meters. After running 3:42, I realize that's a good race for me."

Eyestone, himself a 5,000 and 10,000 NCAA champion for BYU, will try to encourage his star pupil to try the longer distances. "You've got to think that with the success he's having in cross country that the 5,000 is a good event for him. Of course, we'll do what's best for him and his long term development."

After an easy week, consisting mainly of massage treatments, Kangogo is upbeat about his first chance at an NCAA crown, in spite of the slight physical setback.

"I'm not worried about anything, but [the hamstring strain] came at a time when I wanted to do my best," he says. "The season was really good for me. If everything goes well, I'll run my best race."

As other favorites have indicated in recent weeks, Kangogo too expects the final to be extremely competitive.

"The race is going to be very interesting to watch. Especially having Torres, Boaz and Kimani. Everyone is in great shape."

His strategy, he says, is fairly straightforward.

"I'm going to go into the race and run my best, and let the race take care of itself. And I'll be OK."

(Posted November 21, 2002)