Ex-Red Oak and UT star Michelle Carter sets American shot put record at U.S. Track and Field Championships (22 June)

DES MOINES, Iowa — Michelle Carter, a Red Oak and Texas-ex who lives in Ovilla, set an American record in the shot put with a throw of 66 feet, 5 inches on her way to the title Saturday at the U.S. Track And Field Championships.

It was the fourth national outdoors title for Carter, who is coached by her father, Michael, an SMU alum and an Olympic silver medalist in the shot put. She earned a trip to the World Championships in Moscow.

Carter’s put was nearly five feet longer than runner-up Tia Brooks’ best effort.

“It felt good,” Michelle Carter said. “We’ve been training for a peak this time of year. This is like a small one and then we’ll see what happens. I’ve been working really hard trying to put everything together and get ready for Russia.”

He's ready for Chicago Marathon, but Kenyan runner's passion is providing medical care in impoverished hometown

By Philip Hersh, Chicago Tribune reporter

7:15 PM CDT, September 29, 2012

This is a story about a man who runs, a man who runs fast enough to have won the Boston Marathon and the Los Angeles Marathon twice and to be one of the favorites in next Sunday's Bank of America Chicago Marathon.

But this is not a story about a runner, because what Wesley Korir does in running shoes is but a small part of this man who runs.

He says he wants to become president of Kenya one day. People who know him, people who have seen him invest heart, soul and wallet to better the lives of his fellow Kenyans, do not find such a role beyond Korir's reach.

Look how far he has come from a poor, alcoholism-ridden village in Kitale township of western Kenya. And how close he remains to that village, Biribiriet, building a clinic, underwriting the education of some of its children, paying for the food of orphans his mother takes into her home.

"This is a man who has given to humanity more than any man I have ever met," said Bill Smock, a Louisville, Ky., physician who led the team of medical professionals who helped Korir get the 10-bed clinic running in July.

In eight days, Smock and his colleagues treated 3,500 people who never had previous access to free medical care, who had been too poor to pay for it. The visiting doctors, medical students and nurses saved the lives of at least six children.

That was just a start. The clinic has been seeing an average of 50 people a day since it opened. Korir has persuaded the University of Louisville, his alma mater, to embark on programs that will bring health care, clean water and education to the Kitale area on a continuing basis.

"Wesley is one of the most remarkable people I have ever met," said Toni Ganzel, interim dean of the University of Louisville School of Medicine. "He takes his passions and strengths and vision about making the world a better place and puts it into tangible action."

Long before he began making money as a runner, Korir would take part of the salary he earned as a maintenance worker at the university and send it back to Kenya. Now that he earns well into six figures annually, he simply sends more back through his charity, the Kenyan Kids Foundation.

"This little boy who used to walk barefoot, sleep on the floor of a hut, sometimes not have food … now look where I am," Korir said. "It is so amazing. Sometimes I just sit back and laugh about the journey."

Korir lives pieces of each year in his houses in Kentucky and Kenya and in a basement apartment at his in-laws' home in Kitchener, Ontario. He has a biology degree, a wife and 2-year-old daughter as well as a running career in which he seems to be hitting full stride at 29.

In a country renowned for runners, Korir fell into elite running almost accidentally. It would be one of the many serendipitous twists in his journey, none of which he views as coincidence. He sees them all as part of God's plan for him, and you become inclined to look at it that way after hearing him tell the story.

Student opportunities

Wesley Korir, one of his family's nine children, always was a good student. But he had trouble staying in high school because his father, a subsistence farmer, could not always raise the $400 annual fee for St. Joseph's in Kitale, one of the private schools that remain the best places for rural Kenyan children to get good educations.

Willie Walshe, a 64-year-old Irish missionary priest who has lived in Kenya since 1973, was Korir's high school English teacher. With help from family and friends in Ireland, the priest filled in the financial gaps for many students, including Korir, whom Walshe describes as a "diligent, conscientious, fine young man."

Accepted at the University of Nairobi, Korir could not afford the tuition. Desperate to avoid a dead-end existence in his village, he moved two hours away to Eldoret to live with a cousin and do chores in the cousin's house. Korir, who had run some low-level races in high school, would go out every morning for a workout without really knowing why he was training.

Paul Ereng, the 1988 Olympic 800-meter champion who grew up in Kitale, was then managing a group of professional runners in Eldoret. Walshe, who knew Ereng, emailed to see if he could help Korir.

Ereng, a graduate of Virginia and now an assistant coach at Texas-El Paso, told Korir he should try to get a track scholarship at a U.S. university. Ereng contacted an old friend, Norbert Elliott, then the coach at Murray State in Murray, Ky.

Korir arrived in Kentucky in January 2004. Not long after Korir began competing for Murray State, the coach told him the men's track program was being phased out, with the end planned before Korir would graduate. But Elliott put Korir in touch with his friend, Ron Mann, who became head coach at Louisville in July 2004.

By then, Korir had won the Ohio Valley Conference titles in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. Other schools, including Arkansas and Georgia, flew Korir for visits to discuss a possible transfer. Louisville arranged a bus ticket.

Korir took the five-hour ride. It led to the place where he met his wife and made connections that allowed him to fulfill his athletic and humanistic potential. Mann is his coach to this day. Louisville became his promised land.

Generous upbringing

Korir's mother, Roseline Chelimo, gave him the spirit of generosity and strong Christian faith that had sustained her through years of a hardscrabble existence with a husband, Nehemiah, whose good qualities often were drowned in alcohol. With that religious grounding, Korir did not need an epiphany to have a sense of altruism or of what was important in life.

But there was an epiphany, one so terrifying it seemed to come right from the Book of Revelation.

Korir had returned to Kenya at Christmas in 2007 to renew his visa. At the end of that year, a controversial presidential election led to violence between members of his tribe, the Kalenjin, and the Kikuyu, Kenya's politically dominant tribe.

Incumbent Mwai Kibaki, a Kikuyu, was declared the winner. Eldoret, where Korir was staying with his cousin, became an epicenter of deadly reprisals. One day a Kalenjin mob insisted he and the cousin join them. The cousin told Korir to flee rather than be swept up in tribal pressure for vengeance.

"I had to be the shy one, the coward one," Korir said. "I knew this violence wasn't right."

Korir would work his way past Kalenjin roadblocks over the 80 miles west to safety in Uganda. Two weeks later, with the help of the Louisville coaches, he got the visa and returned to the U.S.

Before he began the escape by running into a cornfield, Korir watched the mob set fire to what he thought was the most magnificent house in Eldoret. In 30 minutes, the Kikuyu home had burned to the ground.

"That put into deeper perspective what is important in this life," he said. "I needed to put more emphasis on helping people than investing in material things."

Korir, whose top collegiate running achievement was a Big East title, had planned to become a doctor. Not long before getting his undergraduate degree in December 2008, he was filling out applications to medical schools when he decided to run the Chicago Marathon.

Race officials denied his request to run with the elite, who started five minutes ahead of the mass field. He wound up running alone nearly the whole way and finished with a time that was fourth fastest overall. Rules prevented him from getting the $15,000 prize for fourth place, but race director Carey Pinkowski quietly apologized to Korir and made good on a promise he would get the money.

The episode attracted attention that would be worth far more than the money. Korir was no longer just another Kenyan with a high finish in a marathon.

Eight months later, still a relative unknown but a designated elite runner in the Los Angeles Marathon, Korir set a course record to win the race, $160,000 and a car. He kept his job as a maintenance man for another year.

He won Los Angeles again in 2010. He has run Chicago four straight times, finishing second last year in a career-best time of 2 hours, 6 minutes, 15 seconds. And then he went to Boston last April, beating an exceptionally strong field on a brutally hot day with a time of 2:12:40.

Korir thought winning Boston would be good enough to make the Kenyan Olympic team. The Kenyan track federation, rife with its usual internal machinations, thought otherwise.

That disappointment turned out to be a blessing for Korir and his people.

Louisville lifeline

For several years, the Louisville medical school had sent a team of doctors and students to Mombasa, Kenya. This year's group was preparing to leave when a deadly terrorist bombing at a Mombasa nightclub June 24 led the State Department to advise against travel to the area. Louisville canceled the trip.

When Korir heard what had happened, he immediately saw an opportunity. He asked if the mission could go instead to his village, where he had taken over a $30,000 project to build a clinic that had languished for 10 years.

With financial help from Hall Steps, the foundation created by another deeply religious marathoner, two-time U.S. OIympian Ryan Hall, the physical part of the clinic had been finished. Now Korir hoped for help in training the permanent staff. The Louisville medical school agreed to switch its trip to Biribiriet in July.

"It was like divine intervention," Ganzel said.

Korir had two weeks to arrange logistics for a 20-person group. Nothing would stop him. This was a way to honor the memory of the brother who died of a snake bite when he was 9 because medical care was miles away.

"Wesley worked miracles," Smock said. "He is an incredible, incredible man."

Korir's wife, Canadian runner and Louisville grad Tarah McKay, said he became so consumed by the task that training for the Chicago Marathon went to the back burner some days. All Korir cared about were the hundreds of people who lined up every morning, waiting for the clinic to open.

His attention remains divided. Through an organization called SOS, Korir has arranged for a 40-foot container of medical supplies to be delivered to the clinic this fall. Another Louisville medical school team will go next July, and Ganzel hopes to add a second trip each year. It also could include students from the university's nursing school, dental school and school of public health.

"When you would help the children, you would see their families smile,'' Korir said. "I told my wife, 'This is what I want to do the rest of my life, to make people smile.' ''

Korir is sure God was seeing those smiles. Maybe that is why his training for Chicago has been the best marathon buildup of his career.

"Whether I finish 10th or eighth or second or first in Chicago, I know it will be because God planned it," he said. "I work hard to do my part so God can use me as he wants."

Korir wants to win. It would mean a bigger cash prize and more money for the Kenyan Kids Foundation. It would mean Korir can help pay school fees for more than the 40 children he now supports.

"Running is just a stepping stone," he said. "When I die, I don't want people to say, 'Wesley the great runner.' I want people to say, 'Wesley the person that helped change people's lives.' ''

Thousands of people would say that already.

   5000 Meter Run Elite Open Men

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    Name                 Year Team         Finals

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  1 Dathan Ritzenhein         NORP       13:19.78

  2 Aaron Braun               ADI7       13:20.25

  3 David McNeill             UNA        13:21.62

MEN - 1. Peter Cheruiyot Kirui, 59:39  2. Deriba Merga, 59:48 3. Feyisa Lilesa,  1:00:454. Wesley Korir, KEN, 1:01:19  5. Sam Chelanga1:01:19 PB; 6. Kevin Chelimo,  1:01:21 7. Chris Thompson, 1:01:23  8. Scott Overall,  1:01:25  9. Marilson Gomes Dos Santos, 1:01:26 10. Michael Shelley, 1:01:27 

Head to Heads-Heptathlon

2 September 2010

NEW YORK (April 1, 2010) — Newly crowned world indoor champions Bernard Lagat of the United States and Jessica Ennis of Great Britain as well as American record-holder Hyleas Fountain will ride the wave of their recent successes when they compete at the adidas Grand Prix on June 12, organizers announced Thursday. The adidas Grand Prix, held at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island, will be the fifth stop on the inaugural 14-meet, international Diamond League circuit.

Lagat joins previously announced sprint king Usain Bolt, the Olympic and World champion at 100 and 200 meters and world record holder in both events, as the featured athletes in their respective events, the 1500 and 100m. The golden girl of British Athletics, Ennis will face-off against Fountain, the Olympic heptathlon silver medalist, in a special multi-event challenge featuring the long jump, shot put, and 100m hurdles. The adidas Grand Prix will be Ennis’ U.S. debut, and it will be Fountain’s first appearance.  

“Winning the world indoor title gives me a load of confidence heading into the summer, and now what a great opportunity it is for the multis to be included within the adidas Grand Prix’s Diamond League structure,” Ennis said. “This meet is known for producing great results, and I’m excited to use the energy and support of the New York City crowd in making my U.S. debut.”  

Lagat, 35, of Tucson, Ariz., captured his second world indoor title in the 3000m at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Doha in early March, making him the first U.S. champion in the event. The victory brings his career World Championship medal count to eight—four of them gold. A two-time Olympic medalist, Lagat most recently made history in New York, winning his record eighth Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games in Madison Square Garden in January.

Ennis, 24, is dubbed the world’s greatest female athlete after becoming the first British woman to win both indoor and outdoor world titles in 2009 and 2010. She was victorious in the pentathlon in Doha, and just seven months prior, Ennis dominated in similar fashion at the IAAF World Outdoor Championships in Berlin, setting a personal best in becoming the world heptathlon champion. 

Fountain, 29, of Kettering, Ohio, also had a stellar performance in Doha, finishing fourth in the pentathlon and equaling the American record of 4,753 set in 1999 by DeeDee Nathan. It was an encouraging performance for Fountain, who was forced to miss the World Outdoor Championships last summer due to an injury after winning the Olympic silver medal in Beijing a year earlier. 

Toby Stevenson returns! Miles, Walker, Scott to Berlin

Eugene-Olympic Silver Medalist, Toby Stevenson cleared 5.75 to qualify for the 2009 World Championships in the pole vault. He along with teammates, Brad Walker, Derek Miles and Jeremy Scott cleared the same height. Walker was declared the winner with Miles finishing second place. All qualified for the World Championships.

NCAA record holder, Chelsea Johnson finished second with a first attempt clearance at 4.60 (15-1) and qualified for Berlin. Jenn Stuczynski won the event with 4.63 (15-3). They are joined by Stacy Dragila.

1. Brad Walker 5.75

2. Derek Miles 5.75

3. Jeremy Scott 5.75

4. Toby Stevenson 5.75

5. Mark Hollis 5.70

6. Jason Colwick 5.65

7. Jeff Ryan 5.55

8. (tie) Daniel Ryland and Scott Roth 5.55

10. Tim Mack 5.55

Eugene- 2008 Olympic Games Finalist, Michelle Carter won the shot put tonight and captured the 2009  U.S. Championships to earn a berth on the World Championships Team. Carter, 23 years old, made her first Olympic Team as an elite athlete, winning the women's shot put with a personal-best and U.S.-leading mark of 18.85m/61-10.25 at the 2008 Olympic Trials. In becoming an Olympian, she followed in the footsteps of her father, 1984 Olympic shot put silver medalist and boys' high school record holder Michael Carter...Carter collected her first NCAA shot put title at the 2006 NCAA Indoor Champs, winning the event with a then personal-best toss and UT record of 18.56m.

Results

1 Michelle Carter              Nike                    18.03m   59-02.00

      16.83m  17.82m  17.84m  18.03m  17.94m  17.84m                     

  2 Jillian Camarena             N Y A C                 17.94m   58-10.25

      FOUL  17.94m  FOUL  16.95m  17.52m  17.37m                         

  3 Kristin Heaston              Nike                    17.88m   58-08.00

      17.38m  17.88m  FOUL  17.41m  17.26m  17.38m                       

  4 Jessica Pressley             unattached              17.81m   58-05.25