Cross Country Finalists From Different Worlds
One runner lives in the Boston suburbs, trains on Heartbreak Hill and has been competing in cross country races since age 12. He used to snatch stalks of corn on workouts through farmland, and he paints to capture the artistry of his sport.
The other runner is from the Boston housing projects and is competing in his first season of cross country. He is a native of Somalia who barely survived in refugee camps before coming to the United States two years ago and discovering his athletic talent.
Their sport has brought them together. Jonathon Riley of Brookline High School and Abdirizak Mohamud of Boston English High have finished 1-2 four times this season, and their mastery of distance running has vaulted them into contention for today’s 18th Foot Locker National High School Cross Country Championships in San Diego. No Massachusetts runner, boy or girl, has ever won the title.
Riley, a senior, is undefeated this fall and the Massachusetts state champion. Last year, he placed 10th in the nationals. Ever since, he has had a map of the San Diego 5,000-meter course in his bedroom to go along with his trophies, autographed pictures of world-class runners like Steve Scott and his art work.
Mohamud, a junior, placed second to Riley in four races this season, including a near-victory last month.
“I’m very impressed with Mohamud and the confidence he showed,” said Riley. “He seems like a natural runner.”
The boys field also includes Isaac Hawkins of Ferris High School in Spokane.
The Foot Locker girls field features senior Erin Davis of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., the undefeated northeast winner, who in 1993 became the only freshman to win the national title.
Her leading opponents will be midwest winner Katy Radkewich of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, third last year; Julia Stamps of Santa Rosa, Calif.; and Kristen Gordon of Concord, Calif.
Mohamud and his family fled Mogadishu after the outbreak of the Somalian civil war. Mohamud went to Ethiopia and then spent two years in squalid conditions at a camp on Mombasa, Kenya. “It was as horrible as you can imagine,” said Mohamud’s coach, Tony La Rocha. “There was little food and no medical care.”
Mohamud entered Boston English in the fall of 1994 with no running experience. Friends encouraged him to go out for track and he did, running the middle distances and relays.
La Rocha, who coaches track at a different school, noticed Mohamud competing in training shoes. “He had no idea how to run, no sense of strategy,” said La Rocha. “I gave him a pair of racing spikes.”