At the conclusion of Div. III Nationals' 3,000-meter steeplechase event in May, all eyes were on then-freshman sensation Peter Kosgei of Hamilton College, as he walked away from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh with the crown.
With a time of 8:55.41, Kosgei cracked the J.J. Keller Field record and beat out competitors that had been racing for years, earning the first national championship of his young career.
What many didn't realize was how young Kosgei's career truly was.
Coming to Hamilton from Kapsabet, Kenya, Kosgei had never actually raced competitively before in his life. While Kosgei was a soccer player in high school, it was his mother who ultimately convinced him to take up running.
"My mother used to run 3k when she was young," Kosgei wrote in an e-mail to the Daily. "She encouraged me to run in college, especially [the] steeplechase."
Though he struggled early on, it didn't take long for his competitive spirit and strong work ethic to get him up to speed.
"He's a hard worker," Hamilton coach Brett Hull said. "He has a lot of pride and wants to persevere in everything he does, be it academic or athletic. Sometimes you get people that will work hard but don't race hard and don't have that kind of pride, but Peter just wants to be as good as he can be at everything."
Kosgei's progress has more than carried over to this year's cross country season. So far, he has won every race he has competed in and is currently riding a four-race winning streak.
After kicking off the season with a win at the Rochester Institute of Technology Invitational, Kosgei shined at home in a dual meet with Union College, where his time of 26:16.7 was the fastest the Continentals had seen on the course since 1999.
Kosgei continued to grab the spotlight with a Sept. 22 victory at Williams' Purple Valley Classic, where he beat out the competition with a 25:07 clip for the 8k race. With the win, Kosgei defeated 2005 Div. III national champion in cross country, 2006 Williams graduate Neal Holtschulte, by two seconds.
"I didn't even know that Neal was an NCAA champion," Kosgei said. "I just wanted to weigh how much I can do with the Div. I kids in that race. Whenever I race, I think of myself [as] having no chance for second place."
Most recently, Kosgei took the individual title at the Liberty League Championships, leading Hamilton to a second-place finish behind St. Lawrence and becoming the first Continental to win the race in its 13-year history.
Kosgei's performance this year has been a highlight for the floundering Hamilton team, which has finished in last place in the 11-team field at NESCAC Championships every year since 2001, when they edged the Middlebury Panthers to lock up the 10th spot. Kosgei, however, has not let the team's bleak recent history keep him from aiming high.
"I don't know much about Hamilton's past, but either way, we'll work from where we are and the past will take care of itself," Kosgei said. "My goals are well laid down. The key thing is to do well at the end of the season, and I hope to rub shoulders with Div. III cross country giants."
In addition to leading the team physically, Kosgei has also served as a paradigm for his team through his commitment to becoming a top-tier runner.
"He brings a perfect example to the table of what hard work and perseverance can do in your life," Hull said. "I think the people on our team look to him as a leadership example of how to get things done. They know his background and what he's done in a short period of time, and that motivates them to want to do the same."
As championship season rolls around, the Continentals will look for big things from Kosgei, who is eager to prove himself once more on the national stage.
"I'm not one for predictions, but he's done it before," Hull said. "He went in there believing he could be a national champion. Cross country is a little different, a little longer race, but I'm sure it's on the back of his mind, and time will tell."
