Athlete: Cerake Geberkidane
Year: Senior
School: How to Run Twice a Day Without Injury
Location: Denver, CO
Mile PR: 4:19.87
3200m PR: 9:01.13
Cerake Geberkidane of Colorado, on a six-month tear dating back to his cross country opener in September, concluded his brief indoor season on Feb. 15 with the nation’s fastest 3200m time, 9:01.13, at the Simplot Games in Pocatello, Idaho. Looking for a big outdoor campaign, Geberkidane, a Denver East senior headed for Oklahoma State University, hopes to compete for top honors in national events as he did at Nike Cross Nationals last fall.
Pocatello Prize: At Simplot, which drew a multistate field from the southwest and beyond, Geberkidane, 17, ran with the pack for the first mile to conserve energy. He took the pace in the second half and raced the Idaho State 200-meter oval to a 70-meter victory over 2013 national indoor 5,000m champion Elijah Armstrong, the local favorite from Pocatello High. Armstrong clocked 9:10.93. Third went to 2013 Foot Locker seventh-place finisher Connor Mantz of Sky View High in Utah, in 9:12.99.
Shoes & Gear: Geberkidane, running on a banked track for the first time, was about a half-second shy of the 9:00.62 meet record set in 2013 by Ben Saarel of Salt Lake City. Geberkidane’s only other indoor race this season was the Air Force Academy high school mile a week before Simplot. Geberkidane won comfortably in 4:19.87, which stands as his PR.
Winter Workouts: Geberkidane, 6-foot-3 and 150 pounds, has done his share of treadmill training in the stormy weather. But on a recent day, when the temperature warmed and the school track was clear, he celebrated by doing an interval workout shirtless with arm-warmers. Feeling fast, Geberkidane did a 1600m, 1200m and 4 x 400m with a lap jog in between. His last 400 was 56 seconds.
Spring Fever: Geberkidane is looking toward the spring when he’ll likely race a lot faster and, he hopes, earn invitations to national events like the Arcadia Invitational in California in April, and the adidas Dream Mile in New York and Brooks PR meet in Seattle, both in June.
Fast Fall: After getting his summer mileage up to 60 a week, with 6-mile loops on a mountain trail up to 6,000 feet, Geberkidane shook the national landscape with his 14:47 5K win at the Arvada West Invitational in September. Geberkidane triumphed by 73 seconds on the grass course and came close to Adam Goucher’s all-time Colorado 5K cross country record of 14:45 set in 1993. Geberkidane considers Arvada his best race. “I saw that I could compete on the elite high school level,” he said.
Breakthrough Season: After his sub-15:00, Geberkidane completed an unbeaten regular season with a 15:49 state meet course record in class 5A, winning by 40 seconds, and then won the NXN Southwest Regional in 15:17. Geberkidane felt he had amassed a lot of “internal strength” for the NXN championship in Portland.
Championship Finale: Looking for a top-10 NXN placing, Geberkidane decided to hold off his usual fast early pace and sit with the pack for the first half of the rolling 5K at Portland Meadows. Standing out with his height, Geberkidane moved with the leaders in the last kilometer and finished fourth in 15:10. “I was very happy,” he said. “Nike put on a great show. Everything they did made you feel like a professional.”
Brother Act: Last year as a junior, Cerake’s main opposition came from his brother Ashi, a senior. In cross country they traded victories leading to the state championship, where they’d hoped to run 1-2, not sure of the order. Cerake charged out to the lead and Ashi caught him in the second mile. They ran together until Ashi pulled away for the win, while Cerake was nipped at the wire and took third. “Ashi didn’t want to lose to his little brother,” Cerake said.
Soccer Start: Cerake and Ashi first gained notice on the soccer field as scoring forwards. Cerake played soccer through his sophomore cross country season at Denver East, doing the two sports simultaneously. Ashi went on to Harvard, where last fall he was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year.
Time Off: Geberkidane’s progress since last summer is all the more impressive because he missed months of training after not running track last spring. Geberkidane was coping with personal issues, according to his coach Steven Kohuth, a counselor at East High. “Now Cerake is thriving,” said Kohuth, a marathoner who ran Boston last year, finishing shortly before the bombs went off. “Running has helped changed his outlook on life.”
College Prospect: Geberkidane—whose father is from Ethiopia and mother from Eritrea—is excited about going on to run for the Oklahoma State Cowboys, winners of three NCAA men’s team cross country titles in the last six years. Geberkidane, born in the U.S., said, “Running shows the discipline you need in life. You learn pain tolerance, and get to know yourself better.”
Street Race: Last fall, Geberkidane’s toughness was put to the test in an impromptu race with a local cyclist. Running in his Denver neighborhood, Geberkidane passed a man on a bike, who then sped up to get ahead. “We looked at each other,” said Geberkidane. “I picked it up, then he did. We were going faster and faster. It was an all-out sprint for about a quarter-mile.” Guess who won.
Marc Bloom’s high school cross-country rankings have played an influential role in the sport for more than 20 years and led to the creation of many major events, including Nike Cross Nationals and the Great American Cross Country Festival. He published his cross-country journal, Harrier, for more than two decades.
