Washington Boys Track

Nick Corbett running away from politics

Nick Corbett will leave running for political office to his father. He just likes to run on an all-weather track, and he's becoming very good at it.

Corbett blazed to victory in the 400 meter dash in 50.78 seconds Saturday at the John Ask Relays and anchored Cedar Rapids Washington to an impressive win in the 4x400 relay.

His father, Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett, was in Mexico on city business Saturday and unable to attend the meet on a cool day at Kingston Stadium, but he was rooting for his son from afar.

"He texted me this morning," Corbett said after his strong showing in the open 400. "He said 'good luck,' so that was nice of him. He's always rooting for me."

Corbett, a junior at Washington, said he has no political ambitions of his own. "I try to stay away from politics," he said. "It's not my thing."

Corbett qualified for the 400 meter dash at the Class 4A state meet last year as a sophomore, but finished 23rd and dead last in Des Moines. "If he qualifies this year, I guarantee he won't be dead last again," Washington distance coach Will Harte remarked.

Corbett's personal best in the 400 last year was 51.9 seconds, so he's already chopped more than a second off his P.R. and the season is just starting to heat up. He'd love to crack 50 seconds and appears well on his way.

"I hope so," he said. "I was definitely happy with my time today. It's what I've been working for."

The Warriors put a strong 4x400 unit together with Drake Hickok, Noah Dostal, Robert Hogg and Corbett clocked in a winning time of 3:27.44, which would have been good enough to place at state last year.

Iowa City West won the John Ask title with 330 points. Linn-Mar finished second with 303 markers, followed by Bettendorf, Washington, Prairie, Jefferson and Kennedy.

The Linn-Mar Lions won five events to reinforce their status as the top boys track team in the Metro area at this point. Brandon Ophoff claimed two of those victories by taking the 110 high hurdles in 14.69 seconds and notching the 400 low hurdles in 55.47 seconds.

Ophoff also ran the opening leg on Linn-Mar's victorious shuttle hurdle relay with Mike Keiser, Ryan Wirth and Colton Sanchez in 1:00.22. The Lions also took the 4x800 relay with Jabez Walker, Duggan Trenary, Tanner Rathje and Matt Simon in 8:04.98.

Linn-Mar junior Josh Evans, the runnerup at the Class 4A state cross country meet last fall, won the 1600 in 4:31.16 and placed second in the 3200 in 9:36.35.

"I was really happy with my times today. I think it's been a good season so far," he said after winning the 1600.

Evans trailed Daniel Gardarsson and Bailey Wetherell of Iowa City West on the final lap of the 1600 and appeared to be fading, but he picked up the pace in the final 200 meters and won by more than two seconds.

"I said I'm not going to let them go. I stayed on those guys," Evans remarked of his strong kick. "We got to the back stretch and I felt I could probably go by one of them.

"I just felt strong," he said. "It was fun. It was a good race."

Cedar Rapids Jefferson junior Timauntay Jones left a calling card at Kingston Stadium by claiming the 800 meter run in 1:58.51. He also finished second in the 400 behind Corbett in 51.76.

Cedar Rapids Prairie won the sprint medley in 3:36.59 with Austin Dellamuth, Demetrius Harper, Tristan Beyer and Jacob Aune carrying the baton.

Kennedy sophomore Derek Jacobus won the long jump with a leap of 21 feet, 3 inches.

JOHN ASK RELAYS
Kingston Stadium

Team Standings

1. Iowa City West 330, 2. Linn-Mar 303, 3. Bettendorf 264.5, 4. Washington 256, 5. Prairie 233.5, 6. Jefferson 203, 7. Kennedy 148.

High Jump

1. Dondre Alexander (ICW) 6-3, 2. Jeremy Morgan (ICW) 6-1, 3. Willie Rhodes (CRK) 6-1, 4. Jordan Bonner (BETT) 6-0, 5. John Koelling (CRK) 5-6, 6. (tie) Jacob Aune (CRP) 5-4, Jake Hayles (BETT) 5-4.

Long Jump

1. Derek Jacobus (CRK) 21-3, 2. Richard Bryant (ICW) 20-11 1/3, 3. Armando Williams (ICW) 20-10, 4. Colton Sanchez (LM) 19-4, 5. Demetrius Harper (CRP) 19-4, 6. Jarred Edmons (CRP) 18-5.

Discus

1. Jacob Hayes (BETT) 155-4, 2. Tyler Burrell (CRW) 128-11, 3. Robbie Hanson (ICW) 128-0, 4. Zach Gillis (CRW) 125-10, 5. Sam Techau (CRJ) 124-6, 6. Sam Manternach (CRP) 122-6.

Shot Put

1. Jacob Hayes (BETT) 49-9, 2. Ryan Eivens (CRJ) 46-9 3/4, 3. Storhm Henry (CRW) 46-6 1/4, 4. Jack Halupnik (LM) 44-3 1/2, 5. Zach Gillis (CRW) 43-11 1/2, 6. Stephen Breitbach (ICW) 42-7 1/2.

3200 Meters

1. Matt Butler (BETT) 9:29.69, 2. Josh Evans (LM) 9:36.35, 3. Isaac Jensen (ICW) 9:46.96, 4. Jacob Aune (CRP) 9:50.13, 5. Chase Grabau (LM) 10:05.96, 6. Taylor Mueller (CRJ) 10:11.74.

4x800 Meter Relay

1. Linn-Mar (Jabez Walker, Duggan Trenary, Tanner Rathje, Matt Simon) 8:04.98, 2. IC West 8:05.97, 3. Washington (Robert Hogg, Matthew Wittman, Joe Berry, Trevor Luebe) 8:18.90, 4. Prairie (Mitch Pritts, Luke Galloway, Steven Wallace, Coen Brown) 8:47.14, 5. Jefferson (Tim MacDonald, Colton Cortez, Aaron Carter, Devin Stone) 9:00.94, 6. Bettendorf 9:21.24.

Shuttle Hurdle Relay

1. Linn-Mar (Brandon Ophoff, Mike Keiser, Ryan Wirth, Colton Sanchez) 1:00.22, 2. IC West 1:02.53, 3. Prairie (Mitchell Dellamuth, Keagan Pinter, Jarred Edmons, Haakon Wilz) 1:05.65, 4. Bettendorf 1:07.62, 5. Jefferson (Savaun Bounds, Tanner Lund, Michael Moncivais, Lucas Vanous) 1:07.95.

100 Meters

1. Tyler Younkin (BETT) 11.24, 2. Armando Williams (ICW) 11.27, 3. Will Griffin (CRW) 11.35, 4. Nate Karlan (CRJ) 11.59, 5. Jake Luerkens (LM) 11.72, 6. Tavian Smith (ICW) 11.84.

Wheelchair 100 Meter Dash

1. Jordan Houdeshell (LM) 23.15.

400 Meters

1. Nicolas Corbett (CRW) 50.78, 2. Timauntay Jones (CRJ) 51.76, 3. Gabe Rees (BETT) 52.35, 4. Tre Goode (ICW) 53.70, 5. Devon Clarke (BETT) 54.63, 6. Noah Dostal (CRW) 55.03.

Wheelchair 400 Meter Dash

1. Jordan Houdeshell (LM) 1:20.69.

4x200 Meter Relay

1. Bettendorf 1:31.26, 2. Prairie (Austin Dellamuth, Tristan Beyer, Jarred Edmons, Demetrius Harper) 1:32.47, 3. Washington (Drake Hickok, Morris Williams, Mitch Bredeson, Braedon Tovey) 1:32.62, 4. Iowa City West 1:33.11, 5. Linn-Mar (Travis Kvach, Tristan Freese, Tommy Feller, Jake Luerkens) 1:33.22, 6. Jefferson (Nate Karlan, Chance Tiedtke, Aaron Gruwell, Alex Baxter) 1:33.44.

110 Meter Hurdles

1. Brandon Ophoff (LM) 14.69, 2. Drake Hickok (CRW) 15.58, 3. Mike Keiser (LM) 15.59, 4. Lucas Brenneman (ICW) 15.89, 5. Tom Kaiser (CRK) 16.18, 6. Forest Vega (CRW) 16.39.

1600 Meters

1. Josh Evans (LM) 4:31.16, 2. Daniel Gardarsson (ICW) 4:33.67, 3. Bailey Wetherell (ICW) 4:38.37, 4. Isaiah Vlasek (CRP) 4:46.86, 5. Joe Berry (CRW) 4:49.58, 6. Matthew Wittman (CRW) 4:50.40.

200 Meters

1. Armando Williams (ICW) 22.72, 2. Will Griffin (CRW) 23.09, 3. Jake Luerkens (LM) 23.29, 4. Blake Younkin (BETT) 23.82, 5. Tre Goode (ICW) 24.06, 6. John Koelling (CRK) 24.10.

400 Meter Hurdles

1. Brandon Ophoff (LM) 55.47, 2. Forest Vega (CRW) 58.17, 3. Jabez Walker (LM) 58.64, 4. Lucas Vanous (CRJ) 59.79, 5. Haakon Wilz (CRP) 1:01.80, 6. Lucas Brenneman (ICW) 1:02.36.

Sprint Medley

1. Prairie (Austin Dellamuth, Demetrius Harper, Tristan Beyer, Jacob Aune) 3:36.59, 2. Bettendorf 3:40.01, 3. Iowa City West 3:47.03, 4. Linn-Mar (Mason Renner, Tommy Feller, Ellis McBrayer, Will Fuhrmann) 3:50.70, 5. Washington (Nicolas Corbett, Mason Taylor, Trevor Luebe, Matthew Wittman) 3:53.84, 6. Kennedy (Tom Kaiser, Donovan Kosman, John Koelling, Chris Blum) 4:02.95.

800 Meters

1. Timauntay Jones (CRJ) 1:58.51, 2. Chase Grabau (LM) 2:00.73, 3. Matt Simon (LM) 2:03.16, 4. Mitch Pritts (CRP) 2:03.98, 5. Phillip Laux (ICW) 2:04.51, 6. Taylor Mueller (CRJ) 2:07.12.

4x100 Relay

1. Iowa City West 43.10, 2. Washington (Braedon Tovey, Joseph McBride, Mitch Bredeson, Will Griffin) 43.80, 3. Bettendorf 43.85, 4. Prairie (Austin Dellamuth, Jarred Edmonds, Mitchell Dellamuth, Demetrius Harper) 44.69, 5. Linn-Mar (Travis Kvach, Tristan Freese, Tommy Feller, Jake Luerkens) 45.01, 6. Kennedy (Alex Hillyer, Tom Kaiser, Jacob Shannon,
Derek Jacobus) 45.04.

4x400 Relay

1. Washington (Drake Hickok, Noah Dostal, Robert Hogg, Nicolas Corbett) 3:27.44, 2. Linn-Mar (Ryan Wirth, Duggan Trenary, Jabez Walker, Brandon Ophoff) 3:29.03, 3. Iowa City West 3:36.17, 4. Jefferson (William Orr, Alex Baxter, Ryan Deerberg, Aaron Gruwell) 3:36.20, 5. Prairie (Mitchell Dellamuth, Jace Hanna, Alex Nelson, Tristan Beyer) 3:39.57, 6. Kennedy (John Koelling, Chad Slaymaker, Famiek Cook, Donovan Kosman) 3:48.15.

Hogg paces Metro runners at MVC meet

CEDAR FALLS - Robert Hogg is smart, talented, handsome and strong.

Some guys have all the luck.

Hogg put his talent on display Monday when he captured the 800-meter run in 1:59.61 at the Mississippi Valley Conference indoor track meet at the UNI-Dome.

It was an excellent time on a 200-meter indoor track in March, but Hogg was actually a little disappointed. "I was going for 1:58," he said.

Hogg defeated Timauntay Jones of Jefferson by more than three seconds for the 800 title.

They didn't keep team scores, but Washington showed it will have another strong team this season by winning four of 13 races against all the other MVC schools.

The Warriors won Class 4A state titles in 2009 and 2010 when Hogg was a freshman and sophomore before slipping to fourth place in the team standings last year. Hogg wants to finish his prep career with another state crown.

"That's what the goal is again this year," he said.

Hogg ran on the 4x800 relay that finished second at the state meet in 2009, then returned to Des Moines in 2010 and helped the Warriors win the 4x800. He placed third in the 800-meter run at state last year as a junior in 1:56.45 (a personal record) and is looking to improve upon that time this spring.

"Below 1:55 is my hope," he said. "Improvement is the key."

Hogg plans to run in college next year and could have his pick of top academic schools. He carries a 4.9 GPA (on a 4.0) scale at Washington and is taking five Advanced Placement classes this semester. He scored a 35 on the ACT college entrance exam, a number that's sure to impress admissions counselors.

"Hopefully I'm going to visit Harvard and Princeton during spring break," said Hogg, who also has Iowa State, Iowa and other schools on his master list.

Hogg won the 1600-meter run in 4:28.04 at the Demon Indoor meet in Iowa City last week and also has run some impressive 800 splits on relays. He's happy with the way the campaign has begun.

"Really good," he said. "I've had two or three really good races already this year."

Etienne Nzoyisaba won the 3200-meter run for Washington in 10:03.25 Monday and Nick Corbett captured the 400-meter dash in 52.75 seconds. The Warriors also claimed the 4x800 relay with Hogg running one of the legs.

Linn-Mar won the shuttle hurdle relay, but the Lions saved some of their top guys for a major meet at Iowa State on Tuesday.

Cedar Rapids Prairie claimed the 4x400 relay.

MVC BOYS INDOOR TRACK
At UNI-Dome

(No Team Scores Kept)

Long Jump

1. Jason Millett (WW) 22-0 3/4; 2. Derek Jacobus (CRK) 22-0 1/2; 3. Dequayviaos Martin (WW) 21-10 3/4; 4. Demetrius Harper (CRP) 20-10 1/4; 5. Jacob Shannon (CRK) 19-1 3/4; 6. Deondre Brown (DH) 19-1 1/2.

High Jump

1. (tie) Chris Francis (DH) 6-2; Kalund Brown (CF) 6-3; 3. (tie) Cameron Spears (ICH) 5-10; Jeremy Johnson (ICH) 5-10; Nate Sims (DH) 5-10; 6. (tie) William Rhoads (CRK) 5-8; Jacob Shannon (CRK) 5-8; Lucas Brenneman (ICW) 5-8.

Shot Put

1. Ross Pierschbacher (CF) 50-1; 2. Dan Behning (DS) 49-6 1/2; 3. Jack Halupnik (LM) 45-5; 4. Ryan Eivins (CRJ) 45-2; 5. Kevin Sandhu (DH) 44-8 1/2; 6. Colin Fraser (DS) 44-5.

3200 Meter Run

1. Etienne Nzoyisaba (CRW) 10:03.25; 2. Taylor Mueller (CRJ) 10:05.28; 3. Ben Fick (ICW) 10:13.90; 4. John-Paul Sevcik (CF) 10:24.06; 5. Bryan Case (DH) 10:48.53; 6. Luke Barry (DS) 10:49.10.

4x800 Meter Relay

1. Washington 8:22.89; 2. Prairie 8:43.84; 3. Cedar Falls 8:50.05; 4. Jefferson 8:53.34; 5. Xavier 8:57.22; 6. Kennedy 9:03.40.

Shuttle Hurdle Relay

1. Linn-Mar 34.49; 2. Iowa City High 34.96; 3. Kennedy 35.56; 4. Iowa City West 35.96; 5. Washington 37.09; 6. Cedar Falls 37.98.

60 Meter Dash

1. Tyrell Martin (WW) 6.76; 2. Aaron Taylor (WE) 6.80; 3. Will Griffin (CRW) 6.90; 4. Haris Nuhanovic (WW) 6.91; 5. Nate Karlan (CRJ) 7.13; 6. (tie) J. Harrison (DW), 7.15; Tesper Washington (ICH) 7.15; Mitch Dowell (CF) 7.15.

400 Meter Dash

1. Nick Corbett (CRW) 52.75; 2. Quinn McNutt (ICH) 53.08; 3. Austin Dellamuth (CRP) 53.13; 4. D. Brown (DH) 53.42; 5. Nick DeBuhr (CF) 54.01; 6. Ben Valentine (CRX) 54.32.

4x200 Meter Relay

1. Waterloo West 1:32.69; 2. Cedar Falls 1:33.90; 3. Iowa City High "A" 1:34.28; 4. Washington 1:34.33; 5. Jefferson 1:35.16; 6. Iowa City High "B" 1:36.63.

1600 Meter Run

1. Dylan Eigenberger (DS) 4:34.90; 2. Jacob Aune (CRP) 4:35.40; 3. Etienne Nzoyisaba (CRW) 4:37.98; 4. Rozeboom (ICW) 4:39.27; 5. Specht (DH) 4:43.21; 6. Joe Berry (CRW) 4:48.90.

60 Meter Hurdles

1. Dan Roemerman (ICH) 8.31; 2. Drake Hickok (CRW) 8.35; 3. Brenneman (ICW) 8.55; 4. F. Vega (CRW) 8.62; 5. Kalund Brown (CF) 8.74; 6. Zach Newell (WW) 8.79.

200 Meter Dash

1. A. Taylor (WE) 22.72; 2. Demetrius Harper (CRP) 23.32; 3. Javon Duarte (ICH) 23.72; 4. Tristan Freeze (LM) 23.76; 5. Zach Shippy (CF) 23.90; 6. Jeremy Johnson (ICH) 24.13.

Medley Relay

1. Iowa City High 3:46.98; 2. Washington 4:00.82; 3. Cedar Falls 4:01.71; 4. Iowa City West 4:05.30; 5. Jefferson 4:09.22; 6. Dubuque Senior 4:09.41.

800 Meter Run

1. Robert Hogg (CRW) 1:59.61; 2. Timauntay Jones (CRJ) 2:02.88; 3. Tim Wittman (DS) 2:06.08; 4. Trevor Luebe (CRW) 2:06.38; 5. John Specht (DH) 2:09.17; 6. P. Herber (DW) 2:09.56.

4x100 Meter Relay

1. Iowa City High 'A' 45.18; 2. Iowa City High 'B' 45.42; 3. Prairie 45.63; 4. Cedar Falls 46.50; 5. Kennedy 46.59; 6. Xavier 46.97.

4x400 Meter Relay

1. Prairie 3:33.32; 2. Cedar Falls 3:34.63; 3. Iowa City High 3:35.38; 4. Waterloo West 3:39.63; 5. Washington 3:40.25; 6. Jefferson 3:43.51.

Metro runners claim 4 titles at Demon track

IOWA CITY - Chase Grabau of Linn-Mar set a meet record in the 800-meter run Thursday at the Demon Indoor track meet at the University of Iowa Recreation Center.

Grabau ran the race in 2:02.34, breaking the mark of 2:04.29 set a year ago. Grabau beat Bryant Johnson of Des Moines Roosevelt by exactly one second.

Brandon Ophoff of Linn-Mar continued his strong start this year by claiming the 60 meter hurdles in 8.18 seconds. Ophoff began the indoor track campaign by winning the 55 meter hurdles in Waverly on Tuesday.

Will Griffin of Cedar Rapids Washington showed he's recovered from an ankle injury suffered last August by claiming the 60 meter dash in 7.03 seconds.

Robert Hogg of Washington won the 1600 meter run in 4:28.04. Josh Evans of Linn-Mar finished third in that event in 4:34.42.

LINN-MAR
Top 8 Finishers

1st - Chase Grabau, 800 Meter Run, 2:02.34 (meet record)
1st - Brandon Ophoff, 60 Meter Hurdles, 8.18
3rd - Josh Evans, 1600 Meter Run, 4:34.42
4th - Sprint Medley, 3:43.00, Michael Detert, Tommy Feller, Austin McCulloh, Jay Halverson
4th - 4x400 Meter Relay, 3:35.09, Brandon Ophoff, Ryan Wirth, Jabez Walker, Duggan Trenary
6th - Jake Luerkens, 200 Meter Dash, 23.71
6th - Brandon Ophoff, High Jump, 5-10
7th - Tanner Rathje, 800 Meter Run, 2:12.09
8th - Mike Keiser, 60 Meter Hurdles, 8.90


CEDAR RAPIDS WASHINGTON
Top 8 Finishers

1st - Will Griffin, 60 Meter Dash, 7.03
1st - Robert Hogg, 1600 Meter Run, 4:28.04
2nd - 4x400 Meter Relay, 3:33.36, Drake Hickok, Nicolas Corbett, Robert Hogg, Reagan Wilson
3rd - Drake Hickok, 60 Meter Hurdles, 8.59
5th - Michael Peterson, Shot Put, 45-9 1/4
5th - Etienne Nzoyisaba, 1600 Meter Run, 4:37.92
7th - 1600 Sprint Medley, 3:55.94, Braedon Tovey, Will Griffin, Noah Dostal, Trevor Luebe
8th - Storhm Henry, Shot Put, 45-5


CEDAR RAPIDS XAVIER
Top 8 Finishers

6th - Nick Ball, 60 Meter Dash, 7.23
8th - Brandon Gradoville, 800 Meter Run, 2:12.15


CEDAR RAPIDS PRAIRIE
Top 8 Finishers

4th - Jacob Aune, 1600 Meter Run, 4:35.98

'Burundi kids' add depth - and perspective - to Wash teams

Like their classmates on the Washington High School track team, they’re teenagers trying to balance the obligations of home, school and athletics. Beyond that, their early lives could hardly be more different from that of their American-born teammates.

The “Burundi kids” – five boys and four girls currently running for Wash – were all born in that African country during a civil war that has been described as genocide. They have few memories of their native land, having spent most of their lives growing up in refugee camps in Tanzania – some of them for more than 10 years.

Their families came to Cedar Rapids at various times under the auspices of Lutheran Family Services, and they quickly began the process of learning a new language and integrating into the Cedar Rapids school system.

“Wash has a directed program for ELL [English Language Learner] students so that they are able to receive the best possible education they could get in this country,” says Will Harte, the boys’ team long-distance running coach and an ELL math teacher.

As the students improve their language skills through ELL classes, they progress into mainstream courses, he explains. “It depends on the kid and how outgoing they are. Some can speak and read and write English proficiently. Others struggle more.”

For all of them, sports have provided another avenue for learning English and becoming part of the Wash community, with most of them gravitating toward the running teams.

Runners from an early age

“Soccer is king in Africa,” says Harte. “Because of that, many of the kids have put in lots of miles of running. They’ve developed a skill they can put to good use either in cross country or track.”

Adds Saroma Mugisha, a senior who speaks nearly flawless English, “In Africa, we do long miles walking or running to school and everywhere. There’s no transportation, basically.”

Harte says the Burundi runners, most of whom had little formal training before arriving at Wash, have performed well in the long-distance events and strengthened the school’s cross country program in the five years he has coached there.

“They helped us win the division title last fall and helped us get to state, where we finished sixth,” he says. Sophomore Etienne Nzoyisaba led the team with a sub-16-minute performance, while junior Laurent Hakizimana, in his first year as a cross country runner, ran “a fantastic race” to finish second on the team in 16:07.

“In track they haven’t had the same success,” Harte says. “A lot of that depends on training in the winter, which is not their strength. Races on the track are shorter, and running on the track is different for them.”

Nonetheless, Nzoyisaba took third in the 3200 at last week’s Mississippi Valley divisional meet and won the event at Thursday’s district meet in Iowa City, qualifying him for state. His sister, Eveline Niyokwizigigwa, was a member of the 4x800 relay team that took third.

The power of camaraderie

As their ELL teacher, coach and mentor, Harte says the Burundians’ involvement with the track team  benefits them as well as their American teammates in multiple ways.

“The nice thing about track is that it’s an opportunity for them to have more interaction and to get outside of their comfort zone,” he says. “Running is good for you and it doesn’t compromise your studying. It enhances it.”

The Burundians credit Harte, who taught and coached in Eritrea from 2004-2006 and has traveled widely in Africa, with encouraging their pursuit of running. “Without Mr. Harte I don’t know if I would be running,” says Mugisha. “He makes things possible, and if we have problems he helps us solve them. He’s like a second father to us.”

Adds Hakizimana, “He was the one who helped me realize that running is the thing I was good at. And he knows about Africa, because he has been there. If it weren’t for running, I wouldn’t be doing good in school.” His 3.9 GPA speaks for itself.

The Burundians also are grateful for the support of their American teammates. “Being on the team, we’re all like brothers, and if we have problems, we help each other out,” Mugisha says.

“Our American friends help us learn English,” adds Nzoyisaba.

Harte says the Burundians have enriched their American teammates’ experience as well. “They spend a lot of time together on and off the track, and it definitely cuts both ways.”

Team member Trevor Luebe says the Burundians all stayed at his home during the cross country season. “They’re pretty much part of the family, and they have taught us some of their traditions and language.”

His classmate Robert Hogg concurs. “They’re great guys, great athletes, and when I run with them they’re always pushing me. It’s a great experience to have them in the mix at Wash, adding to our community.”

Strength through struggles

The Burundians admit that, other than learning about African wars in history classes, few of their classmates know much about their background.

“Only our ELL friends know our stories,” says Nzoyisaba. “It’s our parents who struggle most with memories of the violence,” he adds. “Their hopes for us are that we will go to college, get a good job, and be able to take care of them.”

Hakizimana says he believes the challenges that marked their childhoods give them an edge over some of their classmates. “We have been through a lot, and because of that, when we’re given an opportunity, we take it.”

While they don't dwell on the privations of their early lives, it’s clear that the trauma experienced by their families hangs over them like a shadow.

“Some of the families have lost loved ones in the civil war and came here after suffering great tragedy,” Harte says. “It’s not easy, but they deal with it, and I think running helps them deal with it.”

Mugisha puts it concisely. “When I run, I feel free,” he says, as his fellow Burundians nod their heads.