St. Benedict's soph Edwin Rutto a future 'force'

By Chris Lotsbom, @ChrisLotsbom
Dyestat.com

(28-Oct) -- Since St. Benedict's Prep sophomore Edwin Rutto made his American racing debut at the Manhattan Invitational on Oct 12 many distance running fans have been asking one question: Is Rutto the next Edward Cheserek?

Months after Cheserek graduated and moved on to the University of Oregon, Rutto -- also a native of the Rift Valley in Kenya -- came to the Newark, New Jersey school. 

 

To try and shed light on Rutto, DyeStat spoke at length with St. Benedict's Prep coach Chelule Ngetich. Ngetich provided insight to who Rutto is and what his potential can be.

 

After coming to America in early September, Rutto joined the St. Benedict's Prep team with little running background. In Kenya, Rutto had run a little, but never had specific organized training. Despite that fact, he has quickly made a mark in U.S. high school running. 

 

At the Manhattan Invitational, Rutto led the early stages of the Eastern States Championship, a race that showcased some of the top talent in the region. Because Rutto tended to start slow, Coach Ngetich advised him to go out hard and try to stay among the leaders. 

Taking the advice to heart, Rutto went out too ambitiously and by the back hills couldn't respond to the leaders' increase in pace. All things considered, Rutto's 46th place finish was OK.

At the Brown Invitational in Rhode Island a week later, Rutto showed that he learned his lesson, finishing second overall behind Marco Pompilj in 15:17.4. Ngetich was pleased with Rutto's improvement.

"I think he is where I expect him to be based on the workouts," said Ngetich. "He seems to be responding to the workouts ... More than anything else he is continuing to mature and learn how to race, because he didn't know how to race before." 

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When asked to compare Edwin Rutto to Edward Cheserek, Coach Ngetich let out a hearty laugh.

"Of course, I don't want to compare him with Edward, but it is natural for comparisons to be made," he said. "The similarities I see between him and Edward is the endurance. He has a lot of strength, endurance-wise. He can run for a while. He has a lot of endurance. And his work ethic is similar to Edward; he has a very good work ethic. I don't have to push him a lot to do things."

Ngetich pointed out that the primary difference between Cheserek and Rutto is their athletic backgrounds. When Edward came to America, he had a formal running background and some racing experience. The same could not be said for Edwin.

"Edwin doesn't have much of that. Before he came here I don't think he had run more than eight races in his life. And all of those (were) under very informal training," said Ngetich. 

Another difference that Ngetich quickly picked up on is Rutto's leg speed. At the moment, it is far from what Cheserek's was.

"He doesn't have a lot of speed, he is not a fast starter. In fact, for New York (Manhattan Invitational), the reason he started so fast was my mistake. He is a very slow starter so I told him 'you cannot start slow, you can't stay in the back.' I told him to stay in the front pack," recalled Ngetich. "Edward would always go out front... Before Manhattan I told (Rutto) try to be with the group. Don't run too slow and expect to pick people off. It is one of the biggest races in the country. He took my advice but he took it a bit too far."

Asked if he thought that eventually Rutto would achieve the accolades Cheserek had racked up while in high school (multiple national titles in cross country, indoor, and outdoor track) Ngetich pondered the question and gave a full, complete answer.

"Let me be honest. He is going to be a force. He is going to be a force going into the future," he said. "How good is he going to be? Edward's level? I don't think so. I think Edward was a completely different case. I think he will come close, he will come close to how Edward was. But I don't see him surpassing what Edward did over time. Edward was in his own league. To me I think Edwin is in the league of good athletes we have around here. I expect him this year, if he gets a chance to go to nationals and be top ten in the Northeast and makes it to nationals, I think that is a good enough season for me. For Edward, we weren't even talking about how he could (get to]) nationals or the possibility of winning nationals. I cannot say the same for Edwin. For now I can only say if he makes the team (meaning qualifies for Nationals) it will be good." 

Looking ahead, St. Benedict's Prep has a full slate of championship races lined up.

On Wednesday, Oct. 30, is the State Prep Championships, followed by the Essex County Championships on Friday, Nov. 1 .

Saturday, November 9, is the Catholic Conference Championships -- the final race before Nov. 30's Footlocker Northeast at Van Cortland Park. According to the St. Benedict's Prep athletics website, it appears Rutto will be running there.

Ngetich said a top-five finish at the State, County, and Conference meets would be a successful showing. At these meets, Rutto has a chance to race against many of those who beat him at the Manhattan Invitational. It presents a second chance for Rutto to showcase his improved racing tactics. 

"Some of the kids that are at our counties were at Manhattan," said Ngetich. "Right now the challenge is to come close to them or beat them. I can tell you he is among the top in the county."

Over the span of two short months we have seen Edwin Rutto improve. The future is bright for the 16-year-old. Very bright, says Coach Ngetich.

"What I care about most is how he matures, how he progresses, how his race tactics change," he said. "I think he is doing well. He has responded well to the challenges and doesn't fear. He embraces challenges and wants to do better."