Kelati runs strong 3,000 as clock ticks on eligibility

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Foot Locker champion Weini Kelati of Heritage VA ran the fourth-fastest 3,000 meters by a high schooler on an indoor 200-meter track (9:19.99) on Saturday at the Camel City Elite Races at JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem. 

That result may have been overshadowed by Drew Hunter's national record 3,000 meters minutes later at the same meet. 

But it's still significant and for Kelati it's a sign that she intends to use her remaining months of eligibility to the best of her abilities. 

Kelati moved to the U.S. in the late summer of 2014 and turned 19 in December. Academically, she is a junior. The most likely scenario is that she will graduate from high school in the spring of 2017 and possibly move on to a college program that fall. 

That means that she would spend the 2016-17 season training and competing only in open events. Saturday's meet in Winston-Salem, N.C. in which she competed unattached against professional athletes, offered a preview. 

"This is the kind of thing she would have to do next year," Heritage coach Doug Gilbert said. "But it also kind of fits into the way she likes to work, with fewer races. We know it's going to be different (than high school). She's even talked about getting a job (next school year)."

Kelati knew very little English when she started at Heritage a year and a half ago and has worked hard to learn the language. When she was able to produce a few school records from Eritrea, she was given some credit for work she had done there. It helped her move quickly from the ninth grade to the 11th grade at Heritage. 

She won't be able to enroll and compete for an NCAA Division I school until she graduates high school and scores high enough on the ACT or SAT test. 

But Kelati is a hard worker who is making progress, her coach said. Despite a difficult transition to a new culture and language, she has a 3.2 GPA. 

Gilbert believes that when she advances to the college level, Kelati's athletic strengths will become even more apparent at the 6-kilometer distance (for cross country) and 10,000 meters (for track).

Kelati won the 2015 Foot Locker title despite dealing with some tendinitis. After the victory, Gilbert marveled over all that Kelati has overcome. 

"It was amazing, after all the hard work she put in and all that she's been through," Gilbert said. "There were some big changes in her life. She has family back home in Eritrea. Last year the smiles were few and far between. A year (here) has made a big difference."

Gilbert said she took three weeks off after the race to rest. After three feet of snow fell in Northern Virginia last week, Kelati's training schedule was impacted again. 

But Saturday's race held positives. She was running in a pack with seasoned vets, such as overall winner Kerri Gallagher, for a little more than half of the 3,000 meters. She began to slide backwards late in the race but still broke 9:20. 

Gilbert said Kelati next intends to run a 5,000 at the New Balance Grand Prix in Boston.