UTEP head cross country coach and Olympic gold medallist
Paul Ereng will be inducted into the Drake Relays Athletes Hall of Fame during an April 22 reception in DesMoines, Iowa.
Ereng's induction will increase membership in to the Drake Relays Athletes Hall of Fame to 195. The Athletes Hall of Fame was established in 1959 during the Golden Anniversary of the Drake Relays with 72 charter members, including Jesse Owens who was named the outstanding performer during the first half century of the Drake Relays.
Ereng was a three-time NCAA champion, a four-time NCAA All-American, the 1988 Olympic gold medallist in Seoul, South Korea; a two-time World Indoor champion and a former world record holder.
Ereng, a native of Eldore, Kenya, won three individual titles at the Drake Relays. He captured the men's university-college 800-meter run as a sophomore at the University of Virginia in 1989 in 1:47.0. He also won the men's invitational 800 in 1990 and 1991. His winning time of 1:46.76 in 1990 was the fastest 800 time recorded at the Drake Relays since Randy Wilson of Oklahoma set the meet record of 1:45.86 in 1978.
He emerged on the world scene by defeating Joaquim Cruz and Moroccan Said Aoiuta in the 800 at the 1988 Olympics to win Kenya's first-ever gold medal in the event. As a freshman at the University of Virginia, Ereng won the 800 at the 1988 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
He set a world record of 1:44.84 en route to winning the 800 at the 1989 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Budapest, Hungary. A few days later Ereng claimed his second NCAA indoor title in the 800 and then won the 800 at the 1989 NCAA Outdoor Championships. He lost only one 800 race during the 1989 outdoor season in 15 tries. He also owned the world's fastest time of 1:43.16 during the season.
He also was fourth at the 1991 IAAF World Outdoor Championships in Tokyo, Japan, and was a member of the Kenya Olympic team at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.
Over the years, Ereng has been the recipient of many awards. In 2003 he was given the all-time, top 10 achievers medal in track and field by the Atlantic Coast Conference. He received the IAAF's lifetime athletics award in 2002. He was granted Kenya's highest title of the Order of the Grand Warrior (OGW) in 1990.
He also received the Jumbo Elliott Award for demonstrating quality and leadership off and on the track in 1989 and was named the recipient of the Henry Cummings Award as Virginia's top male athlete in 1989.
Ereng became the first Kenyan to take a collegiate coaching job in the United States when he was named the head cross country coach at UTEP last August He had served as the technical director for the development of the youth of Africa since 2001. He coached Eziekiel Kemboi who was runner-up in the steeplechase at the 2003 IAAF World Championships and was ranked third in the world last year.
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