LSU's Kosgei turns up heat

• By SHELDON MICKLES
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: May 25, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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When financially-strapped Virginia Intermont College dropped track and field in April 2007, middle distance runner Elkana Kosgei didn’t exactly expect to land on his feet at LSU.

After all, Kosgei’s first extended visit to Louisiana in the summer of 2006 wasn’t anything to write home to Kenya about. To put it mildly, Kosgei was hot under the collar after serving an internship at the Lake Charles YMCA.

“It was too hot,” Kosgei said recently. “I didn’t think I could stay. People would always tell me that I would get used to it, but it was too hot. I was complaining all the time about it. I thought, ‘I can’t stay.’ ”

But when Virginia Intermont, an NAIA school, disbanded its track team, Kosgei made his way back to Louisiana — this time to Baton Rouge — in July 2007. Soon after, he turned down offers from Mississippi State and South Carolina to join the LSU track program.

One of the main reasons is he wanted to train with other 800-meter runners, like LSU’s Jamaal James and Reuben Twijukye. In the end, the oppressive south Louisiana heat couldn’t scare Kosgei away.

Even though he had just one year of eligibility remaining when he arrived on campus last fall, LSU is certainly glad to have Kosgei — the NAIA Division II champion at 800 meters last spring.

Kosgei also won the Southeastern Conference indoor and outdoor titles at 800 meters and finished a close second in his signature event at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March.

“Talent-wise, I’m not surprised by what Elkana has done,” LSU distance coach Mark Elliott said when asked about Kosgei’s seamless transition from the NAIA to the NCAA ranks. “But yes, I am surprised a little. Sometimes, it doesn’t matter where kids come from.”

While he has been successful at the SEC meets, that loss at the NCAA indoor meet is fueling Kosgei’s bid for an NCAA outdoor title.

He began the championship portion of LSU’s outdoor season last weekend by winning the SEC title at Auburn, Ala., posting a time of 1 minute, 47.05 seconds. Now, he has his sights set on the NCAA Mideast Regionals this Friday and Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark.

“That was my fault that I didn’t win,” said Kosgei. “Everybody was tired and the pace was too slow. The guy passed me with half a meter to go, so that was my mistake.”

Kosgei said he likes a much faster pace. When he stayed with the pack, he got boxed in on the narrow 200-meter track and had to use up too much energy to get around runners and take the lead with 150 meters left.