'Her upside is big': UTEP's Sandra Maiyo makes huge first impression
The old canard that college distance runners from Kenya arrive from the factory in Eldoret ready to unpack, step right in and be a star is long debunked, but most incoming collegians from the world distance-running capital do arrive with some miles on their tires.
In that regard, UTEP freshman Sandra Maiyo is fairly new to all this. She's been a bit behind development-wise, which sounds oxymoronic for a person who took the lead in the 10,000 meters at the Conference USA championships on the first step and led it until she won it by 26 seconds.
More: NCAA West first rounds
Coming from a place where everyone with talent seems to start running out of the womb, Maiyo didn't start the sport until junior high. She didn't become serious until late in high school, where she quickly established herself as an intriguing, if raw, prospect.
That's exactly what Miner cross country coach Mircea Bogdan loved about her when she arrived in January, a semester after most of her freshman classmates started. The report from the recruiting service UTEP uses sounded like something he wanted to work with.
"She came recommended as someone who doesn't have a lot of experience in running, she hasn't done it for too long," Bogdan said. "We were told she can run, in a short time she showed massive improvement.
"She didn't come as heavily accomplished, but we knew she was good in a short time. You have to trust the source, but the fact that she was raw, I looked at as a positive."
So how did that trust work out?
"If she stays healthy, doesn't deviate from the plan, we'll be looking at something pretty big," Bogdan said after a regular season where Maiyo qualified for NCAA semifinals May 23 in Fayetteville, Ark. "That's my thought. All-American easily is what I'm seeing.
"Her upside is big."
More immediately, Maiyo has the 33-year-old school record (33:07) in her sights and while that would be a big improvement from her current personal best of 33:45.74, it would fit into the improvement curve she's shown in a short time in El Paso. That would also fit into why she came here to begin with.
"It's my passion, I wanted to improve, that's my goal," Maiyo said. "Catch personal bests. ... I've improved. I'm seeing the potential."
Even after she got here she had catching up to do. She missed the cross country season as she got everything in order to come to America. As a high school student in Eldoret last year she did make it to America a semester before many of her fellow Kenyan agemates, who often need a full gap year to get eligible, gather the money and get the paperwork to travel across the world for college.
Then when she arrived she wasn't completely healthy with shin issues.
"It wasn't severe, just enough for us to hold her back in training," Bogdan said. "The first two months we didn't go full speed with her in practice. When indoor finished there was still a little hesitation.
"About a month ago I realized she wasn't complaining,, 'OK, now we can actually train.' You could see the explosion after she was limitless in the things we could do."
When she first got here, she was "catching up with the program," Maiyo said. "That will make me strong, and the training from my coach."
What Bogdan saw from her when she got healthy is what the scouting service saw.
"There's something easy about her, she's light on her feet," Bogdan said. "You see people out there grinding it. I'm not saying she doesn't grind, there's a point in the race where you have to, but she has an easiness to it. She's like a cloud out there, she floats.
"She's in a good spot."
Maiyo is in a good spot to chase her biggest goals.
"I want to be a champion and inspire other people," she said.
She's already a champion, but there are likely many more to come.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.
NCAA West regional first round
What, when: The first rounds of the NCAA Championships, Wednesday, May 22-Saturday, May 25, Fayetteville, Ark.
Format: 48 athletes in each event (not including the heptathlon and decathlon) qualify for regionals. Twelve advance out of regionals to the NCAA championships in Eugene, Ore. June 5-8.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: 'Her upside is big': UTEP's Sandra Maiyo makes huge first impression
