Janet Bawcom (2022)
At the age of 19, she was walking to the bus stop when a stranger offered her a ride. She accepted, and the man turned out to be 1988 gold medalist Peter Rono. He told her that running could serve as a route to gaining a scholarship to an American college. Intrigued, Cherobon took up running, with Rono as coach.
After two years, Rono was able to secure her a scholarship to Harding University in Arkansas. Cherobon left Kenya in 2000. Upon arrival at Harding, she discovered that the school had been given false information about her running ability. Fearful that her scholarship would be pulled, she trained hard all summer to improve her times. Cherobon's training paid off. Over the next four years, named an All-American eight times, and set multiple school and national records in the process. In 2005, she won the Division II championship in the indoor 5,000 meters, the outdoor 5,000 meters, and the outdoor 10,000 meters. For her exploits, she was inducted into the Division II Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2010 and the Harding Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012. |