Since winning the NCAA cross-country championship last month, Eastern Michigan's Boaz Cheboiywo has become a hero around Ypsilanti. He already was special to those who knew him.

"Boaz is a fierce competitor, but away from the competitive moment he is a gentle, friendly, outgoing person with a wonderful sense of humor,"Eastern coach John Goodridge said. He's "a very bright, conscientious student, who will be an excellent coach when his competitive days are over."

Assistant athletic director Melody Reifel described Boaz as "someone whose big heart and smile lights up our entire field house."

Cheboiywo, a 23-year-old junior from Kenya majoring in geography, went to Eastern Michigan to get a teaching degree. He was attracted to Eastern partly because of the number of Olympians it has produced, and he has his sights set on the 2004 Summer Games in Athens.

Consistent long-distance training, including key 20-mile runs, contributed to his NCAA title, Eastern's first in cross-country. Interestingly, he and Goodridge differed on how much mileage he completed each week. It ranged from 80 to 130.

Goodridge said he covered almost every mile with Cheboiywo on a bike or in his van. In addition to speed sessions, hill and rolling farm road work, Cheboiywo runs his 20-milers after an easy warmup, averaging 5:35 a mile.

Goodridge said Cheboiywo has jazeeri, which means fearless in Swahili. Cheboiywo set a course record and crushed his competition by 19 seconds in the NCAA meet at Greenville, S.C. He ran 10 kilometers in 28:47.

Going into the race, he was anything but confident. He had rested two weeks because of a hip injury, and his hip and bothersome Achilles tendon forced him to focus more on running a good race rather than winning. That might have helped him become more relaxed.

Living in America has given Cheboiywo a chance to interact with people from around the world and experience new cultures and food, although he isn't fond of fast food. He is fond of learning in great detail about computer science and American government.

Cheboiywo misses his family, church, friends, training at altitude and farm work. Financial constraints make visits home rare. But he is grateful for the opportunity to be part of Eastern's cross-country and track program. Another goal is to make a difference and leave the university in a better place than when he came. It looks like he already is doing that.