Hometown: Nairobi, Kenya
College: Liberty University
Event: 5,000m- 13:09.67; 10,000m- 27:08.39
Coach: Mark Rowland
Personal Website: www.samchelanga.com
Twitter: @SamChelanga
Professional: Sam joined the Oregon Track Club Elite after a headlining and record setting collegiate career at Liberty University. His debut race in an OTC Elite singlet was an indoor 3,000 meters at the 2012 Washington Inivtational. He raced to 4th place, two seconds off his personal best in 7:50.52. In March, Chelanga took on some of the most elite distance runners in the NYC Half
Marathon. He placed 5th with a debut time of 1:01.19. One month later in Boston at the B.A.A 5k, Sam finished two seconds back for 2nd place in 13:43 after leading the race through 2 1/2 miles. Sam opened his outdoor season with a 10k at the very competitive Payton Jordan Invitational, where he place 2nd with a 27:29.82. Later in the outdoor season, Chelanga ran a pair of 5k's at Oxy High Performance and the Prefontaine Classic, both in personal best times of 13:14.05 and 13:09.67, respectively. Sam returned to
Boston for the stacked B.A.A 10k. Sam stuck to the pace of the 10-man lead group, then finished 6th in 28:38. Sam added three more top ten races to his resume over the summer, most impresively his 3rd place finish in 22:33.9 at the Crazy 8's road 8k in Tennessee.
College: Chelanga finished his collegiate career with 14 NCAA All-American Finishes. As a redshirt senior in 2010/2011 he capped off a phenomenal career with a second-place finish in the 10,000 meters and the 5,000-meter title at the NCAA Championships. He ran the 8th fastest NCAA time in the 5k to place 2nd at the Indoor Championships. In cross country, he won his second straight national championship and went the entire year undefeated.
During the 2009-2010 season, Chelanga bettered his own 10k NCAA collegiate record at the Payton Jordan Invitational in 27:08.39. He was first in the 10K at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and 2nd in the 5K. At the NCAA Indoor Championships he place 2nd in the 5k with a time that was 17th on the world indoor performance list. In cross country, he claimed the title in 28:41.3, smashing the course, conference, and school records for the distance.
In 2008-2009 he ran a collegiate record in the 10k (Brutus Hamilton Invitational, 27:28.48) and the second fastest 5K time in NCAA history (Tyson Invitational, 13:19.79) while on his way to three more NCAA All-American titles in cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track.
Personal: Earned his B.S. in Government with minors in Strategic Intelligence and Criminal Justice from Liberty University. ... Married to Marybeth Chelanga in the fall of 2011. … Son of Haron and Ann Chelanga. ... Brother to world-class marathoner Joshua Chelanga... Born Feb. 23, 1985.
PERSONAL BESTS- Indoor
Mile - 4:03.84- Hokie Invitational- January 21, 2011
3,000m - 7:48.24- New Balance Indoor Grand Prix- February 5, 2011
5,000m - 13:19.79- Tyson Invitational- February 13, 2009
PERSONAL BESTS-Outdoor
1,500m - 3:46.72- Oregon Twilight - May 5, 2012
5,000m - 13:09.67- Prefontaine Classic - June 2, 2012
10,000m - 27:08.39- Stanford Payton Jordan Invitational- May 1, 2010
Road 10k - 28:31- BAA 10k (Boston Athletic Association) - June 26, 2011
