Aloiloi is Tulane's Natural Wonder
Oct 2, 2014 | Track & Field
Tulane freshman Moses Aloiloi (Uh-Loy-Loy) is fast.
Need proof? The average American adult reads roughly 300 words per minute. At the Mississippi College season opener on August 30, Aloiloi, led the Green Wave men's cross country team to victory with a winning time of 15:35.51--roughly five minutes and 34 seconds per mile. In the time it will take the average adult to get through this article, Aloiloi could have run just over the length of 10 football fields.
With numbers like those, it is easy to assume that Aloiloi has been "pounding the pavement" since childhood. A native Kenyan, even his visage exemplifies the stereotype of an elite African runner: 6'0 tall and impossibly lean, every willowy limb shrouded in solid muscle. It might come as a bit of a surprise, then, that Aloiloi's athletic history is barely older than the foundation of Tulane's new Yulman Stadium.
You read that right: With his big win at Mississippi College, Aloiloi did not merely emerge victorious at the inaugural meet of his collegiate career, but he took the number one spot at the first meet of his life.
Yet the most remarkable thing about Aloiloi is not his obvious gift, but his character. When prompted to comment on his precocious success, he betrays his youth, displaying a level of pragmatism that is rare among college students--and even more so among young athletes of his caliber.
"This is what I can say," he begins, speaking with the thoughtful, deliberate elocution of one who has only just picked up a new language. "I'm young, I'm strong, I am athletic--now is high time for me to run."
Aloiloi explains that he took up running not to fulfill aspirations of fortune and glory, but as a means to fund his education. Though there is no shortage of Olympic-level distance runners in Kenya--his own uncle is 1988 Olympic gold medalist Paul Ereng, who now heads the cross country program at the University of Texas El Paso--Aloiloi claims it was his father's influence that led him to lace up his shoes.
"My father was not a learned man," he says. "Education is very important to him. He tells me, `Moses, you should learn to run. In America you might get a scholarship. They like Kenyans who can run.'"
And run he did. Through Ereng, word of Aloiloi's abilities spread to Green Wave Track & Field/Cross Country director Eric Peterson. When he joined the team in the spring of 2014, Aloiloi received a redshirt for track but is a true freshman for cross country. This afforded him a semester to adjust to his new home without the pressure of competing, a common practice for student-athletes who hail from abroad. Even months out from his first meet, Peterson knew there was something special about Aloiloi.
"Moses is obviously very talented, very gifted," Peterson says. "But he pairs that with an amazingly strong work ethic. He's willing to run two times a day, no matter what the weather conditions are. He looks at this whole experience as the opportunity of a lifetime." Aloiloi's natural propensity to face change with a sense of wonder has permitted him to thrive at Tulane, which is thousands of miles away from home. He credits his father for instilling such an open, accepting mindset.
"My father said to me, `Go to Tulane. Live with people. Interact with people. Work hard, and run to your best.'" By taking that charge to heart, Aloiloi says that he felt at home almost immediately upon his arrival at Tulane. "The first time I came here, I thought, `Wow. This is the place that I belong.'"
Peterson views him with the same enthusiasm. The second director of the Green Wave's track and cross country team since its reinstatement several years ago, Peterson has served the program throughout its struggle to reclaim its pre-Katrina status. He believes that Aloiloi's eagerness to accept a challenge make him a symbol of the organization's future.
"Moses is willing to take on and accept things that others might not," says Peterson. "He is fully committed to being great."
This sentiment could easily apply to any of Aloiloi's endeavors. He has recently begun contemplating his academic major; ever practical, Aloiloi is leaning toward one that will serve his future job search well: Geology.
"In America, Kenya, Nigeria...we've got oil," he explains. "Last time I was in Houston, I got to see the big oil and gas companies. I think I might like to work for one of them."
Of course, Aloiloi has not dismissed the possibility of one day running professionally. After all, there is an Olympic medal hanging from the family tree. But for now, he mirrors his father's values, prioritizing education over gold.
"I want to be like my uncle, maybe in 10 years. I weigh education over running because if I have a permanent injury, then what? If I get my degree, I know I will survive."
With that attitude, there can be no doubt that back in Kenya, Aloiloi's father is very proud.
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