In Praise of My Roommate

In another iteration of the often-asked question "What NCAA Cross Country team was the best ever?", the 1981 UTEP team came out on top.  The entirely foreign team of East Africans placed first, second, third, fifth and sixth in the team standings to score an astounding 17 points.  Only one American runner broke up a perfect team score, (although two other individuals also sneaked in  ahead of UTEP's fourth scorer also.  They didn't count in the team scores.). That runner was Penn State's own Alan Scharsu, my former senior year roommate.

1. Mathews Motshwarateu, Texas-El Paso, 28:45.6
2. Michael Musyoki. Texas-El Paso, 28:46.4
3. Gabriel Kamau, Texas-El Paso, 29:19.3
4. Mark Scrutton, Colorado, 29.22.1
5. Graeme Fell, San Diego State, 29:30.4
6. Alan Scharsu, Penn State, 29:30.5
7. Suleiman Nyambui, Texas-El Paso, 29:32.6
8. Gidamis Shahanga, Texas-El Paso, 29:33.6
9. David Taylor, Arkansas, 29:35.6
10. Richard Tuwei. Washington State, 29:36.7

I have previously extolled the virtues of another PSU roommate, Dudley Doo-Right (aka Doug Kent).  Alan was also a great roommate.  We also lived next door to Don Skerpon that year.  Another pair of people as fine as them would be hard to find.  My only quibble with Alan would be his choice of music, but today's versions temper that quite a bit!