Ethiopians: From war to running titles

By: KELLY ELBIN
Journal staff writer


Photo caption: Montgomery College-Rockville's Ethiopian refugee runners (from left): Amanuel Asefaw, Berhane Tadese and Shige Hatanaka.

The rolling, plush Beaver Creek Golf Course in Hagerstown is a far cry from the dry, desert lands of Ethiopia.

However, that was no matter Friday for two cross country runners from Montgomery College-Rockville. The two won the men's and women's National Junior College Athletic Association Region XX cross country championship.

Berhane Tadese, an Ethiopian woman who took up running three years ago because she "wanted to do something outside of my studies," stormed away from the field to win the women's division by slightly more than 50 seconds with a time of 19:48.5. Her nearest rival on the 3 mile course was her teammate and the one other woman on the MC-Rockville team, Donyale Thomas.

Both qualified for the NJCAA national cross country championship on Nov. 8 at the same Beaver Creek layout.

"I really liked that course," said Tadese, 23, who came to this country five years ago after escaping from the political problems of her homeland. "This course was flatter than some others I've run. I prefer to run in the woods, but this course was completely flat. But I didn't mind it."

On the men's side, Amanuel Asefaw, who started running while at Blair High School in Silver Spring, fended off a newfound rival to win the men's division with a time of 26:14.4 over the 5-mile course. MC-Rockville finished second in the team standings to Hagerstown.

Asefaw, 19, outlegged Jim Hessenauer of Essex Community College by 27.5 seconds.

I ran a real good race and had a pretty fast time, said Asefaw, who beat Hesenauer in the MC-Rockville Invitational earlier in the school year. "The course wasn't as hilly as Lake Needwood (where MC practices)."

Seven members of the MC-Rockville men's team, including Asefaw, will run in the national meet. In that group is another Ethiopian, Nasser Mohammed-Eman, who, like Tadese and Asefaw, fled from his country and eventualy made his way to the United States.

Mohammed-Eman finished 25th overall with a time of 32:04.0.

But numbers are a small morsel of the story surrounding these three courageous runners.

Each left Ethiopia, an independent country in East Africa, as the government struggled to repel separate civil wars that were breaking out in the late '70s and early '80s.

Tadese, who hopes to become a nurse one day, spent three years in the Soviet Union before going to West Germany for a short time and then on to America. She now lives in Washington with a friend and prefers not to elaborate on the circumstances surrounding her departure from Ethiopia.

Asefaw, who grew up in the northern part of Ethiopia where many of the "freedom fighters" have caused friction for the government, flew to Italy in 1981 rather than stay and be forced to serve in the army. He came to America in February 1982.

"It just didn't seem like the right thing to do (join the army) at the time," Asefaw recalled. "Depending on your physical condition, they come right in and take you out of school to serve in the army. That really interferes with your education."

Asefaw began running at Blair under Coach Gregg Gochnour. He has progressed to the point where he was the favorite in the race Friday. Still, the transition to a new country has been difficult.

"Learning a new language has been tough," said Asefaw, who is interested in engineering and architecture. "Plus, it's a different culture and the weather is colder. I had never seen snow before I got here. But I've gotten used to it."

The most dramatic story, however, belongs to Mohammed-Eman, a tall, slender man, whom MC Coach Dan Reeks compliments when he terms him "a classic overachiever."

Mohammed-Eman, 20, left his home in 1978 and paid guides to take him to the neighboring country of Sudan. He walked for nine nights through the desert to get to Sudan and freedom. During the day, a frightening combination of heat and overhead airplanes patrolling the land forced the group to hide.

"It was not my choice to leave; it was the only way I could escape my country," said Mohammed-Eman, who also wanted no part of being forced to serve in the army of a military dictatorship that had overthrown Emperor Haile Selassie I in 1974.

Mohammed-Eman lived with his uncle in Sudan, then moved to Saudi Arabia and Italy before arriving in the United States. He played soccer at Wheaton High before trying out for the indoor track team that Reeks coached.

"When I came to MC and found out Mr. Rooks was the coach here, I wanted to try out for the team" Mohammed-Eman said.

Reeks said each of the three runners is "all so different. Berhane's real curious, and Nasser is perhaps the smartest of the three. Amanuel is the best athlete. He's going to survive. He'll persevere. All three are that way."

For the three athletes, the future remains somewhat clouded. Asefaw said he would accept a scholarship to run at a four-year college should that opportunity ever arise. Mohammed-Eman is studying liberal arts and is well-spoken. Tadese hopes to further her studies and become a nurse.

Still, they are thousands of miles from family and friends. That sticks in each of their minds when asked if they will ever go home. The smile shyly, and at the same time hopefully.

"Everyone is proud of his country," Mohammed-Eman said. "Even though our nation is poor, we are proud of it. We love it."