The 1988 Olympic gold medalist Paul Ereng became the first Kenyan to take a collegiate coaching job in the United States when he was named UTEP's cross country and distance coach on Aug. 8, 2003. Now in his third season at UTEP, Ereng has already elevated the Miner distance runners.

In two and a half years, Ereng has trained a NCAA champion, six NCAA All-Americans, 22 conference champions (two cross country, 10 outdoor, 10 indoor) and one Midwest Regional champion. He has had two athletes gain conference Runner of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors. In addition, Ereng has had 11 individuals qualify for the NCAA track and field championships and four individuals qualify for the NCAA cross country championships.

Last fall, Ereng brought the UTEP men's cross country team back to the NCAA Championships for the first time in 13 years. The Miners finished 14th behind All-Americans Stephen Samoei (20th) and Japheth Ng'ojoy (22nd). Samoei was named C-USA's Runner of the Year.

UTEP advanced to the NCAA championships with a second-place finish at the NCAA Mountain Regional with Samoei (fourth), Ng'ojoy (fifth), Mircea Bogdan (ninth) and Patrick Mutai (14th) finishing in the top 15.

Ereng led the Miners to their first-ever Conference USA title scoring 23 points behind Mutai (first), Ng'ojoy (third), Samoei (fourth), Bogdan (fifth) and Joe Muñoz (10th).

In the spring of 2005, Ereng trained Bogan to the NCAA title and Mutai to a fifth-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. His distance runners also played a major role in UTEP winning its final WAC title at the outdoor championships, scoring 93 of the Miners' 208.5 points. During the indoor season he had Adriana Pirtea win the silver in the 3,000-meter run at the NCAA Championships.

Ereng came to UTEP after working for the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) as the technical director for the development of the youth of Africa from 2001-03. While working at the IAAF High Performance Training Center in Eldoret, Kenya, he trained young men and women middle to long distance runners from various African countries.

Ereng's runners won medals in the 800, 1,500, steeplechase, 5,000 and the 10,000 at the 2001 African Junior Championships in Mauritius.

Ereng coached Janeth Jepkosgei, who won the 2002 IAAF World Junior Championship title in the 800, and also had a fifth-place finisher on the men's side.

He molded current Olympic steeplechase champion Eziekiel Kemboi, who ranked third in the world in 2003 in the steeplechase (8:02.49). Kemboi was second in the steeplechase at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and was runner-up at the 2003 IAAF World Championships in Paris.

In cross country, he trained Simrate Sultan, a top-15 female for the 2003 World Junior Cross Country Championships, and Ali Abdalla, who finished 25th at the World Cross Country Championships on a men's 4K course.

In 2002, Ereng was appointed to head the Kenya World Junior Championships team, which finished second overall.

Along with his IAAF duties, Ereng started and coached the Eldoret Track and Field club.

He is certified by the IAAF with a level two standing for coaching middle and long distance events. He has been the President of the Africa Region V Track and Field Coaches Association, founder and executive member of the Kenya Coaches Commission, president of the National Association of Kenya Olympians and secretary general of the Rift Valley Province Track and Field Association.

Over the years, Ereng has been the recipient of many awards, honors and titles. In 2004 he was inducted into the Drake Relays' Hall of Fame. In 2003 he was given the all-time top-10 achievers medal in track and field by the Atlantic Coast Conference. He received the IAAF's lifetime athletics award in 2002. He was granted Kenya's highest title of the Order of the Grand Warrior (OGW) in 1990. He received the Jumbo Elliott Award for demonstrating quality and leadership off and on the track in 1989. He picked up the Henry Cummings Award as Virginia's top male athlete in 1989 as well.

As an athlete, Ereng was a three-time NCAA champion, a four-time NCAA All-American, the 1988 Olympic gold medalist in Seoul, twice the World Indoor Champion and a former world record holder.

As a freshman at the University of Virginia, Ereng won the 1988 NCAA Outdoor 800 title.

He emerged on the world scene by defeating Joaquim Cruz and Moroccan Said Aoiuta in the 800 at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games to take Kenya's first-ever gold medal in the event.

At the 1989 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Budapest, Hungry, he established the world record in 1:44.84. A few days later he claimed his second NCAA indoor title in the 800 and then the NCAA outdoor crown in the spring.

Ereng lost only one 800 race during the 1989 outdoor season in 15 tries. He also had the world's fastest time of 1:43.16 during the season.

He also was fourth at the 1991 IAAF World Championships in Tokyo and was a member of the Kenya Olympic team at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.

Ereng graduated from Virginia in 1993 with a bachelor's degree in religious studies with a minor in sociology.

A native of Eldoret, Kenya, he attended the Starehe Boys Center as a prep.

He and his wife, Fatuma, have two daughters (Jasmine & Victoria) and one son (Paul, Jr.).