By Feverpitch Reporter

Patrick Rono, who is sending the US Schools Cross-country Circuit on a spin, returns to the course next week, hoping to extend a string of victories that has seen him enjoy a sensational season.

Rono, son of 1988 Seoul Olympic 1,500m champion, Peter Rono, has won eight races in as many meetings this year.

He is a favourite at the Group Meet of Champions, next week, followed by the State Meet of Champions the week after. Both will be held in Holmdel, Central New Jersey.

The last race lined up for Rono this year is the Nike North East Regionals Wappingers to be held in Falls, New York State, on November 28.

This is the equivalent of US National Schools Championships where champions from every state are invited to participate.

Rono, a sophomore at Lyndhurst High in New Jersey, has broken all cross-country and track schools’ records at the school, except the mile record, which stands at 4:22.

The record is held by one of America’s greatest coaches, who works closely with Kenyans at Life University, Georgia State, Kennasaw State University and Academy School of Art at San Francisco.

One of his sensational victories was at Bergen Country Meet of Champions in Darlington, Mahwah, NJ, where he recorded the fourth fastest time by any high school student. He ran 15:29 in a 5km race. He later ran the second fastest time by a high school student at Warnanco Park in Elizabeth, NJ, by running 16:08 in a 5.3km race last week.

"He feels pressure being a son of a former Olympic champion, but I don’t interfere with his programme. I let him to enjoy his running, but I offer help when asked to," says his father Peter, who predicts that Patrick will most likely win Olympic gold and even break world records.