Irine Lagat has a soon-to-be three-time Olympian brother, Bernard, who just won two gold medals at the World Track Championships in Osaka, Japan, earlier this month. She has another brother, Robert Cheseret, who will, in all likelihood, compete in his first Olympics next summer in Beijing.

So the pressure to perform must be immense, right?

Wrong.

“”I don’t feel any pressure from them,”” Lagat said. “”They support me in everything I do, and right now I am focusing on college.””

Lagat, who did not run in the Pacific 10 Conference Championships last season, returns this year as the top runner for the Arizona women’s cross country team and is looking to build off of her fourth-place finish at the Dave Murray Invitational in Tucson on Sept. 14.

“”I’m working on (improving),”” she said. “”I’m just trying to get in good training and I’m just trying to improve every day.

“”My goal is to get to the Pac-10 Championships because I didn’t get there last year,”” she added. “”This year we have a very good team, we are very strong, and I think that we can do very well.””

Lagat, a junior, is looking to leave a mark similar to those of her brothers, although she has quite a hole to fill.

Cheseret

completed a monster career as one of the Pac-10’s most accomplished athletes. He earned All-American honors 11 times, won the Pac-10 title the last two years and placed 10th in the NCAA Championships last fall.

He graduated from Arizona last December and still lives in Tucson. He attended the Murray Invitational and liked what he saw from his younger sister.

“”She looked really good,”” Cheseret said. “”She showed a lot of improvement, and after her season last year, she did great.””

After taking some time off from running, Cheseret has begun training for Olympic trials in his native Kenya, where running is more than a passion – it’s a way of life. He hopes to join their older brother, Bernard, at the Olympics.

Bernard is one of the most accomplished runners of the family, having competed with great success at the international level. Running for Kenya, he has won two Olympic medals: a bronze in Sydney, Australia, in 2000, and silver in Athens, Greece, in 2004. The Athens Games were the last time Bernard represented Kenya, as he was granted U.S. citizenship in 2004.

Since then, he has become the U.S. record holder in the indoor and outdoor 1,500-meter and won two gold medals at the 2007 World Championships in Japan: one in the 1,500m, the other in the 5,000m.

His gold in the 1,500m ended a 99-year American drought in the event. The last U.S. champion was Mel Sheppard in 1908.

Bernard insisted that switching countries has nothing to do with Kenya, and everything to do with America.

“”It was a difficult decision to make because I ran for Kenya for a long time and my parents are very patriotic people,”” he told the Wildcat on Oct. 25, 2006. “”It was also very important for me to give back to America. … As I run for America now, I feel that I’m giving back to the community.””

Bernard was recruited to America by UA cross country head coach James Li when he coached at Washington State. Li also recruited Cheseret and Irine to Arizona.

“”I’m very proud of (Bernard),”” said Li, who will serve as the head manager for the U.S. men’s Olympic track team in Beijing next summer. “”He’s an amazing athlete and he has worked very hard.””

Li wasn’t the only one singing Bernard’s praises.

“”I’m so happy for him,”” Irine said. “”It doesn’t matter that he is running for the U.S. (and not Kenya). He is my brother, and I will support him no matter what.””

Cheseret echoed his sister’s sentiments, and denied the existence of a rivalry between the two.

“”We motivate each other,”” he said. “”But (Irine and I) have to support him no matter what. It doesn’t matter (what country) he runs for.””

Cheseret also put an end to the hope for any potential race against Bernard. He plans to run the 10,000m event, while Bernard will compete in the 1,500m and 5,000m.

If her school schedule allows, Irine said she would love to be in Beijing to support her two brothers.

“”I just want them to do well,”” she said. “”They are my brothers, and I will support them the best that I can.

“”I’m hoping one day I will (compete in the Olympics),”” she added. “”But right now I’m focusing on college and trying to see how far I’ll go and then we’ll see how I’ve done, and I’ll know if I have a chance to make the (Kenya) team.””