Berhe brothers are sticking together for the long run

There's a time and a place for sibling rivalry, and there's a time and place to put the team first. Abraham Berhe confronted that choice two weeks ago, and he didn't even hesitate.

At the KingCo 4A cross-country championships at Lincoln Park, his older brother Yonas Berhe, a senior and Roosevelt High School's top runner, lunged for the finish line and — having misjudged the distance — lost his balance and fell to the ground, a few feet short. Abraham, a freshman running a few strides behind, stopped, picked Yonas up and flung him forward. Yonas finished fifth and Abraham sixth, and they were credited with the same time — 16 minutes, 10 seconds. Roosevelt took the team title by a point.

"I picked him up because I wanted our team to win," Abraham Berhe said. "Yeah, I want to beat him. But fair and square, not like that."

Teamwork will again be the focus Saturday, when the Berhe brothers lead Roosevelt into the state meet at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco. The Class 4A boys race, scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m., is the last of 11 championship races.

The Roughriders' squad also includes senior captain Ryan Vytlacil, senior Peter Hoff, juniors Tufa Amin and Ben Glowney and sophomore Andrew Sahl. Roosevelt, which won the KingCo 4A title for the third time since 2001, qualified for state after finishing second in the district meet.

That the Berhe brothers, the school's top two runners, even made it this far is noteworthy. Their mother, Atsede Weldu, considered pulling them off the team because she believed all the practices, meets and team potlucks were interfering with their homework.

She reconsidered after they pleaded with her about the sport's benefits: good health, another notch on their high-school resumes, and the potential for college scholarships.

The Berhe brothers are of Ethiopian descent. Yonas was born in Sudan, and Abraham in Ohio, after the family immigrated to the United States.

Roosevelt coach Howard Collier says they share the easy, fluid running motion of many of the great African runners. Indeed, Yonas says he was inspired by Ethiopian distance runner Haile Gebreselassie, who won Olympic gold medals in 1996 and 2000.

Yonas and Abraham "are very natural runners, relaxed runners," Collier said. "High leg kicks, always moving their arms, always looking forward. Abraham is still growing, so he runs to the [left] side a little bit."

The family settled in Seattle when Yonas was about 6. All three Berhe brothers — the eldest, Samson, is a sophomore at Washington State — started running early, when a counselor at Bailey Gatzert Elementary School saw their potential and encouraged them to join Rain City Flyers, a recreational running club.

Collier said Yonas, who is about 5 feet 5, is more of a classic distance runner with "a real big heart," while Abraham, a few inches taller, has great potential and is a better sprinter.

There are other differences. Collier, joking, said Yonas always seems to be late, while Abraham is always punctual.

Yonas blames it on poor time management. In addition to homework and cross country, he volunteers at a food bank and with Hands for a Bridge, a social justice group that works with high-school kids. The group went to South Africa last year to learn about apartheid.

After a recent practice at Cowen Park, the two brothers talk about how glad they are for the chance to run alongside each other this year. Abraham is thankful for his brother's advice and role modeling. Yonas is thankful for the push, both all season long and at the KingCo 4A championships.

"I'd never raced him in my life before this year," Yonas said. "He turned out to be pretty good. I knew he was fast. But not this fast. He's right behind me."

Michael Ko: 206-515-5653 or mko@seattletimes.com