His senior international debut came at the 1980 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, where his 43rd-place finish ina team of Craig Virgin (the winner), Daniel Dillon, Kenneth Martin, Steve Plasencia, and Mark Anderson brought the Americans the silver medals. He began to focus on track running more and progressed up the national rankings, taking fifth in the 5000 meters at the 1980 United States Olympic Trials then third at the 1981 USA Outdoors. He moved up the placings at the 1982 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 27th overall, but the American team fared poorly in sixth. A fourth-place finish at the national championships meant he missed the 1983 World Championships in Athletics, but he still gained selection for the 1983 Pan American Games, at which he came fifth.