At Rice, he ran track in the late 1970s and early 1980s. His teammate Jeff Wells, an Olympic Trials-qualifying runner, was able to challenge him in workouts. Froelick suffered through some injuries during two of the years. But he reemerged in 1981 to become the 10,000 meters Southwest Conference champion. His best college time for the 10,000 was 29:14.9, which remains the second-best time ever run by a Rice University student.
