NORMAN, Okla. — Efrain Romero was 11 when he immigrated to the United States from northern Mexico after his father took a job here in the oil industry. Romero is a descendant of the Tarahumara, an Indian tribe native to the Copper Canyon region known for their ability to run long distances.



As an adult, he incorporated his runner’s heritage into his wildly popular Mexican restaurant that is known as much for its speed and efficiency as it is the native Chihuahua cuisine. He started noticing a new face one autumn and eventually asked Bob Stoops if he knew the quiet kid who kept ordering chicken quesadillas every week.



“That’s our new quarterback,” Stoops told him. “Baker Mayfield.”



Tarahumaras are well known in the ultramarathon community. Victoriano Churro introduced the tribe to Americans 25 years ago when he won the Leadville Trail, a grueling 100-mile race of uneven paths and dirt roads carved through the heart of...