There was once a time when collegiate distance running was dominated by Americans.

But as distance running progressed from the 1980s up until today, coaches saw benefits in recruiting foreign-born runners – it made sense to bring in polished talent capable of making an immediate effect. For the runners, there were more opportunities to succeed in distance running in America than in other countries.

Syracuse cross country head coach Chris Fox sees it differently.

‘We just want to develop American distance runners,’ Fox said. ‘We feel like we have an obligation to the sport to develop American distance runners and maybe it’s even a little bit of a niche for us here in the Northeast.’

Developing cross country programs, with a predominantly American base, has become common in the Big East. Of the 16 teams in the conference, 13 of them have three or fewer foreign-born runners; Pittsburgh and Rutgers each have zero.

But what Pittsburgh and Rutgers also don’t have is a national ranking, something that Villanova and SU have. The Wildcats, No. 2 in the most recent U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) poll, have four foreign-born runners on their women’s team and another four on the men’s squad.

‘It usually translates to success immediately,’ SU sophomore runner Griff Graves said. ‘If you bring in foreign athletes to compete at universities in America, they’re going to be the best in their country. Obviously, universities aren’t going to go to Australia or Africa and be like, ‘Give me your fifth-best runner.’ They’re going to be the best runners of their country.’

Not only do the programs benefit from the advanced talent of foreign-born runners, but also the runners themselves take advantage of the opportunities that programs in the United States offer that nobody else does.

In Jeff Scull’s native Canada, universities do not provide athletic scholarships, and the competition is weaker. For him, the choice to come to Syracuse was easy.

‘Better competition and you get your school paid for; those are two real good things right there,’ he said.

So the Orange seems to be an anomaly. Scull – from Ontario, approximately three hours up the road from Syracuse – is the team’s only foreign-born runner. But despite that, the men’s team owns the No. 11 ranking in the nation.

The key is patience. Both Fox and Graves agree that a team that wants immediate success will look to the foreign market for the best available talent. But a team like Syracuse, which is willing to wait for its internal talent to develop, will be content with an American base.

‘I like to coach,’ Fox said. ‘If you’re going to bring in a guy who somebody has already coached, and that person up to be great at this level, then all I would be is a caretaker. I don’t want to bring in a guy who can already run 4:00 for the mile and keep him running 4:00 for the mile. I want to bring in a guy who runs 4:10 and see if I can get him to break four minutes.’

Graves also feels that developing that American base can set the stage for the formation of a ‘dynasty.’ Whereas foreign runners come in as already top-tier talent, spend a short time in the system and move on (much like a ‘one-and-done’ in basketball), American runners strengthen and progress their game during their stay.

‘Once you bring in American talent and develop it over a three-year time span, I feel that base you build with Americans will increase the longevity of your team in the future,’ Graves said. ‘You’re always going to be able to recruit Americans because this is our country.

‘We want to be the best. We’re Americans and I think that’s one thing that’s just a part of the American dream is just becoming the best you can be and not settling for anything less.’

And as for the team’s lone foreign runner (Scull), Graves said: ‘We don’t count him anyway.’

pcgeorge@syr.edu

Published on October 13, 2009 at 12:00 pm