Jacob Choge, brother of Augustine, runs in NCAA

You will calm down.

These guys are pretty good for September. Since when did Middle Tennessee State beat Georgia, Ohio State, Butler, and Missouri?

Men's Team Results (Top 5)

1. Middle Tennessee (63)

2. Georgia (81)

3. Ohio State (106)

4. Butler (116)

5. Missouri (150)

Middle Tennessee Individual Men's Results (8k)

2. Jacob Choge (24:03.7)

8. Kigen Chemadi (24:44.1)

11. Sampson Laari (24:55.5)

18. Hillary Rono (25:16.9)

27. Amos Cheruiyot (25:30.9)

56. Shadrack Matelong (25:58.5)

Middle Tennessee State = African runners please apply and local tax payers will pick up the tab.

Strong statement - yes. Some or all of these guys may in fact be US citizens - I don't know. I do think that having a line-up like this would discourage many athletes from even applying to the school. The more this takes place the more it may discourage US HS athletes to pursue running in the NCAA.

Middle Tennessee Individual Men's Results (8k)

2. Jacob Choge (24:03.7) Kapsabet City, Kenya, Fr.

8. Kigen Chemadi (24:44.1) Ainbkoi, Kenya, So.

11. Sampson Laari (24:55.5) Kumasi, Ghana, Sr.

18. Hillary Rono (25:16.9) Eldoret, Kenya, Sr.

27. Amos Cheruiyot (25:30.9) Eldoret, Kenya, Jr.

56. Shadrack Matelong (25:58.5) Burnt Forest, Kenya Sr.

Take a look at Middle Tennesee's entire T&F/XC roster...

http://www.goblueraiders.com/roster.aspx?roster=1254

There are only 5 guys out of 16 from the US HS system. Those 5 are from Tennessee of which 4 do jumps and sprints and one runs XC. The other 11 are all from Africa.

Who is paying for this? Who is paying the coaches who make these recruiting decisions and administrators salaries who sign-off on this stuff? Tennessee tax payers and students in their fees - that's who. Who needs coaches that pad their jobs with foreign recruits. Who needs administrators that spend other peoples money in this kind of way?

What has happened to developing home grown HS talent with a sprinkling of foreign talent?

No wonder US HS runners are over trained leading up to their Junior year (when most recruiting is done) just so they might have a look at possible scholarship. Having to compete with African runners, many of whom are much older, just to get a look into university programs, and if lucky enough run in the NCAA system - it is no wonder so many kids are burnt-out coming into University or early in their University running experience.

If one penny of my taxes or if one of my kids were going to a State institution that had a sports program loaded up like this with foreigners - I would be mad as hell.

not good for developing talent wrote:

If one penny of my taxes or if one of my kids were going to a State institution that had a sports program loaded up like this with foreigners - I would be mad as hell.

Where do you live?

76% of the men's track/XC team at Middle Tennessee State are Africans. 92% of the men's XC team are Africans.

Where do you live, and do you pay any taxes?

My main point is spending money this way is not good for developing US HS talent.

Is this really new to you? What rock have you been living under? Checkout UTEP - last year they had six guys listed on their entire roster and four or five were Kenyan. EKU has 12 male internationals and 6 female internationals on their cross country rosters. It's been going on for a long time and for some reason the ncaa doesn't seem to want to mess with it. Many of the east coast schools recruit heavily from ireland and england as well as other spots. The Junior College Association put some limits on rosters a few years back and it would be interesting to hear from those folks if they think it has been a positive or negative overall effort.

not good for developing talent wrote:

76% of the men's track/XC team at Middle Tennessee State are Africans. 92% of the men's XC team are Africans.

Where do you live, and do you pay any taxes?

My main point is spending money this way is not good for developing US HS talent.

I live in MO and pay taxes. you?

Can you prove that a single penny of tax payer money goes to these scholarships?

No, not completely new to me.

You mention two other schools in UTEP and EKU that also blatantly load their programs with Africans. You also state "many east coast schools recruit heavily from Ireland and England." I'll add Australia and in some cases Canada to that list.

I believe foreign students and student athletes bring added benefit to the university experience, in some situations help with the competitive environment and if they stay with their learned talents in the US can help our society. My main premise is I believe that a school like Middle Tennessee having 92% of its men's XC team being from Africa is not good for the overall development of US HS athletes, and tax payers money shouldn't be spent in that manner.

Maybe there should be a limit - 25% of the available scholarships for a particular sport to be directed at foreign athletes? Do you think there should be roster and/or scholarship limits to foreign athletes?

Hard to prove - indeed.

Out of state tuition is listed at $25k and room and board at $8k/year.

That is a lot of money for anyone to pay to go to school at Middle Tennessee State. Those runners must have rich parents and/or wonderful country sponsorship that deems Middle Tennessee a good investment in their academics. Otherwise they are receiving monies from other sources... safe to say that may include US tax payer monies.

50% of the United States is on some type of government aid, and this is what you're crying about?

How is it safe to say? Do you know how most Division 1 athletic scholarships are funded? Are you just assuming that because it's a state school that your tax dollars fund athletic scholarships?