I don’t believe they are 100 percent clean. But I also don’t believe they are 100 percent dirty. Genetic advantage plus using scholarbook to handpick the best runners in Kenya who sometimes are already pro runners before even entering the ncaa plus going to easy academic schools plus being older than traditional age. That’s enough of a recipe for success for many if not most to be extremely successful without doping. They look like they are really hurting in races and aren’t posting otherworldly times with suspicious progressions. I’m not going to assume someone living and training in the states is dirty just because they were born in Kenya.
There is no genetic advantage. Researchers have tried to find evidence of this over and over again and came up with nothing. What you have, instead, is a pool of thousands of people who are born and raised, and train, at altitude. Combine that with a culture where running is seen as a lucrative and attractive career. The pool of US talent that fits those criteria is going to be lower, especially since opportunities outside of running for Americans are so much greater and more lucrative. It's only people like Rojo and MAGA types that still believe in the unscientific genetic advantage garbage.
I personally am doubtful about the doping allegations. East Africans clearly have a genetic advantage. I think that's more than enough to explain their dominance.
But the enormous number of imported athletes really has become ridiculous. There needs to be a roster limit on foreign athletes. Especially with the recently imposed roster size limits.
None of this is new. Been the same for decades. I ran college track and cross country 3;decades ago and we were complaining about these things back then.
The irony of this statement is not lost on me, when two of the five mentioned are international. I guess when they look a certain way, that doesn't count?
Kenyan freshmen usually have an immediate impact on a program where as US freshmen can take a year or more to develop...It's like college baseball letting pro players who went from high school to pro but didn't make it to the big leagues be allowed to play college ball...
The irony of this thread is that American distance running is currently the best it's ever been in the "modern" era. If you view the NCAA system as an incubator for talent, it definitely helps the future USA pros that the standards for winning are so high.
Let's see how the next couple years and the NIL system play out. It's good to remember that of the last 12 winning men's teams, only 1 (OK State in 2024) won with a significant African presence. The last 5 individual titles have also been won by Americans, if you count Hicks now.
It's Artie's chance to go back home. How many of his runners does that apply to?
Most of his runners are from Utah. I guess they will just have to attend 1 of the 2 home meets that Utah State hosts....or one of the 2 other meets they had in Utah this year.
Exactly. The runners are from Utah so going to Lehigh does nothing to give their friends a chance to watch them run. If Utah State has two home meets that's good and gives their runners more chances to watch them race than most schools have.
I've lost all interest in collegiate running because of the African imports.
I see this view, but personally it’s more frustrating to see 25+ aged runners. I don’t really care if they’re from Kenya, Ireland, or Turkey. I like the NCAA being at a high level, but I’d like it to be comprised of athletes who are not at the end of their development. I suppose this rule would disproportionately affect Kenyans but they are far from the only crazy old people competing.
I have no issue with foreign runners on U.S. college teams except for when they take so many spots from U.S. kids. Especially at public universities. But when 8 of the top 10 in a race are Kenyans aged 25 to 30, that just doesn't seem right.
I applaud the programs that aren't playing this game.
Im so happy that more than one of us agree on this. In every sport there are foreign athletes competing. This forum doesn't have a problem with doping, they have a problem with African people smh. Its sad.
It's not an irony. The House NIL settlement with the roster limits of 17 and the money have just radically transformed a situation from the previous forty-fifty years in which foreigners would make up 10-20% of xc runners and quite a few of the best, and a few squads would rely entirely or largely on them (at times, Villanova, Arkansas, Iona, Alabama, for instance) to one in which the top teams and contenders are almost all Kenyan, with a few other Africans, Europeans, and Aussies among them, and the spots are simply not available for a lot of American runners entering college at 18 years old.
Who cares? none of them are actually gonna win it all anyways haha. The Kenyans seem to bomb at NCAA's a lot after putting up crazy in-season performances. Rocky Hansen is gonna beat them all anyways.