Ok, it's time to find the #1 LetsRun.com-certified NCAA XC team (No foreigners, no transfers, no redshirts?)

We cannot ALL get behind anything, and certainly not a team who simply has no foreigners, as if we are all a bunch of xenophobes, but I am sure most people will get behind the idea, knowing how things are here.

Air Force

Embarrassing post to be honest.

Don't forget guys! NO FOREIGNERS!

I'd look for more "niche" (BYU / other religious ones) and/or higher ranked academically ones.
But would you count Canadians (as a certain someone has mentioned, it should be our 51st state) or grad transfers?

I don’t remember a single team winning nationals in the last 15 years without a transfer or international besides BYU (they have advantages like age and cheap tuition, massive disadvantages of being primarily Mormon). Could be wrong.

Maybe the CU teams of the early 2000s?

But this is a boring topic.

On the flip side, US high school running is deeper than ever! That’s a positive

I am quite sure the BYU W fit the criteria with Jane H, Jenna H, Riley C, Taylor R and Taylor L (I assume top 5) all hs class of 2022 or later. I'd have to examine the roster for some M teams but maybe a UVA, Stanford or Notre Dame?

BYU qualifies except they're mostly overage. Maybe BYU women?

This documentary goes into the doping problems in Kenya, specifically, providing some reasons why, and mentions the mass corruption in the country which hinders any attempts to clean it up.

Note the documentary is at least seven years old, and conditions might be worse since then.

An athlete in the documentary says they all take epo.

I would contend that runners like Alberto Salazar and Galen Rupp probably were better runners because they had some foreign runners to contend with in college, so I think to refer to a team as LetsRun certified as having no foreigners is really a bad look, and makes me question whether I want to associate with this site.

NC State W could field a very good team (but not as good as BYU) taking out Gapes and subbing in someone - maybe Hartman, Napoleon, Putman, Michalak, Rauber or Engelhardt?

ok....but "on the roster" removes them from consideration I guess.

I suppose someone might come up with some decent teams, and more on the women's side (BYU?) in general...

But perhaps the point is that the things that make a team "LetsRun Certified" are hard to find and generally make for mediocre and bad teams, and are actually pretty rare.

To put it another way, what many posters seem to want or value hardly exists in Division I.

Top d3 teams will all be that…whether it’s a random Wisconsin campus or MIT

CORRECTION: he says ”most” professional runners in Kenya take EPO, not all. This exchange starts at timestamp 4:15.

But things have recently changed with possible changes in ncaa rules pertaining to age limits, prior pro competition, etc.; as well as athlete-recruiting mill programs, like scholarbook, circumventing in-place visa limits (by shuttling Kenyan athletes through other countries).

Nailed it.

I mean if someone nominates a bottom team in the Ivy League - I propose we elimiante them as the Ivies have unlimited amounts of need-based aid. We might as well not allow recruiting. I'd say let's go to the D3 ranks but even there they recruit.

This thread is why I like the NFL the most of all. Roster caps. Salary caps. Revenue share. Draft. It's the closest thing to a meritocracy that you can find.

All schools recruit - everyone just seems to have a different level as to how far we want to take that recruiting.

We need a HS xc draft!!

... and they all have to pass an written and oral English exam.

The Brojos will not be on that list, that's for sure.