I am trying to come up with a list of people who played soccer in high school or even into college who wound up switching their focus to running eventually and having success with it. Male or female. Thanks.
I am trying to come up with a list of people who played soccer in high school or even into college who wound up switching their focus to running eventually and having success with it. Male or female. Thanks.
Andrew Wheating and Laurynne Chetelat
Maria Mutola and El G jump to mind. Donna Anderson who ran in 2 Olympic Marathon Trials played soccer for UNC when they won a national championship.
Jaouad Gharib, Olympic marathon silver medalist and two-time marathon world champ.
Lennie Waite
Darren Campbell played for Plymouth Argyle.
Andy Downin, 2001 USATF 1500 champ, 4 time all-american in XC, played soccer all the way up until college. Was pretty good too, All State.
http://www.mensracing.com/athletes/interviews/andydownin.html
Did you run cross country?
No, I played soccer. Soccer and cross country were both in the fall. I was a three year starter on our soccer team and we won the state championship when I was a sophomore and should have won it my junior year but didn't. Then my senior year we were second in the state. I was All State in soccer my senior year -- soccer was always my first love, so I wasn't going to give it up. I ran a couple cross country meets. As a senior, I won my class meet [which takes place the week before the state meet in Massachusetts]. I was going to run the state meet [my senior year], I qualified, but the state finals [in soccer] were on the same day so I had to choose.
Nick Symmonds
Erin Sullivan won the Girls' Footlocker National Cross Country Championship twice, in 1997 and 1998 and came over to running from soccer.
Wasn't primarily a soccer player until his sophomore or junior year in high school?
Jordan Hasay played soccer all the way up to her senior cross country season before quitting for track/xc.
Galen Rupp
El G
I recall that Suzy Tuffey, our state record holder and NCAA cross country champ in the 80's was a soccer player in the fall.
me
Steve Cram
bekele
What about the other way around? Who were famous Soccer players who also ran track in the offseason? Recruiting soccer players would be more convincing if you told them Beckham, Maradona, Ronaldo, Zidane, Pele, etc also ran track. Am I totally off base here?
Said Aouita was a soccer player before he ran
Watch for Cole Atkins...this guys is for real. First year running full time and already at 14:30.