NAIA school recommendation for 25 y/o foregin 1:48. 800-meter runner

St.Ambrose

Shawnee State University- solid NAIA xc/tf program that qualifies to Nationals every year. Located in OH, and are not moving to Division II.

I would also recommend Malone College "the Undisputed XC National Champions of 2007, 2008, 2009" but they are moving to NCAA DII.

Shawnee state does not have a track team idiot. Look at Shorter College, Cornerstone, Wayland Baptist, and Southern Oregon

California State University - San Marcos

Get coached by Steve Scott.

If your are an 800m speciaist, I would not focus on school whose focus in XC.

I'll second Wayland Baptist, they've done well with foreigners.

Shorter is going D2 also. Wayland Baptist...does he have to be Baptist?

No, I'm sure they'd accept a Muslim. I don't know that they'd discriminate against anyone, its an opportunity to convert/proclaim Christianity.

The question would be if he's comfortable going to a school thats primarily Christian/Baptist?

he should go to d1 or even go pro if he is even that good. batc will prolly take him. if not try dickinson state college

Go pro? 1:48 wouldn't have made D1 finals last spring.

Hard to argue with Steve Scott. Also Azuza-Pacific. Those are probably the two best programs right now. Steve Scott obviously doesn't get the top tier recruits because of where he's coaching--It would be interesting to see what he could do if he got one.

McKendree College in Illinois

30 y/o senior wrote:

The question would be if he's comfortable going to a school thats primarily Christian/Baptist?

Yeah that can be pretty important. If he's a strong muslim, there's a good chance he would not have a good time at a lot of those schools.

I went to Lindenwood which is ostensibly a religious school (it still showed up on lists of Christian colleges), but it wasn't at all. The school just had a few strict rules because they liked to be controlling (as opposed to being motivated by religion), but there were no chapel/prayer requirements, and you only had to take one religious-type class and it could be met by taking philosophy or something equally generic.

But some religious colleges require weekly chapel attendance, yearly religious classes, and might have a student body that would not be as understanding of someone of a completely different faith. Not that they would be mean or anything, just that he wouldn't get a lot of support.

Lindenwood is also going over to NCAA D2 but thank you for the responses. I will consider these options and will probably avoid anything with a strong religious undercurrent. Steve Scott could be intriguing.

If the school doesn't discriminate that is fine, however I don't think the runner is interested in being 'converted' to Christianity any more than these member schools would be interested in converting to Islam.

This guy has only been running for only three years so his upside is major. NCAA D1 would be nice (or D2, etc.) but the age consideration rules those options out. NAIA or bust. Thanks again and happy new year.

Wayland Baptist has several foreigners on the team (Kenyan, Canadian, Jamaican, Barbadian). Has some strong 800 runners to train with. 3 or 4 guys in the 1:50 to 1:54 range. It's great training for an 800 runner.

Chapel attendance is mandatory once a week for 7 semesters, but it's usually just a Christian band playing music. You also have to take two religion classes. The majority of the student body is not strict religious fanatics though. There was a Muslim sprinter from Dubai that graduated from Wayland last year, so they are definitely tolerant.

Relays are typically a good indicator of a program's effectiveness.

1 McKendree 7:29.14

1) Mike Mendez SR

2) Joshua Katam SR

3) Josh Wilhelm SO

4) Devin Williams SR

2 Wayland Baptist 7:30.40

1) Jarrod Morris FR

2) Mario Scott JR

3) Hildon Boen FR

4) Kirby Dunn SR

3 Dakota State 7:30.74

1) Andy Coy FR

2) Cody Foreman SR

3) Matt Fideler JR

4) Tyler VanPeursem SR

Have you considered Canadian universities?

Perhaps more lax on eligibility...

Central Arizona. Great success with Kenyans. Good tutoring for academics. No religious affiliation.

Ralphy wrote:

Have you considered Canadian universities?

Perhaps more lax on eligibility...

The CIS only does XC and indoor track though, no outdoor track.