Syracuse - From Nothing to National Champ - How a Cross Country Powerhouse Was Built From Scratch in 10 Years

Love it. Go cuse.

Cuse returns everyone, and Bennie was 8th 2 years ago... They have a definite low-stick in Knight... No reason why they're not everyone's favorites this year.

The secret is one sentence: put all of your scholarship money into distance for 10 years.

GREAT article. Tons of respect for Chris and Brien and what they have done at Syracuse.

What a great story! Having been associated with this team I have to say that there is not one negative that can be said about these great athletes, and coach Fox and Bell. They are an inspiration - working hard, always being true gentlemen and being the epitome of "there is no "I" in team". Go Orange - TCB

put all of your

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Well that's part of it. But I know a person from there. I grew up in the North and know what Winter is about. This person from SY tells me I have no idea what living/training in a "snow belt" is like. Totally different ballgame.

And she's correct. Training in cold isn't that big a deal. Training in almost constant snow has to be a major hassle.

For that reason alone you have to marvel at what has been done there. Getting good kids to put up with Nov-April crap weather is amazing.

Great work by two great men - Go Cuse

Well written. Would have been good to have some perspective from those first 5 years. What they did to get to the point to improve. Unless it all started with Hehir, in which case, what were they doing before that?

Deathhouse Wogan wrote:

put all of your

--------------------"

Well that's part of it. But I know a person from there. I grew up in the North and know what Winter is about. This person from SY tells me I have no idea what living/training in a "snow belt" is like. Totally different ballgame.

And she's correct. Training in cold isn't that big a deal. Training in almost constant snow has to be a major hassle.

For that reason alone you have to marvel at what has been done there. Getting good kids to put up with Nov-April crap weather is amazing.

I understand what you're saying. Snow can be rough, however there are several great programs that deal with snow every year. Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, etc all have their fair share of snow. You might have to reschedule a workout here and there, but you have to be flexible with training schedules as it is if you're truly individualizing an athlete's progress.

I apologize, I'm not a Syracuse hater. They are fun and exciting and I particularly enjoy Justin Knight. I realize my last two posts came off as a bit bitter or something, and I didn't mean to come off that way. Many programs put all of their scholarships into distance running and don't have the success that Syracuse has, so it IS impressive to see all this money paying off for them now.

Hobby Logger wrote:

The secret is one sentence: put all of your scholarship money into distance for 10 years.

You think it would be that easy yet so many terrible teams do it with nothing to show for. And you begin to wonder if "user error" is a factor.

Syracuse has also won an ACC track title, been top 10 in track, regularly in the program of the year standings and have great individuals in nondistance events. The same can't be said for 98% of cross country or track program.

Outstanding article. Much obliged. Syracuse is one of my almae matres, and I used to coach there as well, so it's a delight to learn about their success.

I was a little surprised not to see any mention of Mike Muska, who (I believe) was Fox's coach at Auburn and who built the Auburn program in a way rather similar to what Fox has done at Syracuse.

Pro tip for those not from Central New York: the first syllable of "Syracuse" is typically pronounced as though it rhymed with "air."

Hold on.

From scratch?

They have one of the most accomplished American distance runners as their head coach and you guys think it's from scratch?

This ain't a D2 program with a 14:50 head coach.

It's Chris Fox.

lk wrote:

Hold on.

From scratch?

They have one of the most accomplished American distance runners as their head coach and you guys think it's from scratch?

This ain't a D2 program with a 14:50 head coach.

It's Chris Fox.

Ask Chris Solinsky how being fast makes you start ahead of the curve.

Better to be great at 1 thing than mediocre at many.

Way to go cuse

love the way they did it mostly with 9:00-9:10 guys... how many guys ran faster than Hehir in high school and he ends up top 10 at NCAA's(3rd or 4th American)... go 'Cuse!!

well the snow is over- rated...its only 5 or 6 months a year,but seriously the dpw does an outstanding job clearing it away. I see the team on runs from time to time during the winter and have thought now builds some grit, i mean you must really want "it" if you are willing to put up with the balmy January weather, I think the NYS guys on the team had a good understanding of it before coming to cuse...there are more than a few hs teams that do fairly well nationally that train through the winter.

Jimmy B. is not one to BS about much and when he mentioned C.Fox as the best coach in the department I thought oh great he is going to be sought after by every school out there,magnified by the nat championship...but now I think... why leave?

Enjoyed the article and admire Syracuse's championship run, but the article failed to be critical in two areas. First, while focusing a lot on recruiting, the article should have just come out and said what is a basic truth in NCAA cross country--recruiting is everything. If you start by recruiting some of the best runners in the country, you're likely to have a team that is one of the best in the country. Second, it fails to critize the coaching staff for abandoning their "we're going to be a great American team" focus. What the coaching staff really means is "we're gonna be a great American team unless you're a really really good foreigner and then we'll take you as well." Which is the same as saying "we're like every other NCAA team." Seems like the coaches abandoned one of their key philosophical principles in an effort to be the best. All said, congrats to Syracuse for all they've accomplished. They have good coaches, great recruiting, and a championship. But their story isn't all that unusual. If you recruit some of the best, you end up amongst the best. Show me a team that wins NCAAs without a single recruit in the FL or NXN top 50 and then you'll have an amazing story!

how tough should it be when schools are abandoning minor sports. All you have to do is show a little love, and a good school should be world ranked.