International runners invade MAC cross country

by Paul Shugar
THE POST

International athletes can be used in all sports, but a fuss comes up quite often when those sports are cross country and track.

Toledo cross country coach Kevin Hadsell is well aware of the stir that occurs when one brings international players into a program.

Hadsell has five distance runners on his cross country team from all over the world. Three of these runners, Emily Laroupe (Kenya), Kia Minkkinen (Finland) and Katherine Smyth (New Zealand), have already made impacts in the Mid-American Conference cross country scene.

These runners have made such an impact that the Rockets have been predicted as the preseason favorites this year to run away with the MAC title. The Rockets have also been ranked eighth in the Great Lakes region of the NCAA behind seven nationally-ranked teams.

"American runners just can’t compete with international runners because they have more maturity and experience," Ohio cross country coach Elmore Banton said. "Experience and maturity are the best attributes a runner can have."

Hadsell has just one simple reply to why he recruits international runners.

"I just try to recruit the best runners I can," he said.

Recruiting the best runners Hadsell can has made a tremendous turnaround for his team. His women’s team held the solid position of last in the MAC until they finished fourth last year.

Hadsell is not the only coach using international runners to help turn around his team. Kent State and Eastern Michigan, which currently have two of the top-ranked programs in the MAC this year, also recruit international players.

Not all the MAC coaches approve of building a program around international players, though.

"I have nothing against using a few international runners here and there, but I don’t think it is right to build your entire program around international runners," Banton said.

Hadsell, however, said sometimes that is all you have to build your program around.

"Of course some coaches are going to say you should use nothing but American kids, and they are proud that they only do," he said. "These are the programs that get the good American kids that I can’t get."

Hadsell said many big-name NCAA teams such as Stanford, Villanova and Arkansas have built up their program’s prestige around international runners so they could later recruit the top American runners.

Banton said he does not believe it is necessary to use international runners to build prestige.

"When I started here, we occupied the cellar spot in the MAC," Banton said. "I built up my program without international runners, so I don’t buy into the fact that you have to go overseas to build up your program's prestige."

Banton said he agrees international competition is good for bringing up the strength of MAC distance running.

Ohio All-American runner Jackie Conrad, who has raced against international runners, agreed with Banton that it is not healthy to build a team around international runners.

"Having international runners definitely raises the level of competition, but when you build your team around international runners you take scholarships away from American runners," she said.

Banton said building teams around international runners just puts American runners farther and farther behind in distance running.

"When was the last time we won a medal in a distance event at the Olympics?" he said. "International countries send over their runners, we train them, and then we send them back to their countries to beat us in the Olympics every year."

Hadsell said he thinks the training international runners receive in the U.S. is minimal.

"If we were such good trainers then why aren’t our top runners winning all the races?" he said. "Most of the very top runners don’t come over here, they stay in their own country to train."

Both Hadsell and Conrad said many international runners have much harder lives and this probably makes them much better runners.

"Over in Kenya most of the roads are dirt roads, and those are a lot easier on the body then concrete and pavement," Conrad said. "Kenyans train a lot harder than Americans do and suffer fewer injuries, probably because they are running on dirt roads."

Hadsell said he believes international runners are just more mentally tough than Americans.

"Americans have just become a lot more lazy," he said. "These kids (international runners) come from a lot harder lives and are using their running to get a good education that they can’t get in their countries. They are just as dedicated to doing their schoolwork as doing well on the track."

Conrad said international runners do not completely dominate the college running scene.

"At the NCAA Cross Country Championships, Americans still take the top three places almost every year," she said.

Even with all the controversy, and even if he can get the top American runners, Hadsell said he will still recruit overseas.

"I’m going to get the best runners I can get, period," he said.