Jacob Tanner

Finally got around to reading this eye-opening piece from the Washington Post on how some U.S. universities are funding time trials in Kenya to recruit distance talent. These “Golden Ticket” races to an NCAA scholarship are totally reshaping college running. Then, I caught up on some of the cross country results from this past weekend. The scale of the Kenya to NCAA pipeline is staggering already. Looking at the results from the Cowboy Jamboree in Stillwater, Oklahoma. On the men's side, Town Hall (one of the recruiting services being used by these universities) had seven men in the top 10 – including three to New Mexico and two to Oklahoma State. On the women's side, Town Hall had five athletes in the top 10 – including three at Oklahoma State. Not faulting Kenyan athletes who are chasing life-changing opportunities. It’s more about the system. Schools are outsourcing recruitment overseas and the NCAA’s structure enables it. How much of NCAA XC is still about the growth of student-athletes or the growth of a globalized talent marketplace? Curious what people think.

Figuratively and literally weathered the storm better than anyone else 🙌 🥇 Daniel Ståhl 70.47m 🥈 Mykolas Alekna 67.84m 🥉 Alex Rose 66.96m