This is concerning.
The real kicker?
Only a few of these Africans are actually in the range of normal college ages (18-23).
Oklahoma State's Fouad Messaoudi, who finished fourth, is a 24-year-old Moroccan. Denis Kipngetich, who finished sixth, is a 22-year-old sophomore from Kenya. Adisu Guadia, who finished twelfth for Oklahoma State, is a 23-year-old junior from Israel. Solomon Kipchoge finished third, is a 29-year-old sophomore from Kenya. A 29-year-old sophomore! Dismus Lokira, who finished eleventh, is a 27-year-old sophomore.
I'm not well versed in this, so I'll kick it over to Runner's World:
While foreign athletes have been competing at the top level of cross-country for decades, in recent years, recruiting services like Scholarbook and Townhall have brought in a significant amount of talent. According to Chris Chavez of Citius Mag, 97 athletes who have ties to the agencies qualified for the Division I national championship meet on Saturday — just over 18 percent of the field.
Nearly all these athletes come from Kenya, and many of the top runners in the NCAA came to America via recruiting services, such as 2024 NCAA cross-country champion Doris Lemngole of Alabama and Brian Musau of Oklahoma State; a prerace favorite for Saturday's championship.
Since college sports have become waaaay more of a business than they used to be, here's the cost of the recruiting:
Colleges pay the agencies a fee — up to $25,000 for top-end talent — and many athletes are attracted by NIL payments. To be recruited, some East African runners participate in high-stakes time trials, as the Washington Post reported in September.
So yeah, there's a huge argument going on in college cross country. If anybody cares.
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