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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I know someone who went to Stanford on a full ride XC/track scholarship. [/quote]
Was that person Grant Fisher, by any chance?[/quote]

No, but someone in my neighborhood. I knew them since they were in kindergarten with my child, and yes, they were very good. Unfortunately, like many runners, eventually ran into some injuries. 
[/quote]

Sean McGorty was second in the nation in XC and the two mile, and was viewed by many to have a higher upside than his rival from New Jersey. He certainly merited a full ride, but it shows you what kind of talent it takes to earn one in distance running. He and his brother are great kids, and no surprise as mother Vicki was a great athlete at UNC when my brother was an All American and Phi Beta Kappa math student there.

The new P4 economic arrangements make full rides even harder to obtain today. Conferences like the SEC have imposed roster limits. 15 for XC, 35 for track. The track number is a killer. There are years when Arkansas has three 26 foot long jumpers. Today one of them may have k to be cut or spend a gallon  year at a JC. A school like powerhouse Arkansas doesn’t have roster spots for some 3:43 1500 guys. You have to be able to score on the track and do well in XC in the conference and otherwise. The increased influx of foreign athletes (they have always been present) makes the scholarship scene even tighter. Foreign runners including some very very good ones from East Africa who require no development, typically need full rides to make it here. I suspect of the top 25 at NC XC’s this year at least 15 if not more will be foreign athletes. And the top 5 likely will be all foreign. Roster spots are now nearly as scarce as scholarships at top schools. The Ivies with no scholarships and no budget eating big time football are a real draw.

Look at Villanova’s coach, the all time record holder for the number of sub 4 miles. Villanova is the best men’s program on the East Coast, and Marcus has stated he needs to look at every recruit today holistically, including the ability to score in cross country, anchor relays, and so on. The number of guys who can run 10k in cross country and anchor the distance medley or 4 x 800 at Penn are scarce. They had two this year.  Very little development today. Marcus was a 4:08 miler from Ireland who was developed by Jumbo Elliott to 3:55 in two years. Today you need the ready made 3:55 guy.

There are still scholarship available at a number of schools. But the days of rolling up to power schools with hot high school times expecting a lot of money no longer exist. [/quote]

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