JOSH MCDOUGAL - College Comer Finds First Team a Kick

by Marc Bloom

When 19-year-old Josh McDougal raced for the NCAA cross-country championship Monday in Terre Haute, Ind., finishing unusually high for a freshman in 13 th -place, he capitalized on a decade of training in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains of New York, where he grew up and embodied the loneliness of the long distance runner.

McDougal, from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., took an undefeated regular-season record into the NCAA 10,000 meters (6.2 miles) race at Indiana State. He'd won the Southeast Regional qualifying race Nov. 13 in Greenville, N.C. by 35 meters in 30 minutes 7 seconds for 10,000 and was rated an outside chance of becoming the first men's freshman titlist since Bob Kennedy of Indiana in 1988.

In Terre Haute, conditions were muddy, sapping the runners' energy, and McDougal feels he pushed too hard trying to stick with the leaders. "The first mile was 4:40 but it felt like 4:20," said McDougal, whose time of 31:15 put him 38 seconds behind the winner, Simon Bairu, a Kenyan from Wisconsin. "I started losing contact at about 6,000 but was pleased with my effort overall."

While top runners like Kennedy, and most runners in the NCAA field, were propelled by structured high school programs, McDougal, from the small town of Peru on the shores of Lake Champlain, was home-schooled. He had no official team or coach or facilities. He ran with his younger brother Jordan, also at Liberty, through the apple orchards of Peru. Josh trained through sub-zero temperatures in the winter, logging up to 100 miles a week. His father Bob offered advice. The former Peru High School cross-country coach, Scott Woodward, was a sounding board.

"I liked to be alone in the orchards," McDougal said. "It's one of the things I really miss about home. That's where I built my endurance."

McDougal is still running mostly on his own since none of his Liberty teammates can match his pace. Liberty coach Brant Tolsma gives McDougal longer and more intense training than other team members. In a recent workout that showed his potential, McDougal ran 16 400-meter runs with a 90-second rest in between with times of 60 seconds or faster for most of the runs.

"What impresses me is how well Josh knows his body," said Tolsma. "After the workout, he said, 'I can break four minutes in the mile right now.'"

When McDougal told Woodward about the workout, Woodward told him, "That's the world-class level."

McDougal's solitary development may be his greatest asset. Without a rigid school schedule through his teen years, he could train as he wished at any time of day, and avoid frequent racing. While high school cross-country runners typically compete in a dozen or more meets per season, McDougal, disallowed from high school events because of being home-schooled, would run a few "open" meets against older competitors and compete in post-season high school races.

With independence, McDougal gained confidence and physical maturity. "I'd been saying for years that I can't wait for college because I'm good at the longer distances," said McDougal.

McDougal's combination of endurance and speed may put him at the world-class level before long. But his training load may also put him at risk for injury. Kennedy trained only 40 miles a week in high school and became the leading American men's distance runner of the past two decades.

McDougal is aware of the fine line between peak fitness and training excess. He said that the tall grass of the apple orchards back home gave him soft footing, which was easy on his body. He also said that if impatience ever got the best of him, he could check in with Woodward, who warns him, "Don't be greedy, and don't be stupid."

McDougal made a seamless transition from running 2-mile and 5,000-meter races last spring into collegiate 8,000-meter and 10,000-meter runs this fall. In the post-season high school nationals late June in Raleigh, McDougal placed second in the 2-mile in 8:48.11. He was out-kicked by Shadrack Kiptoo, a Kenyan from Albuquerque, who ran 8:45.44.

In October, it was McDougal who out-kicked Kiptoo, a freshman at New Mexico, in the Great American 8,000-meter cross-country race in Cary, N.C. McDougal's time was 24:01. Kiptoo ran 24:13. McDougal won every race leading up to the NCAA by wide margins.

"Great American was my coming out party," said McDougal. "I fortified my belief that I'm a long-distance runner. The longer races give me more time to be patient, to make my moves, to take the kick out of the fast guys who used to smoke me."

McDougal and Kiptoo hooked up again on the home stretch of the NCAA meet. Dueling to become the first freshman across the line, McDougal passed a fading competitor on the right while Kiptoo passed the same runner on the left. "I held Shadrack off," said McDougal, who finished about 15 meters ahead of his rival.

For McDougal, his 13 th -place bodes well for the future. "I made a few mistakes," he said. "But I have three more years to get it right."

Postscript: McDougal INFO TO COME ON HIS FRESHMAN TRACK SEASON.

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