So …. You want to know more about the US Colleges that offer Scholarships? (Part II)

By Perri Williams

September 21, 2024

Perri Williams

by Perri Williams

In Part I of this series of Scholarship articles we looked at a guide to scholarships for parents and athletes. This article will explore the colleges that offer those athletics scholarships and look at where some Irish athletes are currently attending. For now we will specifically focus on Cross-Country. However, cross-country runners do overlap into the track and field roster.

Firstly the stats!

First some useful statistics, stats are always good to give you some context. Based on 2022/2023 data, there are there are 1,610 varsity cross country teams across seven divisions. That is certainly a lot more college teams to choose from than in Ireland or the UK. We are going to look primarily at NCAA Division I and Division II where there are 361 and 287 colleges respectively, thus narrowing down your choice somewhat – somewhat I say!!! In Division I there are 327 men’s teams and 360 ladies’ teams with a total of 5,224 men and 6,117 participating. The average team roster is 16 for men and 17 for ladies. Roster by the way means the list of athletes on any given college team. If you are planning on attending a Division I college, not all of those are first years (freshman) and you may be just one of two or three that are recruited in any year. Division II on the other hand has 266 men and 286 ladies’ teams. These are made up of 3,792 men and 3,654 ladies with an average team roster of 14 men and 13 ladies. Within each division, not all of these will receive a full scholarship. If you are reading this article, you want to make sure as an athlete you are one of those who do.

What were the top colleges in the 2023 NCAA?

Now that the stats are out of the way, let’s take a look at some of those colleges. Firstly who are the current leaders in Division I and II NCAA Cross Country? The top three ladies NCAA Universities at the 2023 NCAA Cross Country Championships were: Northern Carolina State, Northern Arizona and Oklahoma State, with Notre Dame where Aimee Hayde (Newport AC) attends taking 4th place. In division II Grand Valley St, Adams State and Colorado School of Mines took the top three. Ava O’Connor (Tullamore Harriers) attends Adams State. Oklahoma State, Northern Arizona and BYU were the men’s top three in Division I. Wingate, Colorado School of Mines and East Central were the top three Division II teams. Teams like Tulsa have made the top five in recent years with Irish athletes such as Peter Lynch, Cormac Dalton, Michael Power and Shay McEvoy.

There are currently approximately forty-five Irish athletes on US Scholarships. In the 1980s there could have been up to a hundred such athletes. Current numbers have certainly dropped though probably not as low as around 2010/2011. There are several reasons for this drop; Irish distance running standards have fallen somewhat. It is our sprinters that currently seem to be making names for themselves on the international stage. Then of course there is the costing structure. As International student’s Irish athletes will be looking for “full rides” which makes them more expensive to recruit than Americans. With restricted budgets, this means you have to be running pretty decent times and most certainly match your American counterparts. It is based on your current racing personal bests that you may want to choose the appropriate college. American distance running is in a good place right now. All you have to do is look at their results in the recent Olympics in Paris.

Where are these forty-five athletes?

Irish athletes have long worn the scholarship path to the USA since the Pioneering days of 1848 when Jimmy Reardon, Cummin Clancey and John Joe Barry attended Villanova. Villanova has long served many Irish athletes, with well over thirty graduating through its doors; athletes such as Sonia O’Sullivan. Eamonn Coughlan, Marcus O’Sullivan, Ronnie Delaney, Donie Walsh and John Harnett to name but a few. These days Marcus O’Sullivan is head coach at his old Alma Matre and keeps a keen eye on the Irish athletics scene. Don’t be too surprised if you bump into him at a national championships. There are currently two Irish athletes in Villanova; Sean Donohue and Jack Fenlon. Other traditional haunts of the Irish have been Providence College and East Tennessee State. The latter was where Niall Cusack, Eddie Leddy, PJ Leddy and Frank Greally attended with Cusack winning the NCAA Cross Country title in 1972. There are currently no Irish athletes attending this college. But that does not mean they will not take you. However Providence College in Rhode Island is a different story.

Providence has had a gravy train of Irish athletes since the 1970s. Waterford’s Ray Treacy is the current director of Track and Cross-Country and the assistant coach is Sinead Delahunty of Kilkenny. Currently there are eleven Irish athletes attending, which has the largest cohort of Irish in any US college. These range from freshman to senior. The athletes are; Shane Coffey, Cormac Dixon, Abdel Laadjel, Michael Morgan, Liam McKay, Jane Buckey, Anna Gardiner, Cara Laverty, Laura Mooney, Niamh O'Mahoney and Meave O'Neill.

Iona College, New York has been the breeding ground for many great Irish athletes and indeed coaches - such as Mick Byrne who is currently head coach at the University of Wisconsin. As of now, there are six Irish athletes at Iona; Tadgh Donnelly, Scott Fagan, Sean Lawton, Billy Coogan, Claragh Keane and Muireann Duffy all working under Joe Pienta. If you want to be amongst lots of Irish athletes, then Iona or Providence is certainly where to look.

The geographical dispersion of the Irish to US colleges continues to widen. They no longer stick to the traditional East Coast Universities and can be found in places like Oregon, Washington, Texas, Florida, Illinois, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama, Michigan, Colorado, Louisianna, the Carolina’s – to name but a few. However, none have ventured as far north as Alaska or into the Pacific to Hawaii. Kilkenny’s Aoibhe Richardson was the first Irish athlete to attend the University of Portland. This started the ball rolling for others to follow. Her sister Maebh moved from UCD to Portland in the fall of 2023 with Mark Milner attending as a grad student this year. Irish Olympic 1500m semi-finalists from Paris - Cathal Doyle attended as a graduate student. There are others too who have opted for West Coast Universities; Anika Thompson (Leevale) attends the University of Oregon, under the coaching eyes of Jerry Schumacher. Schumacher spent 15 years at the helm of the Nike Bowerman Track Club, establishing himself as one of the premier distance coaches in the world through his work and success with the elite running group. His assistant coach is none other than Shalane Flanagan, a former New York Marathon winner. Then there is the University of Washington, home to Sophie O’Sullivan and previously Brian Fay.

Colorado - high altitude

The University of Colorado (Boulder) has long been one of the best US universities for distance running. Dean Casey just recently transferred from Tennessee to Boulder, following his coach Sean Carlson as he took up the position of head coach there. Carlson boosts a very impressive CV and has been highly sought after by universities and athletes. In Colorado the Irish have long been favourites of Adams State in Alamosa where head coach Damon Martin has enjoyed years of success as one of the leading Division II coaches. The 2019 u23 Irish team who won medals at the European Cross Country in Portugal consisted of three Adams State students; Stephanie Cotter, Roisin and Eilish Flanagan. The current quota may be down to just Ava O’Connor and Oisin Lynch but the interest in Adams State continues.

Several athletes have flocked to colleges in Massachusetts over the years including Harvard, Boston College and the University of Massachusetts. Claire Crowley (Leevale) recently made a move to Boston College and Shane Brosnan (An Riocht) currently attends Harvard. Bradley University in Peoria (Illinois) took on three Irish girls this year; Eimear O’Carroll (Finn Valley), Edel McCreery (Rathfarnham) and Louise O’Mahoney (Bmoh) – perhaps starting a new train of Irish athletes. Close by is Notre Dame, one of the top NCAA colleges where Newport’s Aimee Hayde is still attending.

The Irish Coaches and the lovely climate of the Carolina's

Mick Byrne (Wisconsin) is not the only Irish coach who is not currently guiding any Irish athletes. In New York Andy Ronan the head coach of Stoney Brooke University is also Irish-less. Brendan Gilroy has taken on Ryan McCarthy at McNeese in Louisiana, in the deep south. In fact there are a few Irish now attending southern universities; Jo Keane is at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), Louis O’Loughlin at Auburn in Alabama and Nicole Dinan has just moved to the University of Florida as a Freshman where she will be guided by Matt Kane and his team.

Weather wise, you cannot get nicer than the Carolina’s. Find a good college and a good coach there and you won’t want to leave. Waterford’s Emer McGlynn contacted dozens of colleges in her bid to seek a scholarship as a grad student. She is probably the first Irish athlete to attend Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina. Under coach Jason Byran it all seems to be going well thus far. Frank McGrath may have left Queens University of Charlotte for St Mary’s in London, but Sarah Bradley of Finn Valley is still there. Nathan Sheehy Cremin of Limerick is at Gardner Webb under the guidance of Greg Thiel. Dubliner Peter Dalton has reached out to many Irish athletes over the past few years and as head coach of Tennessee Tech, he coaches James Hyland and Michael McCaul. Wake Forest in Winston Salem while it currently does not have any Irish athletes, comes highly recommended.

Tulsa, Oklahoma

The University of Tulsa in Oklahoma deserves a separate mention of its own. Ever since Peter Lynch of Kilkenny attended, there has been a steady stream of Irish athletes wandering down the Tusla scholarship path. Michael Power, Cormac Dalton went there as grads. However, Shay McEvoy and Sarah Hosey are still working towards their undergraduate degree. Coach Taylor Gulley is highly regarded.

Waterford’s Gavin Kennedy is the head coach of Lyola University in Chicago and has recruited several Irish athletes. Fellow Waterfordian Ruth Heery has just finished her master’s, but Fionn Harrington and Roisin Treacy are still there. While the mid-west has had many Irish athletes over the years, Michigan has somewhat lost the tradition of hosting the Irish. Having spent many years there myself, (laterly working at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbour) I can honestly say the colleges are excellent, the standards of the teams are superb, it was the snow in winter that got me. In saying that Anna O’Connor just graduated with a master’s degree in biomedical science from Wayne State in Detroit, the first Irish girl to do so. And loved every bit of her Michigan experience.

Where do you go from here?

Whether you are looking for a Cross Country or Track and Field Scholarship, you will probably go through the same process. Armed with some college names, take a look at their current college roster. Check out the athlete’s bio’s. What you want to look for is a college where your times align with those of the current freshman student (assuming you are a new undergraduate applicant). If you can run as fast as, if not faster than the rostered students, then you will attract the coach’s attention.

Do check out the coach’s credentials. And remember that a coach’s value to any college is based on how his athletes perform. They need to train you to perform well – their job depends on this. Reach out to athletes on that roster through Instagram or Facebook and find out how much training they do? Are they doing high mileage or high intensity? Do they get redshirted in the first year to allow the athlete to build up steadily? At the end of the day, it is “you” that you must look out for.

Finally do not forget about academics. It’s not just good enough to be a good athlete, you will also have to be a good student. To assist you, look out for next week’s article where I will be looking at the NCAA eligibility requirements. Something you seriously need to consider as you settle on your final leaving cert subject choices. In the meantime, explore some US colleges and start making your list.

North East Division I Colleges (other regions will be published later this week)

Connecticut

Central Connecticut State Univ

Fairfield University

Quinnipiac University

Sacred Heart University

University of Connecticut

University of Hartford

Yale University

Washington DC

American University

George Washington University