How 5 runners from New Zealand found their place on La Salle’s cross-country teams

A mere 359 of the 99,375 Division I college athletes in America were from New Zealand as of 2019-20. Five of them are creating a small yet growing group and setting the pace for future runners from their country at La Salle University.

Freshman Georgia-Rose Dawson, sophomore MacCallum Rowe, and senior Taonga Mbambo all found themselves involved in running simply by being active while growing up. They each participated in “School Athletics Day” in their native country, playing sports such as rugby, cricket, and soccer.

Upon realizing that their talent and passion for other sports were wavering, running was the answer for educational and athletic opportunities.

“Cross-country is one of those things that you do that’s mandatory at most schools, primary schools, at least. It’s one of those things you’re like, ‘I’m actually not terrible at this,’ and then you get roped into joining the cross-country team if the school has one,” Rowe said. “That’s just probably how most kids get into taking running really seriously to the extent of going over to the States.”

Attending university in New Zealand doesn’t involve sports scholarships. The same value is not there for collegiate athletics as it is in the United States, which pushes international athletes to look elsewhere, usually involving a trek halfway across the world.

“I think New Zealand is one of those places where there are fewer opportunities and there’s not a collegiate system like the NCAA,” said La Salle coach Tom Peterson, who also has recruited international athletes from Canada. “So, if they want to continue running, they either have to do it casually or they have to be good enough to pursue it more on a professional level.”

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Mbambo, who was born in Zambia but grew up in New Zealand, was the forerunner for the Kiwis at La Salle. Recruitment was different for each of the runners, but performing well in the big races was what would give any athlete international attention.

Mbambo worked hard to be picked for the New Zealand cross-country team, going to the 2019 world championships in Denmark, where he met then-La Salle assistant coach Matt Gosselin.

“Apart from being a professional runner and having everything offered to you that way, this is probably the next best thing,” Mbambo said.

Since then, four more runners — including Rowe and Dawson (on the women’s team) as well as Charlie Hazlett and Andres Hernandez — have followed in his tracks, none of whom had visited the university’s campus before committing.

New Zealand is no stranger to running, as much of the history of the sport lies within the rolling hills and mountainous terrain. Renowned coach Arthur Lydiard “brought on the New Zealand golden era of distance running,” Rowe said.

Lydiard pressed upon athletes to train slowly in long-distance runs, building up one’s stamina. One of his well-known athletes was Peter Snell, a middle-distance runner who won three Olympic gold medals and set five world records. Lydiard’s training principles are still used by coaches today, influencing these athletes to build up to the collegiate level.

“My coach really stressed on not putting younger me through as much mileage,” Rowe said, “because it’s a difficult sport. If you mentally tire yourself out from doing really big volumes when you’re younger, it’s really difficult.”

Less is more. In comparison, the New Zealanders train lower than most of the domestic or Canadian recruits, Peterson explained.

“Yes, they have a lot to learn, but I think they also have a huge upside of not being overexposed to training, not being overdeveloped when they’re younger,” he said.

Said Dawson: “I’ve noticed coming over here, Tom’s training is a longer distance, less intensity, but I feel like I am adjusting well to that. Tom is slowly building me up each week within mileage, and that’s working really well for me. I’m feeling fitter each week, stronger each week.”

Mbambo recalls his first race in the U.S. — an 8K cross-country race where he placed 32nd with a time of 25 minutes, 59.4 seconds that would have won him nationals in New Zealand.

By two minutes.

“Damn, I really just got my [butt] whooped,” he recalled thinking at the time. “It’s pretty intense.”

Since his freshman year, Mbambo improved his 8K time by 1:50 in his junior year. He was also among the top performers to push the men’s team to its 11th Atlantic 10 title last season. This year, he earned earned a third straight spot on the A-10 all-conference first team.

“From our perspective, New Zealand has been a really good place to find the cliché like diamonds in the rough a little bit,” said Peterson.

Much of this adjustment on and off the course comes courtesy of the coaches — Peterson and assistant coaches Tyler Jakubek and Meghan Malloy. “You’re moving across the other side of the world, you need to be able to trust the coach you’re speaking to,” Mbambo said.

The initial time Mbambo spoke to Peterson, the first 90 minutes of their conversation was about everything but running. That let Mbambo know he could trust Peterson for the next four years.

“He’s kind of like my dad away from home. I don’t know, I’ve never really told him that,” Mbambo said.

Added Dawson: “Coaches obviously care about you as athletes, but then it seems Tom and Tyler really care about you as a person as well. They seem to [go] the extra mile for each athlete and the team.”

While the five runners are new teammates, they are not entirely unfamiliar faces and names to one another. The running community back at home in New Zealand is tight-knit, and there are only a handful of meets throughout the whole year that dedicated runners attend.

”We have like a lot of things to talk about and relate to at the dinner table,” Mbambo said.

The five Kiwis share some traditions from home such as pavlova (a meringue-based dessert), Waitangi Day, and of course, watch parties for the various World Cups, such as rugby.

A few of the New Zealand runners are going to Canada with their native teammates for Christmas, and they have put Dawson in charge of making pavlova for the holiday.

They also plan to host a meal together for Waitangi Day, Feb. 6, celebrating the national holiday of New Zealand marking the Treaty of Waitangi’s signing in 1840.

Peterson and his staff look to continue recruiting internationally, as Peterson knows firsthand how beneficial it is to have a diverse team. As a decorated collegiate runner at Iona, he was on a highly concentrated international team.

He lived in a house and ate ugali and greens with a Kenyan teammate three nights a week, learning about the Kenyan culture firsthand. This experience stuck with him and influenced him to create that environment for his own team.

“When I was in charge of making the decision of where we recruit and how we recruit, it was important to me to give that experience to kids on the team as well,” Peterson said. “And then on top of that, a part of the goal of our recruiting is to just recruit the best people we can. Athletes and person.”