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Setting the pace: Catching up with the 1996 men’s cross country champs

By Ted Schultz
For NCAA.org

One in an occasional series featuring former NCAA student-athletes.  The Divisions I, II and III men’s cross country champions from 1996 talk about what they learned from the college experience.

Division I

1996

2011

Godfrey Siamusiye, Arkansas

Then: Following two years at Blinn (Texas) College, where he won an NJCAA title in 1994, Siamusiye captured back-to-back Division I championships in 1995-96, leading the Razorbacks to the team crown in 1995. He was a 10-time All-American in cross country and track at Blinn and Arkansas and a two-time Olympian (1992, 1996) for his native Zambia. 

Now: Siamusiye is a business teacher, head cross country coach and assistant track coach at Shiloh Christian School in Springdale, Ark. He led the Saints cross country team to the school’s first state title, a boys crown in 2007, and followed with boys and girls championships in 2009. He and his wife and 15-month-old son live in Fayetteville, Ark.

In his words: “(Running in college) laid a foundation for sure. (When coaching), you are talking from experience. I can feel their pain when they say they’re tired, and they tend to know you know what you’re talking about. It will solidify what you’re telling them.”

Division II

1996

2011

Alexandr Alexin, Central Missouri State (now Central Missouri)

Then: The native Russian was a four-time NCAA champion, winning track’s indoor mile in 1996 and 1997 and outdoor 1,500 in 1996, in addition to the 1996 cross country title. He was inducted into the Central Missouri Hall of Fame in 2004 and still holds school records in the indoor mile and outdoor 1,500. 

Now: Alexin is senior analyst in the data management department for Quintiles, Inc., which works with pharmaceutical companies across the world. He began working as an intern in 1997 for Hoechst Marion Roussel, whose research unit was acquired by Quintles, Inc., in 1999. Alexin also returned to cross country skiing in 2008 and won the Russian National Masters in 2009 and the Masters World Cup in 2010. He is based in Kansas City and lives in suburban Lenexa, Kan., with his wife and 6-year-old son. 

In his words: “(Being a student-athlete) is a balance of great things in life. That is my learning experience to combine things in life that are significant from different aspects. It is that balancing act which led me to have my professional goals accomplished while still having a room left for sports, which have always been a huge part of my life.”

Division III 

Matt Brill, North Central (Ill.)
 
Then: Brill was a three-time All-American in cross country, finishing second in 1995 and winning the 1996 title. He helped the Cardinals to the team title in 1993, when they scored a record-low 32 points, and led North Central to second-place finishes from 1994-96. He was an eight-time All-American in track, helping the Cardinals to the 1994 outdoor title, and was a two-time GTE Academic All-American.

Now: Brill works as an equity and derivatives broker for Tourmaline Partners and has worked in the derivatives business since shortly after leaving North Central. He lives in East Coventry, Pa., with his wife and two sons.

In his words: “I was fortunate to be part of Al Carius’ North Central running program, which has been successful for decades. He stressed that running was just one part of our lives, but if we could show it the focus and attention it demanded on a daily basis to be successful, we would find that success method spills over to other parts of our life. Running at the collegiate level knows no offseason, and when we were not in racing season was when we were working the hardest. We trained through rain, Midwest winters, humid summers and sickness because on race day, all that you could control is yourself, and you would need to be conditioned to outside influences and how to minimize their effect on your performance. Now that I am 36, the correlation between running and life as a father, husband, employee and citizen is much more apparent. That is why I still try to run and attain goals, but they are much more personal in scale.

“Similar to training, we have to be constantly alert and prepared because, as everyone has seen, the stock market can be extremely volatile and change happens in seconds and can be very expensive. Just as running was never too far from all the decisions that I made while in college, the market is never too far from the actions that make up a typical day for me.”

Ted Schultz is a freelance writer based out of Fishers, Ind.