By: By Joseph Feldman
Kennesaw, Ga. – The Kennesaw State men's and women's track and field teams have won eight Atlantic Sun Conference Championships since 2008 and five of those have been under the leadership of
Andy Eggerth, the Director of Track and Field.
A large part of winning those championships has been with international student-athletes. Currently, there are nine international athletes on the men and women's roster that represent six countries.
It's popular for these athletes to try and come over to the United States for college in large part because it allows them to compete in the sport that they love as well as get a quality education. Whereas at home, they would be forced to choose whether they wanted to try and be a professional athlete or get an education, but would not have the opportunity for both.
"I would say it's a popular thing for two reasons,"
Sadio Diallo, one of Eggerth's stand-out international student-athletes, said. "The first reason is right now, if you look at the world in sports, the United States is the top of the world in everything. When you get here you expect to compete against the best guys and you also expect to get the best coaching. The second reason is the United States is the only place that allows you to combine sports and school at the same time. Back home in France at some point you have to make a choice. Either do sports and give up school or give up sports and go to school. Those are the main reasons why it's so popular."
Once the athletes decide they want to come over to the United States for college, the wild recruiting process starts. A lot of times the international student-athletes that are currently on the roster will have friends back home that they will let the coaches know about and reach out to them on their interest level.
Hendrik Themas, the 2013 Atlantic Sun decathlon winner, was friends with
Rasmus Rooks from both growing up in Estonia and put him in touch with the coaches. As it turns out, it's a good thing he made the connection because Rooks won the 2012 A-Sun Championship in the long jump.
"I wrote a letter to Kennesaw State, but didn't hear back from them," Rooks said. "Hendrik Themas got accepted and he introduced me to Coach Eggerth."
For others, the recruiting process is much more simple. Freshman
Eva Trošt's decision was easier for her.
"They sent me the first offer," Trošt said. "Coach Agne (Eggerth) was constantly in contact with me. Other schools just sent me an offer, but Agne would send me a message every two weeks asking how I was and how things were going. That's how I decided."
After making the decision on which school they were going to attend, the athletes have to get accepted into the school, which can be another difficult process. They have to travel long distances to take the SAT and the TOEFL exam as well as translate their transcripts and have them professionally evaluated.
"Getting here is the hardest part and everything is harder and more expensive for them," Eggerth said. "They just have a lot more hoops to jump through to come to the US and much of it can't be done until the last minute making it uncertain and stressful for them."
Once the athletes do jump through all of the hoops and make it over to the States, then they have to adjust to a new lifestyle in a foreign country, which many of them adjust very well.
"Some may have a hard time with the training, others with social adjustment or homesickness, others with the different academic system and many have almost no difficulties at all," Eggerth said.
Combined eventer
Kaarel Mangusson adjusted very quickly and with the teams scheduling he got used to the college life.
"At first the adjustment of the timing and getting your schedule down on when to eat, when to practice, when you have practices and what time you go to bed and what time to get up," Mangusson said. "I've never gotten up so early for weights, so the weights was the biggest adjustment for me. Other than that, I don't know. For me, it was kind of easy and I adjusted pretty quickly. I enjoyed every moment of it to be honest."
With the scheduling and all of the workouts that the track and field team does throughout the year it elevates all of the athletes level of play. Many of these international athletes achieve marks during the season that qualifies them for their countries national championships.
Martynas Sedys claimed the gold medal at the Lithuanian National Championships last summer in the hammer throw. Diallo competed in the French National Championships in the 200m. In his time as an Owl, he has improved his 200m time by almost two seconds.
Not only have they had success on the track, but they've also done well in the classroom.
Jaakko Nieminen and Rooks were both named to the All-Academic A-Sun team in back-to-back years.
On this track and field team that hopes to continue winning championships, the international athletes will continue to be an integral part of the team.
"The international kids are difference makers," Eggerth said. "Our international athletes frequently come in with the best marks and are able to score a lot of points for us."
Both teams will start their 2014 indoor campaign on Friday, January 10 at the Blazer Invitational. Keep up with Owls track and field teams by following KSU on Twitter at
@KSUOwlNation and
@KSUTrackFieldXC or by liking Kennesaw State Owls on
Facebook.
- #GoKSUOwls -
