Mizzou Cross Country Standouts Reflect on their Journey to Mizzou
10/28/2019 4:47:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country, Cross Country
Thomas George and Sarah Chapman chose to bring their talents halfway across the globe
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Thomas George (Gloucester, England) and Sarah Chapman (Maidenhead, England) have led Mizzou Cross Country to three top-five team finishes this season, including two first-place finishes at the team's home meets. But before the pair became dominant Mizzou runners, they made the long journey across the pond.
George is originally from Gloucester, England and credits his older brother for getting him into running. His brother, Alex George, ran at the University of Arkansas from 2014-2017 where he was both an SEC Champion and an All-American.
"I didn't really like running when I was younger," said Thomas. "I played soccer and golfed so I never ran. He (Alex) would go to practice all the time and it would be dark and he would be the only one around our age so he began to pester me to come with him. And then I realized, I'm okay at this. So I kind of stuck with it."
Upon deciding to come to America, George began the search for the right school. He spoke to Coach Burns while Burns was still at Bradley, and felt a strong connection to his training philosophy and mentality. But it was in his search for a bigger school that he landed on Mizzou.
"One day, I was on Twitter and saw that [Coach Burns] was hired at Mizzou. I had looked at Mizzou before and then when I saw Burns was there I was basically checking the website every day until his email was up and then I emailed him to let him know I was interested."
George first stepped on Mizzou's campus in 2015. Despite dominant high school performances in England, competing at Mizzou was an adjustment for George. He admitted that the new environment required him to mature more than he was anticipating. It required him to dedicate himself fully to training and continue to develop as an athlete and an individual.
Like George, Chapman also found herself beginning to run early in high school. Her parents were both runners, although they never pushed her to run as a child. She was a multi-sport athlete in high school, participating in field hockey, net ball and rowing. She joined a running club at age 13, and once she established herself as a dominant runner, she stopped participating in other sports to focus solely on running.
Chapman, who is from Maidenhead, England, completed her undergrad in the UK, coming to America to work towards her master's degree.
"I considered [coming to America] briefly for my undergrad, but then decided it was quite a big move to do when I was younger, so I decided to stay in the UK. But even when I was at Birmingham, I knew in the back of my mind that I would quite enjoy to do my master's [in America]."
She came to be connected to Coach Burns in a nontraditional way. A coach from her high school running club was from America, and she would often speak to him and his wife about the prospect of running in America. His wife grew up with Coach Burns, and was able to connect him with Sarah and recommend Mizzou to her.
"I knew nothing about Missouri or Mizzou when I got in contact with [Coach Burns]. But they were really welcoming, and [Columbia] is such a college town. They were just really engaging and encouraging from the start, whereas a lot of the other colleges I spoke to were very vague and didn't seem to have the same opportunities available."
When asked about her favorite parts of Mizzou, Chapman laughed. "I really thought that everything was just in the films – fraternities, football games, even homecoming. But it's all real! It kind of feels like you're living in the films sometimes."
Chapman admitted that her transition to America was easier than the venture might be for others. Coming at an older age, she was already used to living away from home and training at a higher intensity than in high school. The homesickness comes as expected, but the community of international students has provided comfort to both Chapman and George.
"It's nice to have other international students on the team because they kind of get it when you don't understand something that's American or it takes you awhile to pick something up. We can all share a joke about something you're not used to in America," Chapman laughed.
Chapman and George are two of the eleven track and field athletes from outside the United States, with many of those athletes being underclassmen. The pair are also joined by senior Kieran Wood who is from England and has compiled a number of impressive performances both on the track and during the cross country seasons during his time at Mizzou. However, Wood is currently rehabbing an injury that has kept him out of cross country competition in order to prepare for the upcoming track campaign.
Over the last few months, George and Chapman have emerged as leaders on both sides of the Mizzou Cross Country team. On the women's side, Chapman has led the team in all four meets this season, logging first place finishes at the Mizzou Cross Country Opener and the Gans Creek Classic. Although only in her first season with the Tigers, Chapman's experience has helped lead the women to three top-five finishes this season. George has done much of the same on the men's side of the team, with two first-place finishes under his belt. The redshirt senior has led the team in each race so far this season.
When asked about giving advice to younger international athletes considering coming to America to run, George spoke of the incredible opportunity to compete at Mizzou.
"At Mizzou and pretty much anywhere in America, you're going to get access to facilities that unless you're the top 1% in England, you're not going to get. All the training rooms, the trails, it's all stuff that I take for granted now – back home, that's a luxury and very few people get that. It's a big jump, but for me it's been super rewarding. I've made so many friends here and have gotten to experience so many things that I wouldn't have had I stayed at home."
For all the latest on Mizzou Track & Field, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (MizzouTFXC).
