Cragg's path to Olympics crosses three continents

LITTLE ROCK (AP) -- Alistair Cragg's arrival at the University of Arkansas in 2001 barely created a ripple.

Track coach John McDonnell signing another distance runner rarely does, even one with two conference titles at SMU.

Cragg, 24, leaves northwest Arkansas this weekend with more trophies and medals than his sinewy 6-foot, 130-pound frame can carry. The Southeastern Conference gave him one more last week, naming him the league's male athlete of the year for a second time.

"He wasn't here long until I realized that he ran so light on his feet," McDonnell said. "That first year I realized he was going to do some great things before he left."

With his eligibility spent, Cragg departs to complete his greatest accomplishment -- preparing to run the 5,000 meters for Ireland at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

"That's my biggest achievement to date," said Cragg, who won seven NCAA titles and earned 13 All-America honors in three years at Arkansas. "I remember my sophomore year when I was sitting in coach's office and, being a South African citizen, I never saw myself making the (Olympic) team. I kind of panicked and the only reason I panicked was I never thought I would run in the Olympics."

McDonnell, who chose to coach Arkansas' track program over Oklahoma in 1972 because the Ozark Mountains reminded him of his home in Ireland, worked out a plan with Cragg to switch his allegiance. Cragg qualified for such a move because he had dual citizenship and passports since his mother's parents were Irish.

Cragg will be McDonnell's fifth athlete to run for Ireland's Olympic team, following Niall O'Shaughnessy, McDonnell's first All-American in 1974, Frank O'Mara, Paul Donovan and Niall Bruton. The quartet garnered 30 All-America honors while at Arkansas, including 11 for Bruton and 10 for Donovan.

"If (Cragg) makes the final it would be tremendous experience," McDonnell said. "His best years are three or four years down the road when he gets a little more international experience. But he'll be able to compete with most of them right now."

Cragg was born and graduated from high school in Johannesburg, South Africa. He has run a couple of times for Ireland since switching his allegiance, he has never been there.

Cragg, Arkansas' 23rd track and field Olympian, sealed his spot on the Irish team by running the 5,000 meters in 13 minutes, 16.98 seconds at Stanford's Cardinal Invitational this spring, breaking his Arkansas record by six seconds.

That was 1 minute, 32 seconds faster than his 5K-winning time at the 2000 Western Athletic Conference outdoor championships when he attended SMU in Dallas. Cragg said he never could have made that kind of improvement without McDonnell.

"All my races have gone to coach," Cragg said. "He's always given me the right advice. That's probably the biggest part of my races. When he tells me to 'Go' in a race, I don't even think twice."

In 2000 at SMU, Cragg also won the WAC indoor 3,000-meter title and he finished fourth in the outdoor 10,000 to help the Mustangs win a conference title. But Cragg returned to South Africa that summer and sat out a year from collegiate competition.

Cragg said he wasn't on scholarship at SMU and while at home, his brother floated out a rumor to several schools that he was interested in transferring. Even though he grew up in Johannesburg, Cragg knew about Arkansas' talented distance running program and McDonnell.

After contacting the school and receiving a scholarship offer, Cragg jumped at the opportunity.

"It was certainly the right decision for my life," Cragg said. "It really wasn't a decision, more like a series of events that led me to come to Arkansas. I don't know how it happened, but for some reason it worked out perfectly. It was more like a gift than a decision. Coach McDonnell came and asked if I was interested and there was no doubt I wanted to come to Arkansas.

"Ever since he came back to me, I haven't taken a wrong step in my life and if I have, he has corrected it."

Cragg finished his Arkansas career on a happy and sad note.

He wasn't able to defend his 5,000-meter title at the NCAA Outdoor Championships earlier this month. He received a medical waiver from competing at the regional meet, but the NCAA overturned that waiver. Cragg did win the 10,000 meters, his seventh NCAA title and that helped McDonnell claim his 39th national championship at Arkansas.

Cragg started the school year with hernia surgery at the end of September, but he worked himself back into shape and two months later he finished eighth at the NCAA Cross Country Championship. He won the 3,000 and 5,000 meters at the SEC indoors and the 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the SEC outdoor meet.

When the conference named Cragg its top male athlete last week, he joined former Florida quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel and former NBA Most Valuable Player Shaquille O'Neal, who played at LSU, as the only two-time winners of the award.

"The support of the other athletic directors is just phenomenal for what he's accomplished," Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles said. "He's such a team player and he's so passionate about his work, his teammates and winning that he sets the perfect example for any young athlete to follow, admire and respect."

The SEC's athletic directors voted Cragg over Ole Miss quarterback Eli Manning, the top pick in the NFL draft; South Carolina catcher Landon Powell, a first-round draft pick by the Oakland A's; and Mississippi State's Lawrence Roberts, the SEC basketball player of the year and a likely first-round pick in the NBA draft before he decided to stay in school another year.

"I'm proud to be able to represent track in this way," Cragg said. "It's not often where you can compare track athletes to a basketball player or football player. I'm excited that I was compared and I came out on top."

Cragg's career at Arkansas also includes nine individual SEC titles to go with his seven NCAA titles. Broyles said Cragg's accomplishments make him one of the top athletes to ever compete at Arkansas, especially in track and field.

Only Mike Conley, the 1992 Olympic gold-medal winner in the triple jump, has more All-America honors at Arkansas than Cragg, 17-13. Jumper Robert Howard won 10 NCAA titles and Conley had nine, but Cragg's seven are tied for the most by an Arkansas runner with Joe Falcon.

McDonnell calls Conley the best athlete to compete in his program, but he has high praise for Cragg.

"I would say without a doubt, Alistair Cragg has been the most consistent distance runner I've ever had," McDonnell said. "In big meets he seemed to want to do it. I've never seen him run a bad race. I think that's a great asset to him down the road."

Cragg may have completed his Arkansas eligibility, but he plans to base his professional career out of Fayetteville. He recently signed with Global Athletics & Marketing Inc. in Boston and he wants to live in Fayetteville after finishing his degree in marketing management.

Cragg is headed to Europe this weekend to run a 5K in Rome on July 2 and he'll run a 3K in Spain before competing in a 5K in London. His parents now live near London in Surrey.

After that, he'll make his first trip to Ireland to run a 15K at the Irish Nationals on July 24-25. Following his first immersion into Irish culture, Cragg said he hopes to return to Fayetteville for three weeks to train with McDonnell before leaving for the Olympics.

Once there, trumpets will sound Cragg's arrival on the international stage during the opening ceremony. Even though he'll be competing for a new country and he won't be wearing an Arkansas jersey, Cragg said he's found a home.

"I feel like I'm pretty much Irish right now," Cragg said. "It's obviously nerve-racking when you don't speak the same dialect of English, but I feel pretty comfortable."

Cragg certainly had no problem making himself at home with Arkansas' English dialect.