TOLEDO, Ohio – Just a few short years ago, Toledo freshman cross country runner Joy Chirchir was a school girl in rural Kenya who had not yet begun to chase her dreams. Then one of her teachers told her that many Kenyans had used distance running as a way to attain an education in the United States.  So even though Chirchir had never run in a competitive race before, she set out to join their ranks.

After she graduated from high school, Chirchir enrolled at a running camp, which are fairly common in Kenya. Her potential was quickly spotted by the coaches there. It wasn't long before Chirchir came up on the radar screen of U.S. college coaches, including Toledo Head Coach Andrea Grove-McDonough.

Fast forward a few months, and Chirchir found herself in the winner's circle on a chilly autumn day at a golf course in Ypsilanti, Mich., the 2021 Mid-American Conference women's cross country individual champion. Chirchir and fellow Kenyan Faith Linga, who took fifth place, were part of a Rocket team that won its first team championship since 2014.

It was a remarkable turn of events for Chirchir, the daughter of farmers in the village of Tendwo, outside of the Toledo-sized city of Eldoret. A shy person by nature, Chirchir is a little uncomfortable in the spotlight. When asked by a reporter how she was able to dominate the MAC title race, she simply expressed her happiness for the team's championship.

"Joy has been a star from the get-go," said Grove-McDonough. "But what makes Joy special is she is a team player. For her, the team win means more to her than her individual win. She's a great leader who works super hard. It's just fun to see her shine like that."   

While Chirchir's athletic ascension has been rapid, adjusting to life in America has been somewhat more challenging. English is her third language, behind her native tongue of Kalenjin, and Swahili, the common language of much of Kenya. And the shift from the Kenyan countryside to the industrial Midwest of the United States has been filled with the expected culture shocks.

"Firstly when I came here it was difficult, but then I came to adjust because I found people here that are friendly. My teammates are friendly, the coaches are friendly," said Chirchir. "I like it. I feel like I'm at home."

It has helped to have Linga as one of her teammates, both on the course and off.

"She's like my sister," Chirchir said of Linga, who also came to Toledo this fall as a junior college transfer from Western Iowa Community College in Council Bluffs, Iowa. "I was very happy when I first heard she would be coming here. English is not my first language so she is able to understand me well, able to tell me what is correct or not since she's been at college for two years. She also tells me what to do to become a better runner since she has run before."

Linga got a bit of head start compared to Chirchir, running in high school before being discovered at one of Kenya's many running camps. She ended up at Iowa Western where she became a force soon after her arrival in 2019, winning nine national junior college titles and capturing first place at the junior college cross country championships in 2019 and 2020. She was a three-time USTFCCCA National Junior College Athlete of the Year in track and cross country for the Reivers.

"We were up against some heavy hitters recruiting Faith, including some of my former Big 12 colleagues," said Grove-McDonough, who spent five years as the head women's cross country coach at Iowa State from 2013-18. "It was a big win for us. We tried to emphasize to her our sense of family here, the kind of intimacy we have with a smaller program. She was a little off the radar for some reason. I don't think people were really aware of how good she would be, but we were."

Linga, who battled a nagging knee injury to capture fifth at the MAC Championships, said she made the transition to her new life without too much trouble. Her family back home in the village of Kaptabuk, however, has been understandably anxious.

"They like it that I am here but they are scared of me living here all alone," said Linga, who, like Chirchir, hopes to become a nurse in Kenya after her running career is over. "Their child is over there by herself. They always call me and see how I am doing."

Needless to say, Linga has been doing just fine, as has the entire Toledo cross country program. Grove-McDonough and Associate Head Coach Nick Stenuf are on the verge of building a distance powerhouse. With the exception of senior Semra Karaslan, who took second at the MACs, the entire women's lineup is slated to return next season to defend the league crown. The men's team, after years of perennially landing near the bottom of the MAC, took fifth place in 2020 and then captured second place this year, the two best finishes in school history.

Being able to attract elite international athletes to the program, along with top local runners, looks to be a formula for success for the Rocket cross country and track program. The tremendous achievements of Chirchir and Linga so far this fall make it likely that Grove-McDonough, herself an immigrant from Canada, will continue to look around the globe for athletes to make the journey to the Glass City.

"You can sign someone on paper and maybe you think they'll be great but you can never know how that'll play out," said Grove-McDonough. "The most exciting thing about Joy and Faith is their ability to be leaders for this whole program and embrace everything about the NCAA system. They really want to integrate themselves fully, whether it's bonfires in my backyard or pumpkin carving, or whatever.  They're loving all that stuff. I want to emphasize that they're great students too, so we feel really good about their contributions on the course, what they're going to do on the track and what they're bringing to our team. It's been awesome and far better than I had hoped."