Picture a national collegiate champion in any sport.
The stereotypical image of a collegiate athlete is a toned, sometimes burly figure bearing the name of his or her college across the chest like some sort of superhero. But there is one particular track national champion who doesn’t mind the look of a preteen.
When asked why he shaved off his mustache he’d been growing for this year’s NCAA outdoor national championships, Northern Arizona’s David McNeill replied jokingly, “Someone told me I looked old, and I pride myself on looking like a kid.”
The senior distance runner from Melbourne, Australia won the 5,000 meter national championship at indoors in March, and figures to contend for the outdoor title in June. And although McNeill smiles at the mention of his decorated career, he wears the title with humility.
“He likes to be low key,” said Eric DeSalvo, NAU media relations graduate assistant. “His work ethic is pretty unreal.’’
McNeill, who won the 1,500 and the 5,000 at the Big Sky Championships in May, said he runs about 70 to 80 miles a week and once he finishes his last season, he said he wants to train to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London for his native country.
“David is quite a bit of a natural,” said Eric Heins, NAU’s interim director of track and field and cross country. “It’s one of the things that sets him apart.”
Previous Northern Arizona coach John Hayes spotted McNeill out of high school, and approached him about competing for the Lumberjacks. McNeill mulled over the offer while attending LaTrobe University and competing for Australia in the World Cross Country Championships in Kenya.
“In the end, I just bit the bullet and thought I’ll give it a go,” said McNeill. “It might be just what I need to take my running to the next level, and it proved to be that. It’s been a positive experience ever since.”
Flagstaff, Ariz., home of Northern Arizona, sits at 7,000 feet above sea level, making it ideal for distance training. So for runners like McNeill, the opportunity seemed advantageous.
Since becoming a Lumberjack, McNeill has picked up a slew of awards. In March, he claimed his first national championship, winning the 5,000. In 2008 and 2009, he was the Big Sky and Mountain Region cross country champion.
McNeill has earned eight All-American honors. In addition, he was selected as the Mountain Region Indoor Track Athlete of the Year for 2010, United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Cross Country Athlete of the Year in 2008 and 2009.
McNeill ran the fastest 3,000 time by a collegiate athlete on an oversized track, and was part of the distance medley relay team that set the Big Sky indoor championship record of 9 minutes, 52.85 seconds. He also holds the Big Sky record for the fastest 5,000 time at 13 minutes and 25.63 seconds. He is also a three-time Big Sky outdoor track & field champion in the 1,500 and 5,000.
Running awards, however, aren’t all he’s collected. McNeill, an exercise science major, was named the 2009 NCAA Cross Country Scholar Athlete of the Year. He was also elected to the 2009 ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) with a grade point average of 3.75.
“He’s one of the few athletes whose bio I update quite a bit,” said DeSalvo.
Once McNeill finishes at Northern Arizona in the fall, he hopes to acheive his Olympic dream. If he doesn’t qualify for the Olympic trials, McNeill might continue training in Flagstaff and pursue a master’s degree.
During McNeill’s first year at Northern Arizona, he ran with another world class athlete in Lopez Lomong. Lomong came to the U.S. from a refugee camp in Kenya after fleeing his native Sudan, and like McNeill, has captured NCAA national titles.
McNeill, who roomed with Lomong on road trips, said the two remain good friends, and that he soaked up running knowledge from the future Olympian.
“It’s pretty incredible that I can go up to him on the street and talk to him, and then you realize all he has done,” said McNeill.
McNeill, like Lomong, faced adjustments coming to Flagstaff from a foreign country. McNeill said it was hard adjusting at first, in particular the collegiate running culture in the US.
“I came from a country where they don’t have a university sporting system,’’ McNeill said. “So to come to that having not experience it before and being part of a team where before athletics was predominately an individual sport, it’s one of many components that’s made the transition and the improvement in my running possible."
McNeill’s transition to Flagstaff came with help from down under. Teammate Ben Ashkettle, also from Melbourne, came to Northern Arizona with McNeill, after the two trained together back home. The two have helped each other through those inevitable bouts of homesickness.
“We have Benny and Dave talks,’’ Ashkettle said. “He offers me lots of guidance.”
Ashkettle also spoke of McNeill’s humbleness and keen sense of humor.
“David is one of the funniest guys I know, but he’s a sensitive guy as well, and we really connect on that level,’’ Ashkettle said.
Both are distance runners, yet the 5,000 at the recent Big Sky Championship marked the first time the two competed in the same race. It won’t be the last, as they’ve promised to run a marathon together when they are 40.
McNeill will run many races before turning 40. He’ll compete this weekend in the NCAA West Regional in Austin, Texas, in the 5,000m. He’ll be one of the favorites at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship June 9-12 in Eugene, Ore.
“I am aware that my eligibility is quickly coming to an end so I’ve just got to take the opportunity seriously and try and capitalize.