Personally, I have never met a track distance runner that does not run Cross Country. There might be a few out there. But, as a coach, I would rather sign an athlete with the same talent, but runs cross country as well. It's kind of like getting double for your money. I know coaches would be a little weary on having them run track and not Cross Country. It just doesn’t happen. And when I say they must not love running, I'm probably correct. If they truly loved running and had the passion to become the best runner they can, they would have ran Cross Country. (unless they were 400 or 800 runners, which Dreyer is, but Tornes is an actual distance runner) That’s how it is in high schools in southeastern Ohio though. Athletes play sports that are more popular. And Cross Country is far less popular than Volleyball to the other people.
So are you saying they run Track just for the reason of being successful? I'm not saying they are bad runners. They are both very talented, even holding the TVC record in some events prior to Skidemore.
I've always been a big believer that in order to do something, you have to love it. It’s strange though, that if someone would love track and have success in distance events, they do not run Cross Country.