track/distance times - where would my DS fit?

[Anonymous]

hi all - fairly new to this - but seems hs kids are getting faster and faster, my junior has had some exchanges with coaches but not sure where he should be targeting.

His view is he would like to use his running to help get into the best academic school possible. D1 or D3

He was top 20 in state cross country this past fall current track times: 4:16 1600 / 9:15 3200.

Was holding off reaching out to coaches until track season ends.

Is he too slow for ivies? also Davidson, W&M, Bucknell, Lehigh, Vanderbilt (no track - but they do have cross country) and Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin all interest my kiddo. 3.9 unweighted with good rigor - bad test scores lol, may need TO. And hs coach is not great - young nice guy but not experienced with handling recruiting stuff

[Anonymous]

Research using Runcruit.com. There may be similar sites too. Milesplit may have recruiting tools and features too.

[Anonymous]

He has good times. 4:16 seems to be the magic number for track for boys. He should reach out now and fill out the questionnaires. Track is nice because it is pretty straightforward and schools publish their recruiting standards.

the schools you have listed are great. He could have an ivy as a reach- and you don't know unless you contract them.

[Anonymous]

Tfrrs is also a great site.

Things to ask yourself.

Does he have the grades and sats to get into those schools on his own, without track?

Are you full pay at a private D3? Are you ok to pay the 80k a year some of these top SLACs or privates like Davidson, Williams, CMU and Colgate and others cost?

Does your kid want to go to a smaller school,of less than 3000? That’s about the size of my kid’s high school and he did not.
The “break your leg” test, if he couldn’t run any more would he be happy at that school?

Your sons times are good but, to be really competitive for D1, he needs to be closer to 4:10 or under for the mile, and closer to sub 9:10.

Email the coaches and see what responses you get. Track and other sports have very few roster spots; look at the rosters of the schools you’re interested in and see how many distance runners are seniors. Also pay for mile stat and check what those kids were running as hs juniors.

The good thing about track is, the times are very public. The bad thing is, there aren’t enough spots, especially for men.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tfrrs is also a great site.

Things to ask yourself.

Does he have the grades and sats to get into those schools on his own, without track?

Are you full pay at a private D3? Are you ok to pay the 80k a year some of these top SLACs or privates like Davidson, Williams, CMU and Colgate and others cost?

Does your kid want to go to a smaller school,of less than 3000? That’s about the size of my kid’s high school and he did not.
The “break your leg” test, if he couldn’t run any more would he be happy at that school?

Your sons times are good but, to be really competitive for D1, he needs to be closer to 4:10 or under for the mile, and closer to sub 9:10.

Email the coaches and see what responses you get. Track and other sports have very few roster spots; look at the rosters of the schools you’re interested in and see how many distance runners are seniors. Also pay for mile stat and check what those kids were running as hs juniors.

The good thing about track is, the times are very public. The bad thing is, there aren’t enough spots, especially for men.

the bolded times for a junior? not too many of those kids around - and I can assure you, no Patriot league teams are getting kids hitting those times junior year. My thought here is look to peak for an end of September early October x-country meet where you can throw down a big time at a big meet. That can still catch a coach’s eye - albeit very late in the process. And if one isn’t scheduled find one - the Paul Short race at Lehigh is perfect timing for this, and every school of note in northeast attends - so you will have coaches galore.

[Anonymous]

the Paul Short race has races for both hs and college, I should have said that

[Anonymous]

Cross country he needs to try to go sub 16 for the 5k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:hi all - fairly new to this - but seems hs kids are getting faster and faster, my junior has had some exchanges with coaches but not sure where he should be targeting.

His view is he would like to use his running to help get into the best academic school possible. D1 or D3

He was top 20 in state cross country this past fall current track times: 4:16 1600 / 9:15 3200.

Was holding off reaching out to coaches until track season ends.

Is he too slow for ivies? also Davidson, W&M, Bucknell, Lehigh, Vanderbilt (no track - but they do have cross country) and Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin all interest my kiddo. 3.9 unweighted with good rigor - bad test scores lol, may need TO. And hs coach is not great - young nice guy but not experienced with handling recruiting stuff

There have been a lot of changes in NCAA recruiting recently so get up to speed with that.

My kid was recruited by a bunch of D3 schools for track - 800 and 1500. But ultimately chose a D1 school for the academics and did walk on. He's running sub 4:00 1500s and 1:54 800s. He just did his first marathon - for fun - and ran under 3.

And he is nowhere close to being really competitive at the D1 level.

D1 running and D3 running shouldn't even be in same sentence. It is a completely different thing. It's like going from high school county meets to the Olympics. Once you are running against Texas and Oregon, it's a different sport. And Bucknell and Lehigh are not in that space.

I would choose schools based on all-around fit - not track. And when you have that list, reach out to the coaches with the published times and let them know you're interested in running for the team. Then take it from there.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like he's about on track for the schools you mentioned.

Runcruit is great, but also, spend some time on those colleges' websites, on the track/XC page. You can see the current team's stats. If your son's times are on par with theirs now, great. If he's faster, even better. If he's in close range, he should at least email the coach and start the conversation.

A high academic D3 can carry a pretty large roster, so there may be a spot for him even if he's not going to immediately be a star.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cross country he needs to try to go sub 16 for the 5k.

that’s irrelevant - unless it’s on a known course like Holmdel in NJ or Bowdoin Park in NY state - times on those courses matter to coaches

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:hi all - fairly new to this - but seems hs kids are getting faster and faster, my junior has had some exchanges with coaches but not sure where he should be targeting.

His view is he would like to use his running to help get into the best academic school possible. D1 or D3

He was top 20 in state cross country this past fall current track times: 4:16 1600 / 9:15 3200.

Was holding off reaching out to coaches until track season ends.

Is he too slow for ivies? also Davidson, W&M, Bucknell, Lehigh, Vanderbilt (no track - but they do have cross country) and Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin all interest my kiddo. 3.9 unweighted with good rigor - bad test scores lol, may need TO. And hs coach is not great - young nice guy but not experienced with handling recruiting stuff

There have been a lot of changes in NCAA recruiting recently so get up to speed with that.

My kid was recruited by a bunch of D3 schools for track - 800 and 1500. But ultimately chose a D1 school for the academics and did walk on. He's running sub 4:00 1500s and 1:54 800s. He just did his first marathon - for fun - and ran under 3.

And he is nowhere close to being really competitive at the D1 level.

D1 running and D3 running shouldn't even be in same sentence. It is a completely different thing. It's like going from high school county meets to the Olympics. Once you are running against Texas and Oregon, it's a different sport. And Bucknell and Lehigh are not in that space.

I would choose schools based on all-around fit - not track. And when you have that list, reach out to the coaches with the published times and let them know you're interested in running for the team. Then take it from there.

not apples to apples here -OPs kid is a junior in HS throwing down those times, your kid a college student - if OP can place top 25 at one of the regional football locker x country races he will have D1 interest, albeit late

[Anonymous]

Those are good times. They won't impress D1 powers at all but they are good enough to be on the radar of some D1 schools and many D3 academic schools. I would cover all the bases in applications and see what happens. And reach out to coaches at those schools now. Some will say "call me when you get in" others might advocate for you. And keep in mind, if he blows up next track season or as a college freshman, transferring is a standard thing these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those are good times. They won't impress D1 powers at all but they are good enough to be on the radar of some D1 schools and many D3 academic schools. I would cover all the bases in applications and see what happens. And reach out to coaches at those schools now. Some will say "call me when you get in" others might advocate for you. And keep in mind, if he blows up next track season or as a college freshman, transferring is a standard thing these days.

Doug Padilla a multiple Olympian and national and NCAA champion ran 9:17 in the two mile as a senior. So yes significant improvement is always a possibility.

[Anonymous]

Look into navy, army and air force too. Good way to get tuition covered if you’re not a recruit at a top d1 or d3.

[Anonymous]

Yes those times are good enough for an Ivy. But it always depends on who is in the mix - does the school need more middle distance or distance to round at the team, etc. if he is leaning towards distance, Harvard, and mid-distance, Princeton. Make sure he gets to New Balance outdoor championships this year because that’s were most of the coaches solidify their top picks.