Anyone with a HS dc into track?

[Anonymous]

A few quick answers:

We prioritized colleges by academic reputation and type of college my kid would like if he couldn’t run anything but club running. Basically, do the “broken leg” test- Would your kid want to be at that school if they couldn’t run at all? he was not interested in SLACs with <3000 kids. That cut out a lot of D3 schools.

Even though we have a high HHI, Realistically, this is not my only child and we are not prepared to pay more than 55-60k a year (Which is a lot when you can get a very, very good education for 30 to 40 K a year). I was unwilling to pay for a 75K plus school. That is what most D3 and small privates are if you don’t qualify for financial aid.

My son had good stats, but not tippy tippy top. He also wanted a major in business. He also wanted kind of a big D1 sports school, and most of those were on the larger side like 10,000 K plus. That usually means D1 schools.

[Anonymous]

To me it isn’t wise to pay roughly $80-150k More to send your kid to an elite D3 school vs an affordable D1 school just so they can run four more years and then stop running anyway at the end.

[Anonymous]

Also, college confidential Has an athletic recruiting forum that is really helpful. Focus on the track and field posts because each sport is very different in its recruiting

https://talk.collegeconfidential.com/t/t-f-recruiting-prereads-how-many-is-typical/3669461

[Anonymous]

Milestats equals mile split

Also, please know, you can Google any “athlete’s name and Milestat” and get there current times or previous times. It shows you their progression over the years. Sometimes in different states, this is on athletic.net. But in Virginia and Marilyn, it’s usually on Milestat.

This is how you can tell how a distance runner or sprinter at William and Mary How they ran in high school and what their pRs were.

Your kid should also be filling out the recruiting forms of schools He’s interested in. by junior year Start reaching out to the coaches at the school he’s interested in. Share stats and recent PR’s. Most of the time they won’t pay attention to you but once in a while, they will respond.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Track is more straightforward because it is not subjective but based on times. Schools post their recruiting standards so if you have the times- you can reach out.

Some recruiting happens in 11th grade but there is still potential for seniors who might have had a great spring/summer track times.

Some track programs have distance track runner do XC too.

If you think d3 is where your kid will do best- have them reach out to coaches (there is usually an online interest form).

Thanks for posting. Is that what one should do? Reach out? I see lots of colleges with times that seem to line up with dcs times (there’s recruit and walk on differences from what I can see) but I don’t know where to help him begin with all of that. Total novice here.

[Anonymous]

Talk to your kid’s high school team running coach. They should have more experience with this than you do or, at least know someone who’s been through the process.

[Anonymous]

In gee we ner

[Anonymous]

Op- THANKS ALL!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As far as college chances. I have not seen a state of chaos in D1 track and field asi have seen now.

Roster and scholarship limits have been raised. A good thing on its face.

But the Power 4 arrangement will not last and once the top 40 (or so) break away from the NCAA programs will begin to cut track, particularly on the men’s side.This isnt my prediction but that of a long time Big 10 and mid major coach who I refer people to.

Throw into the mix that it is much easier to recruit a foreign athlete or an athlete off the transfer portal to score immediate points in the conference - so even if you are an excellent student and a competitive sprinter - let’s say a high school 47 second 400 meter runner - very very good - scholarships and walk on spots tied to admission will begin to melt away. With 4 conferences things are insanely competitive.

D3 schools look increasingly like places where athletes can still be developed, but they often reflect a different type of school than D1’s in the past. My friends in high school often took offers at Illinois State, Southern Illinois, Eastern, Western and so on. They at times beat Univ of Illinois. Those days are long gone. So a challenging landscape - and glad I was in the ACC in the early 80’s.

Thank you for responding. You seem to know a lot. I know very little as it’s a fairly new sport for dc and we have zero experience in it. What are the recent changes you mentioned? I know zero unfortunately.

I’ve been on line looking at times and dcs times are solid but I don’t really know what that means. Dc has heard from a few schools here and there. But realistically we are looking at d3 which is maybe ok for dc, I don’t know.

The NCAA has actually raised roster limits and scholarship limits. When I attended the limit for men was 14; until now it was 12.6. When had 3 scholarships, and I was one of them. The school because of its excellence could attract good walk-ons. But make no mistake, our Olympian in the 1500m was a monster talent from Timonium and everyone recruited him. A full ride guy and a national record holder. He could run sprints with the best of them but also won the IC4A cross country meets (6 miles).

But the Big 10 coach I talk to says don't be fooled. Money on the men's side is for football and the increased limits won't help. Schools like James Madison and West Virginia and Vanderbilt and Northwestern (and on and on) don't have men's programs. And powerhouse schools like UCLA are intending to drop cross country. Maybe the right thing for their recruiting demographics
but not a plus for the program. This is a school with more Olympians than any other save for USC. Smaller schools like Loyola Marymount have just dropped track - no football - they want too save money for basketball. Maryland's coach is a good guy but they essentially have no men's program - they don't score in the conference and don't have a recruiting budget. Maryland used to be a powerhouse and my son-in-laws father was an ACC champ in the 70's in the triple jump.

The SEC likely will continue to invest in sprints and field events but not in a way helpful to domestic athletes. They recruit quite a bit from overseas and don't really want to develop athletes. Witness Julien Alfred at Texas the recent gold medal winner in the 100 (a nice person by the way having met her). Or witness the SEC champ in the 1500 from Florida and India, who just got busted for EPO and apparently lied about his age to the tune of understating 8 years of age. It is much easier to get a foreign athlete who can immediately win the conference. And due diligence isn't important any longer. And note the foreign athletes need full rides to come here - VISA restrictions don't permit them to collect NIL money and they need to be sustained after coming here from far away.. The days where a coach can stay 25-30 years at the D1 level and develop quality people are gone. The pie is much smaller.

It is difficult to tell what is a good fit without times/distance/height marks. And the progression matters. There are great D3 programs, but you have to look carefully. If it is helpful, I ran a 4:10 mile as a 10th grader in the 70's and was very heavily recruited. Even today that would attract attention.

D2 schools for some odd reason are not an academic fit. Schools like Colorado School of Mines stand out but there are for some reason very few in that category.

The old saw is don't choose a school for its track program. But if you can find a place to compete, it is a great sport.

[Anonymous]

Interesting. Thanks for posting. Fwiw dc is a sprinter and not white, although I am. It’s been interesting to me to see how every person people I mention track to casually automatically assume my dc is a long distance guy. Why is that? Maybe not a PC question but I’m genuinely curious.

[Anonymous]

Typo- every person

Basically people assume a white kid must be a long distance or maybe a middle distance runner. Why is that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting. Thanks for posting. Fwiw dc is a sprinter and not white, although I am. It’s been interesting to me to see how every person people I mention track to casually automatically assume my dc is a long distance guy. Why is that? Maybe not a PC question but I’m genuinely curious.

Ha. My kid is middle distance - 400, 800, 1500. It's like running the rainbow. 400 is predominately black; 800 is mixed; 1500 is almost all white. Don't know why.

[Anonymous]

Huh interesting. So I assume same as 400 for 100 and 200, right? I wonder why that is. I’ve been afraid to ask.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Huh interesting. So I assume same as 400 for 100 and 200, right? I wonder why that is. I’ve been afraid to ask.

It is curious. 100 and 200 at the state and regional level is almost always all black. My 400 runner is usually only one of maybe two whites running. But usually he's the only one. 800 is the transitional race. Pretty evenly mixed. And the 1500 is almost always all white.

I have no idea why. Maybe it's a DMV thing. Maybe it's biased coaches. They have it written in stone - Blacks are faster. Whites have more endurance. And everyone goes off to their respective training groups.

[Anonymous]

I don’t know about it being a race thing but I have heard our HS coach say that a lot of the distance runners are good sprinters but they don’t get the opportunity to sprint because most of the sprinters can’t run distance.