Anyone with a HS dc into track?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The new (for now) paradigm will see more scholarships allowed but that doesn't mean schools will fund them, many won't. Roster spots will be lowered by rule which means cuts for kids already in school, tough times for now HS kids trying to run in college, and walking on will be very difficult.

Its very difficult to get money as a track athlete unless you are really an elite. And its even tougher for males.

Try d3 is my advice unless you're among the top 10 in your event in HS. If you can show during your 11th grade year that you are a viable scorer for a major conference coach, then you have a chance. If you don't hit the elite times until 12th grade, its too late, you'll have to scramble, find someone to take you for a year and hit the transfer portal if you continue to improve.

Just checked this thread again, so much more good info, thanks all!

What do you mean by top 10? State or nationally? I checked out run recruit and dc’s sophomore times line up with many schools, lots of d1 as well as d3. It looks like there are less competitive d1 from what I can see. Does that make sense?

I helped dc fill out a number of recruiter questionnaires to schools that seemed like could be a good fit. We left out the schools that seemed to be a reach academically. Dcs a decent student but not remotely close to being a top student.

Does that seem like a game plan?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sit down with your kid. Look at grades and test scores. Talk interests and possible majors. Be up front about costs. What can you pay? What will he need to cover. What student loans cost. What academic scholarships are possible.

Pick 10 colleges to consider that fit generally with his major. Do not exclude any colleges based on cost if your kid has good grades. Many privates have resources to turn a list price price into something close to in-state public college tuition.

Go do the standard visits right now. Get started. Check out at least 1 small college with a potential fit for possible major (unless major is for sure engineering- then you are very limited for small schools). Check out at least 1 urban and 1 small town college. Do the official tour. Check out the area. Get a feel for the campus. After you have done 4 or 5 you will begin to be able to decide within a couple of hours if a college is a potential “yes” or not. If so - make an appointment to talk to the admissions advisors. Do not be shy about what you can afford. They will do their best to get you to sign up.

Get your kid’s track resume in order. Get that sent out to coaches with a good cover letter that includes information about why your kid wants to go to NW Regional State. Coaches will spend time looking at information sent by someone who wants to go to their school while they will blow off mass emails.

Spend time with your kid practicing a campus visit. Not many high school kids spend a few hours chatting with adults they do not know. It’s a good learning experience. Your kid needs half a dozen decent questions in his pocket that he can use as conversation starters. Have your friends help after some practice with you. Talking for 30 minutes with a few adults he does not know well is good practice.

The goal is to learn about colleges and see what feels potentially right. Every coach is happy to get a potential recruit who wants to go to their school, and has legit times that work for the team.

This is amazing advice! Saving this. Thank you

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think middle distance is the sweet spot.

Why is that a sweet spot? Dc started off running 400 but coach switched him down, and he also ran a lot of relays. 4 by 1 and occasionally 4 by 4. With only 2 events allowed per meet, one was always a relay. I think he would have preferred another individual race but their relay team was great and they delivered a lot for the team. And I can only assume coach didn’t think he’d have a chance of winning individual 400 so that’s why he kept him as is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think middle distance is the sweet spot.

You still have to have speed in middle distances. My brother was a 3:38 1500 and 1;46 800 guy - ran 46 400 on a 4 x 4 - for what it worth he was a white guy. 4.0 student in math and later an Econ PhD. Different than today - he was incredibly heavily recruited from high school (turned down Villanova and Oregon) and moved into a full academic ride at his university his last two years. Not your average guy. But I was a 47 sec guy along with sub 14 minute 5k - competitive D1 guysand seeing a 125 lb guy run 46 sec on 35 miles a week was rare and intimidating - you have to have wheels.

He passed away unexpectedly two months ago and the track world has responded very kindly

I am sorry to hear you lost your brother

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The new (for now) paradigm will see more scholarships allowed but that doesn't mean schools will fund them, many won't. Roster spots will be lowered by rule which means cuts for kids already in school, tough times for now HS kids trying to run in college, and walking on will be very difficult.

Its very difficult to get money as a track athlete unless you are really an elite. And its even tougher for males.

Try d3 is my advice unless you're among the top 10 in your event in HS. If you can show during your 11th grade year that you are a viable scorer for a major conference coach, then you have a chance. If you don't hit the elite times until 12th grade, its too late, you'll have to scramble, find someone to take you for a year and hit the transfer portal if you continue to improve.

Just checked this thread again, so much more good info, thanks all!

What do you mean by top 10? State or nationally? I checked out run recruit and dc’s sophomore times line up with many schools, lots of d1 as well as d3. It looks like there are less competitive d1 from what I can see. Does that make sense?

I helped dc fill out a number of recruiter questionnaires to schools that seemed like could be a good fit. We left out the schools that seemed to be a reach academically. Dcs a decent student but not remotely close to being a top student.

Does that seem like a game plan?

Yes, OP, I think you are in great shape.

One other thing I wanted to add: Do what you need to do to keep your kid healthy, mentally and physically. My kid was promising, but could not quite stay healthy enough to keep up her rate of improvement and ultimately turned down offers to run in college. Weight workouts, taking true days off, enjoying the breaks between seasons, eating well, positive role models, etc., etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is some good young talent in FCPS- especially on the girls side. It will be interesting to see how the girls that had great freshman/soph years do as they get older.

Lots of sophomores did really well at Monroe Parker invitational this weekend so I think the class of 2027 is going to be great again- west Springfield, Woodson, Robinson and TJ have some talent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find it fascinating at track meets to see the different body types and the speed is spread across the types. It is hard to pinpoint the fastest just by looking at them.

What events are you referring to? Because the longer the distance the easier it is to pinpoint.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it fascinating at track meets to see the different body types and the speed is spread across the types. It is hard to pinpoint the fastest just by looking at them.

What events are you referring to? Because the longer the distance the easier it is to pinpoint.

At the HS level- it is across the board. Even on the distance side- not all the top runners are tall and slim. There are some short super stars!

And at the sprinting level- especially with the boys that are body types all over the place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it fascinating at track meets to see the different body types and the speed is spread across the types. It is hard to pinpoint the fastest just by looking at them.

What events are you referring to? Because the longer the distance the easier it is to pinpoint.

At the HS level- it is across the board. Even on the distance side- not all the top runners are tall and slim. There are some short super stars!

And at the sprinting level- especially with the boys that are body types all over the place.

Yeah, I think some people have a misconception that height is an advantage in distance running but it isn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it fascinating at track meets to see the different body types and the speed is spread across the types. It is hard to pinpoint the fastest just by looking at them.

What events are you referring to? Because the longer the distance the easier it is to pinpoint.

At the HS level- it is across the board. Even on the distance side- not all the top runners are tall and slim. There are some short super stars!

And at the sprinting level- especially with the boys that are body types all over the place.

The East Africans in mid and long distances are typically short. Noah Ngeny an 1500m Olympic gold winner and still holder of the 1000m world record (think running 1:43 for the 800 and going for another 200m) was 5”5 and 108 pounds. Most of the East African contingent are short (David Rudisha the 2 time gold medalist in the 800m and world record holder is over 6 feet and an exception - His father was a relay gold medalist from 1968). Easier to train like a maniac and not get hurt when shorter. The best runner I ever ran against was a multiple world record holder Henry Rono who was often out of shape with alcohol troubles and was actually a bit chunky and fat. I was shocked when a meet promoter put me into the adult invitational races as a high schooler and this guy (Rono) looked very overweight and he and Nyambui from Tanzania (a silver medalist) went off an ran 8:17 for two miles on a crummy 11 lap track in LA. It takes all types but still blows my mind.

I converse almost every day with my father’s roommate from college who was a former world record holder in the mile. Number one in the world in the early 60’s. In his late 80’s I try to make his days special as I have known him my entire life and so enjoy talking track. Jim was at most 5”6 and had terrific speed. You don’t need to be tall.

[Anonymous]

Jumping into this thread on a slightly unrelated topic, Dc is now training with a coach during pre season through some local running club. He says he’s getting much better training than anything from his high school and is thinking about withdrawing from his high school team for training when winter season comes, and continuing training with this club. He says he’d still wear his school jersey at high school meets to compete, but he’s worried his HS track coach will flip and make things rough on him. Anyone btdt?

[Anonymous]

^ we are not DMV area fwiw

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Jumping into this thread on a slightly unrelated topic, Dc is now training with a coach during pre season through some local running club. He says he’s getting much better training than anything from his high school and is thinking about withdrawing from his high school team for training when winter season comes, and continuing training with this club. He says he’d still wear his school jersey at high school meets to compete, but he’s worried his HS track coach will flip and make things rough on him. Anyone btdt?

Could he arrange to work out with the team some days and the club other days, and then compete with his HS team? That might be more acceptable to his HS coach. DD knows some kids who do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jumping into this thread on a slightly unrelated topic, Dc is now training with a coach during pre season through some local running club. He says he’s getting much better training than anything from his high school and is thinking about withdrawing from his high school team for training when winter season comes, and continuing training with this club. He says he’d still wear his school jersey at high school meets to compete, but he’s worried his HS track coach will flip and make things rough on him. Anyone btdt?

Could he arrange to work out with the team some days and the club other days, and then compete with his HS team? That might be more acceptable to his HS coach. DD knows some kids who do that.

Interesting. And the coaches let them?

That seems like a good compromise to me, but dc is fairly adamant that his HS track coaches haven’t been good with sprinting or hurdles and have ‘held [him] back’ and he wants to train pretty much solely with this coach. Of course I take this with a grain of salt… he’s a hot headed teen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jumping into this thread on a slightly unrelated topic, Dc is now training with a coach during pre season through some local running club. He says he’s getting much better training than anything from his high school and is thinking about withdrawing from his high school team for training when winter season comes, and continuing training with this club. He says he’d still wear his school jersey at high school meets to compete, but he’s worried his HS track coach will flip and make things rough on him. Anyone btdt?

Could he arrange to work out with the team some days and the club other days, and then compete with his HS team? That might be more acceptable to his HS coach. DD knows some kids who do that.

Interesting. And the coaches let them?

That seems like a good compromise to me, but dc is fairly adamant that his HS track coaches haven’t been good with sprinting or hurdles and have ‘held [him] back’ and he wants to train pretty much solely with this coach. Of course I take this with a grain of salt… he’s a hot headed teen.

Why does he want to compete with his HS team? At some point, he may have to choose which is more important, competing for his HS or training with the new coach. If he can approach the HS coach respectfully, he may have some compromise options, and then he’ll have to decide what his priorities are.