Reply to Virginia Showcase Meet - track. What is it?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My daughter’s high school coach recommended that she not run VA Showcase her junior year.  I think he was worried about burnout.  This was very bad advice (great coach actually, but chill about recruiting/college).  She ran anyway, and D1 coaches started calling (and D2 and D3).  Many of the college coaches watch the livestream or replays of the meet.  
YMMV though.  College athletics is in a time of transition, and that transition may be cruel to track & field.  Things were always tougher for boys, and that may get even worse.[/quote]

?? [/quote]

I think what this person is saying that the recent changes could impact track teams- either by reducing roster sizes, fewer opps for walk-on athletes and potentially cutting track and field at smaller schools. But you could say this about most college sports that are not football or basketball.

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The SEC - the richest conference in the country - has gone to 10/35 for roster spots in XC and track. I was a 4:06 high school miler in the 70’s and was highly recruited and went to one of the best academic schools that offered scholarships. Today I would likely only get a roster spot - and perhaps not even a guaranteed roster spot at an Arkansas or Villanova. 10 spots in XC means barely able to field a full team with injuries. That is if you can run XC. Great mid distance guys often can’t. A 30 min 10k in XC put you in the top 5 in a Power conference in my day. I was talking to the recent ACC champ who is a great kid and he told me he would be thrilled with a top 5 finish in the league. I was over the moon when I did it. I boldly told him he was better than I was and he could win it. A 3:57 high school miler from Pennsylvania, he proved me right and won the conference. But note he was the number one runner in high school in the country. Today you better run sub 29 or the 8k equivalent (4:36 mile pace). Given the new roster limits, D1 coaches have no luxury to develop. I was a poor kid who could not get financial aid because of my father’s income (he wanted nothing to do with me and thought I was a dumb loser). Not sure what I would have done - I did get in West Point and as a low mileage athlete who did not get injured that may have worked. But you don’t go to the service academies for sports success. In any event, the sport has changed. The 3:55 miler recruit from Europe or Africa is going to be the prototype D1 track athlete. Florida recruited such a kid from India with a devastating kick who won the SEC. He got popped for drugs and his career is over. But Florida isn’t giving up those points (the SEC and NCAA champion). This is what recruits are up against. I agree with the above the landscape is changing. [/quote]

Curious, why does everyone only talk long or mid distance when they discuss track? I rarely see anyone on here who discusses sprinting. Is it just not as popular? [/quote]

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