Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our HS has a XC competitive program and from the sports website it looks like a freshman girl needs to be able to run a 7:30 mile and boys 6:30. There is a time trial on the track the first few days of practice. The times go down for older ages groups. There is a caveat that if you are close- you can try again in a week.

The times are not posted for winter and spring track but I think it is top 8 finish in the time trials.

6:30 is pretty fast

For a boy hoping to compete in high school track? It's incredibly slow. Boys should be able to run sub 5min miles to be competitive at a varsity meet. Girls need to run sub 6min to be competitive. Although to REALLY be competitive, a HS girl should be running around 5min.

Yes, but the high school cross-country and track teams are typically over 50 students, at least in this area. The kids you are talking about are really only the top 10 boys and top 10 girls.

I was commenting on the post that said a mile time of 6:30 was pretty fast for a boy, when it isn't. I absolutely think boys who are not that fast, like a boy who can only run a 6:30mile , should still be allowed to participate in track and XC in the JV or the freshmen races. It's excellent for their health, and they can be a part of a team. But it's not fast.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our HS has a XC competitive program and from the sports website it looks like a freshman girl needs to be able to run a 7:30 mile and boys 6:30. There is a time trial on the track the first few days of practice. The times go down for older ages groups. There is a caveat that if you are close- you can try again in a week.

The times are not posted for winter and spring track but I think it is top 8 finish in the time trials.

6:30 is pretty fast

For a boy hoping to compete in high school track? It's incredibly slow. Boys should be able to run sub 5min miles to be competitive at a varsity meet. Girls need to run sub 6min to be competitive. Although to REALLY be competitive, a HS girl should be running around 5min.

Yes, but the high school cross-country and track teams are typically over 50 students, at least in this area. The kids you are talking about are really only the top 10 boys and top 10 girls.

My DS who went to hs indoor and outdoor track states senior year w a <4:20 mile and a 1:54 800m, started freshman year w a 5:15 mile. Kids improve a lot over the 4 years of high school. The times posted are usually just goals for trying out for the team in 9-10th grade, not for competing effectively over 4 years.

There’s this assumption that track is for open to anyone and is always a no cut sport and that no one even has to try running before they go out for the team, or it is a backup sport if you don’t make anything else, but really you’re doing yourself a disservice if you don’t even warm up and try running for a few weeks or months before the season starts. Also, it was always my kid’s favorite sport.

Track should be a cut sport if 1) the team members are not running 5-6x a week or showing up consistently to practice, 2) they show up completely out of shape and not ready to run at all. Every year, kids tryout for cross-country and then they realize they actually have to run more than 3 miles a day for 5 to 6 days a week and then by the end of the season, the size of the team is 1/2 to 1/3 what it was at the start of the fall.

Anonymous wrote:There were 12 girls in FCPS last year that ran under 5 minutes for the track 1600

Exactly. So to say that 630 is a good time for a male HS athlete is silly. That doesn't mean a 14 year old boy who has never run track before, and shows up for the first day and runs a 630 mile, should be laughed off the team. He can train and get better and maybe he can only drop his time to 530 but he can keep that up for a 5k so he ends up being a good XC competitor. I love that most track teams are no cut- there is no equipment to share, no numbers considerations for teams like baseball or soccer that make the team limited in numbers just by default. Even with swimming there are only so many lanes. Making HS track be a sport with cuts is just ridiculous.

Schools are so big around here (and sports so competitive), that there are schools that will have to do cuts even for XC. Sometimes schools will have a "no cuts" policy, but, your kid isn't going to get to go to meets.

Post the highschool you are interested in, someone can give you specifics.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There were 12 girls in FCPS last year that ran under 5 minutes for the track 1600

and several were freshman/sophmores. there are kids who show up to tryouts with no track experience but who have played soccer or swam (or did both) and are talented.

I would be surprised if a single one of the 12 ran a 5 minute mile at tryouts. Kind of seems like you’re trying to discourage people from trying track.

Just trying to be realistic and showing that a 6:30 mile is not fast or good to be competitive

DP, but the question was about making the team, not being “competitive.”

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There were 12 girls in FCPS last year that ran under 5 minutes for the track 1600

and several were freshman/sophmores. there are kids who show up to tryouts with no track experience but who have played soccer or swam (or did both) and are talented.

I would be surprised if a single one of the 12 ran a 5 minute mile at tryouts. Kind of seems like you’re trying to discourage people from trying track.

Just trying to be realistic and showing that a 6:30 mile is not fast or good to be competitive

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There were 12 girls in FCPS last year that ran under 5 minutes for the track 1600

and several were freshman/sophmores. there are kids who show up to tryouts with no track experience but who have played soccer or swam (or did both) and are talented.

I would be surprised if a single one of the 12 ran a 5 minute mile at tryouts. Kind of seems like you’re trying to discourage people from trying track.

Anonymous wrote:There were 12 girls in FCPS last year that ran under 5 minutes for the track 1600

and several were freshman/sophmores. there are kids who show up to tryouts with no track experience but who have played soccer or swam (or did both) and are talented.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our HS has a XC competitive program and from the sports website it looks like a freshman girl needs to be able to run a 7:30 mile and boys 6:30. There is a time trial on the track the first few days of practice. The times go down for older ages groups. There is a caveat that if you are close- you can try again in a week.

The times are not posted for winter and spring track but I think it is top 8 finish in the time trials.

6:30 is pretty fast

For a boy hoping to compete in high school track? It's incredibly slow. Boys should be able to run sub 5min miles to be competitive at a varsity meet. Girls need to run sub 6min to be competitive. Although to REALLY be competitive, a HS girl should be running around 5min.

Exactly. A boy who runs a 5:00 mile in a varsity track meet will get destroyed.

There aren’t many new brand track runners that show up the first day of tryouts and run a 5 minute mile though. 6:30 at tryouts can drop quickly when they start training seriously. Freshman boys running sub 5 by the end of the season are considered good and some of those turn into the juniors and seniors running sub 4:20.