Solid Mid-Tiered D1 programs

Dixie Kid wrote:

I know as a JR these times aren't good enough to be looked at by Syracuse or Villanova or Portland, but are they good enough to get some interest from Providence or Indiana or Michigan State?

No...not for any sizable scholarship anyway. To be fair though, non of the schools listed are mid tier teams. All compete within the top 10 of their region in XC, so while they are maybe not national contenders, they are power conference schools among the 20-30% of DI, if not better.

I would define top mid tier programs as good small conference schools. Look at the Missouri Valley and the Big Sky (NAU and SUU might be better than mid tier though), or seek out the teams winning the Southland, Big South, SoCon, Horizon League, North East Con., Patriot League and so on. These are mid tier teams, and your times might be more competitive for this level of competition.

If you want to live on the West Coast, compete in a great distance running conference, and join a young but promising team, check out Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles. Definitely mid-tier, but they had an All American on the track last year.

You will be recruited by Portland, they thrive off recruiting guys like you. You could walk on to any program in the WCC with a 4:23/9:27 other than BYU

You may have a better experience going to a top DIII school.

I think contending for nationals DIII (you'd be a very good but not amazing d3 recruit) is better than contending for a lower level conference championship in DI

patriot league, A-10 would be great leagues to look at. I had similar times my junior year and that's where I ended up.

Portland is definitely possible. The coach is a nice guy. Give him a call and just let him know about your upward trend.

What's the situation at Villanova? Seems like they have 4-5 stud australian/canadians and then a decent amount of guys that were a little faster than me in high school.

There are about 330 D1 teams. Granted not all have men's track/XC, but a team that makes NCAAs is top 10% or so.

I think he meant that they were in power conferences. you know. ACC/SEC/B1G etc.

William & Mary is historically a pretty powerful program but looks to be going through a rebuilding phase. Should be able to hop on that train before it gets really big again.

those 3 schools would give you a look, but not an scholly money.

Villanova has better runners than you so I wouldn't bank on there. You seem to be more of a long distance guy, so somewhere like Providence might be a fit. Are you Irish?

Dartmouth.

Bradley University in Peoria, IL is a growing program. They just got a new coach and some very good recruits (the Hoffert twins who went 1,2 at Illinois 2A state XC). William and Mary might be able to use someone like you. Indiana State might also be a good program to look at.

Your times would probably be welcomed at any of the Atlantic 10 schools. Not a powerhouse conference by any means but there is some solid competition all around on the track.

Look into school's in the SOCON. Furman's XC team really showed out this year. East TN State has a slew of mid-d guys that ran around those times in HS (some faster, some slower), and they've taken off a bit. And Samford, well, they have 4-5+ guys that could run sub 3:48 for 1500m any day. And they aren't graduating.

There are too many options based on just the times you listed. What do you want to study? How are your grades? Where are you from? Is their a region you want to focus on? Do you want a more Urban school or a more rural school? With the exception of Michigan State and Indiana, the schools you listed are in more urban areas.

I would pursue whatever college you want - get their feed back and get info on all that you would want to attend.. say you run 9:10 next year (or this year) - could happen or even better. People would have your name and hopefully some basic background. Don't sell yourself short - keeps your eyes open and ears to the ......

Yeah, but not full... I know their coach is Irish, but I'm really only half Irish. I ran 4:20 a few days ago, so that should help too.

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