Should I run in college?

Going to a DIII not Stanford.

Stanford has admitted some rotten apples for their sports might. Those do not make it to graduation. However, seeing what they do along the way could confuse you to believe that is the norm. It is not.

I have yet to see a top athlete go to Caltech to pursue higher achievement in his/her sport at the expense of academics. When it gets to be too much, most people take a break and focus on academics, only. You will not be the first one to do so.

Given your numbers, it seems that you lost steam or motivation but that you have talent. Running is amazing. You will have the opportunity to develop in a low-pressure environment. It does take commitment, as you probably already know. But that is not the same level of commitment that would be expected at Stanford.

Go for it.

Very much appreciated. Thanks for the encouragement. (Not sure why my pr's have stalled. Staying up until 1 am to do homework probably hasn't helped.) Again, thank you.

I would do it. Plenty of guys run in college while studying a difficult major and excel in both. Who knows, maybe you will improve significantly after a year or two of college.

Run if you enjoy running/training/competing, don't run if you don't. Whether you "make an impact" on the team will, in the long term, likely mean less to you than the experience of being on the team. Like the previous poster said, it's very possible to run three seasons and do well academically - I did. If anything I think the structure of regularly-scheduled practices helped me manage my time better.

If you're on the fence about it, I'd say give it a go. Take a "summer of Malmo" this summer - give it an honest effort but don't stress. In hindsight I put more pressure on myself than I needed to, especially my freshman year. Once you're done with HS running leave that all in the past - forget your old PRs, forget your old weekly mileage, and start fresh. If you hate college running after a year nobody's going to force you to continue, but if you enjoy the sport, give yourself the chance to make some breakthroughs and have a good college running experience.

I was in a similar situation to you after high school.

52 second 400. 2:00 800. 4:40-something 1500. I ran for a very good, very competitive team in high school and got broken down by the experience of being solidly mediocre. It was frustrating and I had no interest of running in college. My college track coach asked me to run, but I said no. Now, looking back, I think it might've been worth it to give it a go.

If it doesn't work out, oh well. I doubt your academics will suffer too much. I was on the honor roll and all that and I wasted tons of time that could've been better spent training, traveling and competing. You'll be the same person either way, but maybe you'll be one experience richer if you do it.