Running at the Naval Academy

It is harder to run at Navy.

This is due to the nature of the school. In addition to academics and running, there is a lot of military training and other things on the schedule of midshipmen. If you want to be in the Navy this should not discourage you from going there. It is just a statement of fact, it is hard to go through a service academy.

Attrition is high, but more often a result of runners leaving the school rather than the team.

A girl from my high school runs there doing 800-6k xc. I'd have to ask, but if I do I'll try to bump this thread. That said, I looked into the Academy when I was in high school but was not deemed competitive enough. I'd recommend the books Skies to Conquer, Absolutely American and Annapolis Autumn. Sure, the first two aren't about Navy but they are still good books about life at an Academy.

My cousin ran at the academy for a year doing mid distance. He said being on the time made the academy a little bit more bearable - he was able to leave the campus more than other freshmen and found his team mates to be nice to him even though he was only a freshmen. The same can't be said about other upper classmen and freshmen. However, he did not realize what he was getting himself into at the academy, decided the military wasn't for him and transferred after a year.

I would highly suggest looking deeper into academy life to determine if that's something you really want to do. Don't just go to the academy to run - if you're number 1 goal isn't to be in the military, your life will be miserable. Well it'll be miserable either way but just way more miserable if you realize you're not as gungho about the navy as all your classmates are.

Al Cantello is a bad ass. If the man lives to be 120 he will still be a bad ass.

McGarvey's Saloon wrote:

Al Cantello is a bad ass. If the man lives to be 120 he will still be a bad ass.

I hear that Cantello is tough but cool guy. He is 86 and not even the oldest on staff. Coach Dave Larish is almost 93! Coach Larish graduated the USNA is 1949.

FWIW, I was at a clinic where the former coach of the women's team of the Air Force Academy was a speaker (she is now a coach at UPenn).

One of the things that she commented on regarding the training and the workouts was that you never could know what physical activity the cadets would have before practice. They could have had drills, marching, hand-to-hand combat training, or a bunch of pushups.

So on a day you are scheduled to do a tempo run or race pace intervals, you're already physically taxed. So either your pacing gets altered; maybe a hard day is changed to a moderate day or a moderate day is changed to an easy day. Or you slog through a workout exhausted, but take it easier in the rest of the week.

I would anticipate similar things at either West Point or Annapolis.

It really depends on what you value. Basically, it's not set up for optimum physical training. That said, not having student debt is a pretty good deal.

I would add that many other colleges have ROTC or Naval ROTC programs that may provide the opportunity to join the military, obtain scholarship money for tuition, and still have a closer to normal college experience. And you still could probably run on the track and xc teams.

I ran for Big Al. I'll tell you that it's definitely harder than at other schools, but the guys doing it are there because the love the sport (they aren't beholden by scholarships or anything of the sort). The military stuff certainly interferes with training at times but it's not impossible to get good training, you just have to want it. There were days that I hated Al Cantello more than any person I've ever met and there were days where I loved him. He's tough and he'll make your life hell, but you're better because of it. I still talk to Coach all the time and miss my days at Navy incredibly. And the guys you run with will be your best friends for life. I would do it again without a second thought.

swdfsh wrote:

I ran for Big Al. I'll tell you that it's definitely harder than at other schools, but the guys doing it are there because the love the sport (they aren't beholden by scholarships or anything of the sort). The military stuff certainly interferes with training at times but it's not impossible to get good training, you just have to want it. There were days that I hated Al Cantello more than any person I've ever met and there were days where I loved him. He's tough and he'll make your life hell, but you're better because of it. I still talk to Coach all the time and miss my days at Navy incredibly. And the guys you run with will be your best friends for life. I would do it again without a second thought.

Thanks for the feedback. How long did you serve in the military? Is there a high attrition rate on the team? Do many of the kids that quit transfer? Is there much academic support available if you seek it out?

I'm still in the military (recent grad) and still running. There is a pretty high attrition rate amongst the freshmen as they learn whether it's for them or not. I don't know of any that transferred while I was there though. There is plenty of academic support if you need it. From teammates to the teams academic faculty representative (the current one is a great guy), if you need help with school you can get it.

swdfsh wrote:

I'm still in the military (recent grad) and still running. There is a pretty high attrition rate amongst the freshmen as they learn whether it's for them or not. I don't know of any that transferred while I was there though. There is plenty of academic support if you need it. From teammates to the teams academic faculty representative (the current one is a great guy), if you need help with school you can get it.

Thanks again for the information. I will reach out to the coaches.