Senior in HS. Running D1?

You've got a shot, yes, but you need to improve a decent amount. There's a pretty big gulf between your 3200 time and a borderline Ivy League recruit time (closer to 9:10-9:15).

For XC, qualifying for FL or NXN would be big. Or at least get close to it, say, finishing 12th in your FL regional race. I've seen a few kids around me in a similar circumstance to you get recruited by and attend the Ivy League schools with this kind of success in XC following a good, but not overwhelmingly good spring track season.

One big key that you haven't disclosed: SAT/ACT scores. An important factor for an Ivy League coach for the marginal recruits is whether or not they need to use an admissions slot for the recruit. If you scores are high enough, the coach is going to be much more willing to take you. By "high enough", I'm talking about math/reading combined SAT over 1450 or an ACT of 34 or more.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention my SAT scores, but they're above the scores that you mentioned

Go to WASHU or North Central.

Unless a lot has changed since the early 2000s (granted everyone is faster) but looking at the roster of my alma mater you could probably walk on for a decent D1 team, and you should be able to make a bad ivy team.

Not to pick on anyone but if there are finishers above 26 min in a 8K if you ran a 3200m in 9:20 you should be able to run 8:45 in the 3k and I think that is worth a 26 min 8k. That is assuming no progression from junior year (which to be fair happens).

http://www.flotrack.org/result/9127-2016-ivy-league-xc-championships#.WcQCzFWGNhE

D3 Stud wrote:

Go to WASHU or North Central.

On the west coast look at Pomona-Pitzer and CMS. Both teams are pert of the Claremont colleges.

I was slightly better than you coming out of HS and was a D1 all-american. If I had it to do over I would have gone to Harvey Mudd or Pomona College on the west coast, possibly Willamette.

The academics at these schools are so much better than where I went, and I would have had a good chance to win individual national titles at the D3 level.

Good HS runners always want to run at top D1 running schools, but the reality is most crash and burn and quit the sport a few years into college. Go run D3 and get a superior education and have fun running.

If you've really only ever run 20-30mpw, you're good enough to walk on to a lot of D1 teams. Even plenty of mediocre Power 5s. I don't know what you want to study, but don't feel that you need to go to an Ivy just because you can. Plenty of other schools are just as serviceable, cheaper, and you'd at least have a chance at an athletic scholarship. But if you want that scholarship, you need to show some great results this XC season. Track season will probably be too late to get money, though running 9:10 this spring would help your chances to walk on at most places. Be sure to emphasize your very low mileage and some D1 coaches should be willing to give you a shot.

Wurt wrote:

If you've really only ever run 20-30mpw, you're good enough to walk on to a lot of D1 teams. Even plenty of mediocre Power 5s. I don't know what you want to study, but don't feel that you need to go to an Ivy just because you can. Plenty of other schools are just as serviceable, cheaper, and you'd at least have a chance at an athletic scholarship. But if you want that scholarship, you need to show some great results this XC season. Track season will probably be too late to get money, though running 9:10 this spring would help your chances to walk on at most places. Be sure to emphasize your very low mileage and some D1 coaches should be willing to give you a shot.

I agree with most of this, except the mantra that continues that Ivy League schools are expensive. The Ivy League schools gives some of the best need-based financial aid in the country, so they are really only very expensive for people of substantial financial means. If you are in a household that has an income of $125,000 or less (assuming you don't have huge liquid assets somewhere), you will get about full tuition at every Ivy League school, leaving you to pay only room and board and books. If your family income is under $100,000 per year, you will get more than tuition, and if you are under about $70,000 you will get nearly tuition and room and board paid for...assuming you are admitted.

Now, the OP has to get these coaches interested in him, and unfortunately mid 9:20s for 3200 doesn't quite do that...but, as you said, if he were to emphasize low mileage, that may pique their interest. Some low-mileage guys though are low mileage because they get injured if they raise it up too much, so it is potentially a liability too.

Anyway, Ivy League schools are a great place for decent runners to go if their family income isn't super high. All 8 of them are in the 66 colleges that meet full financial need. See the list here -

I am kinda surprised with this advice. It is likely too late for Ivies unless he doesn't need them to push him through academically. Almost all have slots but fill them during early action. We were told outright after that they would only have one or two slots if any. If he really wants to go, he better go visit the school and meet the coach and wow the heck out of him to get on the radar. Coaches have their lists and fall visits set. Now for non-ivies there is more time.

Assuming that academics is paramount (which it should be), your best bet for admissions assistance is D3. I'd look at WashU, Haverford, Williams, CMU, Hopkins and some of the other LACs that other posters have mentioned.

If you run really well in XC and either qualify for FL or NXN or get close, I can see you getting admissions assistance from a good D1 academic school. But you gotta do the legwork. Make a list of schools and contact all of them. I'd look at: Duke, UNC, Notre Dame, Cal, William & Mary, GA Tech, BU, Lehigh, Villanova.

Some good/great academic schools that have distance programs that are probably out of reach: Michigan, Wisco, Stanford, Georgetown, UCLA, UVA. If you qualify for nats in XC, by all means contact these schools.

Beyond academic assistance, you should be able to walk on most of these programs if you can run 4:15 - 4:20 and/or 9:15 - 9:20 as a senior.

Good luck!

I'd concur on this. The D3 route is not to be overlooked. At a lot of the D1 schools, you'll just be another walk-on. At a D3, there's a good chance of being a solid contributor by your sophomore year and you would be getting probably more attention from your coaches regarding your training. And the ones mentioned have quality coaches. And they race in meets with D1 schools, so you still get to prove yourself against D1 talent.

I would also add that D3 schools don't have necessarily the same distractions as the D1 schools. Sure, there are parties and booze, but you don't have the same big sport culture. Football and basketball isn't a thing. So instead of living vicariously through some dumb jocks with a football and boozing it up at tailgates, you get your sleep and do your long runs right. You get to focus on your sport.

One of my former runners is at Haverford. He loves it there. I got the impression that they don't also necessarily hammer the freshman either. When I chatted with him about his training, I got the impression that his freshman year was about the same mileage as his senior year in high school (70 mpw for senior HS XC; about 60+ mpw for Haverford as a freshman).

So if someone is coming from a low mileage background, it will be hard training, but it shouldn't beat one down.

Gotta second this. D1 is a totally different attitude, and unless you're immediately going to be the best runner on the team, D3 is pretty great. I think D3 guys love the sport a lot more, and the top D3 guys train harder and improve more than the mid-level D1 guys. It's definitely more fun to try to compete for a national title or a podium finish in D3 than to try to get top 5 at conference in D1, and a lot of the time I think the coaching is better at a top D3.

I also want to second the guy recommending Haverford. I visited there (ultimately couldn't afford it) and Tom Donnelly and the team are just fantastic people, combined with a top academic school. I think any perennial contender will also have a great culture though, and there are some good options outside of top ranked schools. Ultimately, my advice is to find a school where you would be happy whether or not you were running. Best of luck and let us know what you decide.

For the D1 schools, it's probably too late to be recruited, but you should still find out about walking on the team if you apply and get admitted. It's OK to explain to a coach that you want to be able run XC/track as part of your college experience and have the opportunity to train and compete on a team. If you don't get a satisfactory answer, then be prepared to move on.

Try to work with a HS counselor to narrow down a list of schools that are a good fit for you. Then, think about how you can fit in running XC/track at those schools. If you are dependent on an athletic scholarship, then that will change your search criteria, but it doesn't sound like you are.