Will I ever make varsity?

What year are you? I would continue to train on your own until next year. And of course cross country if you're into that. You might consider talking to the coach about what to do as well. You might consider soccer or lacrosse to stay in shape.

You are going to quit and try again next year? Instead of establishing a new benchmark for next season, you will be starting at the point that you quit.

Here's the thing though, I am about to go into Junior year and I don't know if running is worth the time commitment. I am taking 4 Ap classes and 2 honors classes next year and also I am planning to apply to schools like Harvard and Yale. So next year I am going to be really busy and if I want to make varsity this year, I'm going to have to go sub 16:25. I just feel like I would benefit more on focusing on grades and other extra curriculars: Science Olympiad and science fair. I feel like I can run around 17 minutes flat if I tried,but that probably wouldn't put me on varsity because there are like 14 other people who can run sub 18. I don't know I'm just really frustrated because if I was at any other school in my conference besides one, I feel like I would be varsity by now.

Running isn’t going to help you get into college or pay bills. You won’t even really be competitive at low level high school invitationals.

I’d keep my focus on academics.

Should I keep doing track though?

I am a lot better at track than xc. I run like a 52 second 400 m and 2:04 800m. I am not very good at distance events.

yeetmaster wrote:

Should I keep doing track though?

I am a lot better at track than xc. I run like a 52 second 400 m and 2:04 800m. I am not very good at distance events.

That 400 is very good. Do specific 400m training instead of XC.

kid from PA wrote:

yeetmaster wrote:

Should I keep doing track though?

I am a lot better at track than xc. I run like a 52 second 400 m and 2:04 800m. I am not very good at distance events.

That 400 is very good. Do specific 400m training instead of XC.

+1

Maybe become a 400/800 guy if you can improve that 800 at all. 52 speed can make a very good high school 800 runner.

I agree … go the 400/800 route. Like you, I was frustrated at my XC / 2 mile performances my freshman year until I realized I could beat the older kids at the shorter stuff. So I did the best I could at XC while my real focus was on the 800 when springtime came around. My last two years of high school, I was never better than the 5th XC finisher on my team. But, I won every 800 for two years in the dual/tri meets. Figure out your strength and focus on that.

yeetmaster wrote:

Hey guys I just ran a 2 mile time trial 2 days ago and ran an 11:23 which I would say isn't that bad of a time. However, there were like 8 guys on my team that ran under sub-11. So it seems like it's impossible to make varsity. I worked really hard during the summer to improve my times and try to make varsity. However, it just seems impossible to make the varsity roster when all the varsity runners from last year return for this season. What should I do? Should I give up and make the roster next year?

I've posted much regarding my opposition to elite 400/800 athletes participating in college XC. High school XC may be harmless. No need for you to log 75 plus kilometres per week like the dedicated XC runners over the summer. I am sure you know Am. football receivers who also participate in track & field. Train with Am. football receivers over the summer. Participate in XC just for fun. If you're JV XC, so what. I had high school and college XC teammates who were 400/800 athletes. Some 400/800 athletes were decent XC runners, others were JV. It was good having 400/800 guys on the XC team no matter how well they raced XC.

I would still run XC as it will help your 400m time a little bit but help your 800m time a lot more. Who knows, you might end up being a very decent miler as well.

Continue to focus on academics though as they are what really counts.

What are your test scores? If they are not near perfect, you probably won't get into the Ivies unless you are a minority. So you may want to continue running since you only get one chance to be on a high school team. Many people regret not doming sports in high school.

You don't have a secret weapon to use

against your peers -- go to youtube and

browse -- "autogenic training."

It is possible but you need a secret weapon,

mental training. Like Eric Clapton would say

"You'd been told, so maybe

it's time you learn."

Gotta run for the love of it. If you’re just thinking about it in terms of crafting a resume, wrong reason. Shouldn’t be asking if it’s “worth it”. Show some commitment.

Running on a team is just too much fun to pass up. If you like XC who cares if you're 8th or 18th.

Alysia Montano runs 52 and 1:57. If I were you I would be content to run JV XC as training for track. Don't kill yourself trying to excel at someone else's event, but look ahead to spring, where you'll go out in a comfortable 57 seconds and have the strength from XC to hang on better than most others and go well under 2:00.

yeetmaster

I have like a 1540 sat with 22 on essay

800 on math 2

A 4.4 weighted gpa

Planning to take a subject test this fall

I mean I have a lot of time to improve my test scores though

I don’t get what your motivation is? Just to be on varsity? Why? To say you did? To get a letter?

In my school the coach was constantly rotating the 5-7 guys based on performance. You never know what happens in a season.

I was on jv my first couple meets and eventually cracked into the top 7 the tail end of my junior year.

I got to go state that year. But I enjoyed running and being part of a team. I didn’t mind jv as long as I improved.

Of course in our state I was usually top 10 in the jv only races ( I know doesn’t mean squat) so I still got some fun from running.

You seem to have no real reason to run.

I also took AP/honors classes and worked. Runnin was a welcome break from all that.

yeetmaster wrote:

I have like a 1540 sat with 22 on essay

800 on math 2

A 4.4 weighted gpa

Planning to take a subject test this fall

I mean I have a lot of time to improve my test scores though

Sorry but unless you are a legacy you probably aren’t getting into Yale or Harvard. But honestly it seems like you just want to go to the ivies just to say you did.

Lots of people “apply “ to Yale and Harvard. By all means shoot for the moon but you seem to always be looking ahead. Enjoy the moment