Good Division III Schools for Running

Hoovis 2 wrote:

However, if academics are a slightly higher priority than running (but you still want to be in a good running program training under a very good coach), then you may want to consider Carnegie Mellon -- especially if you would be interested in theater (great program) or (of course) computer science (which I'm guessing you're not based on your thread).

But Haverford, in addition to having a _much_ better distance program than Carnegie Mellon, is generally better academically as well, apart from a few departments like CS and, apparently, theater. So it's not clear that someone who places a "slightly higher priority" on academics would be better served by going to Carnegie Mellon over Haverford. That's not to say the CM isn't a great place - I'm sure it is.

If you wanna go out west look at Pomona, Claremont, Colorado College, Willamette or Puget Sound. All pretty good schools, both academically and athletically

With your grades, you should look at Swarthmore. The education can't be beat (particularly if you are interested in the sciences) and the team is fun (and improving). Email me if you have questions.

North Central

US NEWS AND WORLD TOP 10 LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGES 2006:

1 Williams College (MA)

2 Amherst College (MA)

3 Swarthmore College (PA)

4 Wellesley College (MA)

5 Carleton College (MN)

6 Bowdoin College (ME)

6 POMONA COLLEGE (CA)

8 Haverford College (PA)

8 Middlebury College (VT)

10 CLAREMONT MCKENNA COLLEGE (CA)

10 Davidson College (NC)

12 Wesleyan University (CT)

13 Vassar College (NY)

14 Washington and Lee University (VA)

15 Colgate University (NY)

15 Grinnell College (IA)

15 Hamilton College (NY)

18 HARVEY MUDD COLLEGE (CA)

Pomona College, Claremont McKenna College and Harvey Mudd College are all part of the Claremont College Consortium in Claremont, CA (not to mention #27 Scripps and #53 Pitzer). Most (other than Pomona) are not as old as the East Coast schools and therefore are not ranked as highly as they should be, but there are still 3 in the top 18 which is pretty impressive. Also, because they are all right next to each other (with open cross registration) you can get all the resources of a larger school with the feel and small class sizes (18 average I think) of a small school. The five colleges combine for 2 athletic programs, Pomona Pitzer is one and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps is the other. But programs are good. PP's men made nationals in XC while CMS's women made it. CMS's men's track team has won conference 14 straight years and the men's xc team is up and coming.

Forgot to mention the weather is a lot better than the east as well!

If by "weather" you mean smog...

You may want to check out some NAIA schools. I know there are a few with great coaching, several that are considered top academic institutions, and as far as competition, better than D3, comparative to D2 at the top, and they offer scholarships. I go to an NAIA school and we are recuiting several guys with comparable times PR\'s their junior years, one of which may make our top seven in cross next year.

UW-La Crosse

Find a d 1 school trust me

Brrr. Trinity in San Antonio is much nicer during the school year.

if you go to Sewanee you'll be training by yourself because you're already as good as their best runner.

you know ,calvin is lossing millions a year. the program is good for running, but how about another program called everyone is jerks there and the academics are on their way to the can. overrated

wouldve said UC Davis but theyre in transition to DI from DIII now.

go aggies!

The person who mentioned conferences forgot the Centennial Conference. It includes previously mentioned Haverford and Swathmore as well as Bryn Mawr, Dickinson, Franklin and Marshall, Gettysburg, Johns Hopkins, Mcdaniel, Muhlenberg, Ursinus, and Washington. All good schools, some better than others, and the spectrum of running goes from one of the top programs in the country to schools that aren't very competitive on the regional level. Any school you choose you shouldn't have a problem finding people to race against.

this is a joke right? Franklin and Marshal? Gettysburg?

These schools suck at running.

Here's what you do kid. Look at the top 20 schools at Nationals this year. Look at US News and World Reports rankings. Look into the 6-8 schools with academic profiles that match up with what you want.

Anything else is going to waste your time because at many of the schools listed, you'll probably come in as the fastest runner there already, and won't be able to train.

If you want my opinion, Haverford, Tufts, and Wesleyan are all good places to start.

Truth is, this kind of topic gets every d3 wahoo on the board riled up and pitching whatever school they're at, with no regard to what you were initially asking for or hoping to learn about.

D4 wrote:

The person who mentioned conferences forgot the Centennial Conference. It includes previously mentioned Haverford and Swathmore as well as Bryn Mawr, Dickinson, Franklin and Marshall, Gettysburg, Johns Hopkins, Mcdaniel, Muhlenberg, Ursinus, and Washington. All good schools, some better than others, and the spectrum of running goes from one of the top programs in the country to schools that aren't very competitive on the regional level. Any school you choose you shouldn't have a problem finding people to race against.

This highlights the absurdity of picking a school based on what conference it's in.

All of these schools, apart from Haverford, are _terrible_ distance-running schools. Hell, one of them (Bryn Mawr) is an all-women's college, which makes it simply impossible for the original poster to attend.

So the Centennial happens to contain Haverford, which is a good DIII x-c program. But Haverford routinely wins the conference meet by nearly 100 points, sometimes without running its top guys. That hardly suggests that a good runner should pick one of the _other_ schools in the conference. The problem in college isn't finding people to race _against_ but finding people to train _with_. If the former were true, the Naropa Institute (in Boulder, CO) would have kick-ass x-c teams.

I really believe the best combination of academics and running in DIII is found at Williams. You are a good academic match for Williams. Coach Farwell is awesome and so are the kids on the team. Write him ASAP and start the process.

Tufts is also excellent. You might want to look at some of the smaller Ivys like Dartmouth. There could be money for you at Davidson, which is DI but trying to get some good recruits.

I was also impressed with the combination of academics and running at UChicago.

You might want to take a look at some of the schools in the midwest such as Nebraska Wesleyan, Wartburg, UW La Crosse, UW Platteville, Luther, Carleton and Grinnell. Pretty good schools with decent to great running programs.