Are you healthy now? There are some open meets you could run like track smith 5000. If that isn't an option or you don't have the fitness to run well yet, just focus on xc. Most coaches will consider a good time from Sept or Oct.
Not quite healthy yet, but expect to be in a month or so. The Tracksmith 5000 suggestion looks like a very good one. Do you happen to know about any others similar to that one? Especially mile/1600?
You're in a good spot. If you aren't healthy, just focus on getting healthy. You're a national level HS runner. Just get healthy, be patient, have a good XC season (repeating your NXN result) and you'll be fine.
If you stress about running some time on the track this summer, you're risking a setback. And a setback at this point will cause a big problem for you recruiting wise.
You can always run fast SR spring and take a gap year. Or enroll in junior college. There are plenty of ways to get to where you're going. We all have different paths. It feels like your back is against the wall, and it's good to be motivated, but don't panic.
notice how football and basketball recruits verbally commit and decommit all the time.
schools in these sports 'release' recruits from verbal agreements all the time too if they want to use that roster spot or $ on a ' better' prospect.
Sure, but I can't think of one early commit in track & xc, who reopened their recruitment, or was not honored by school.
Leah Stephens moved late from FSU to NC St, but got out of her NLI due coach change.
A commitment with a nice instagram announcement from both athlete and team is pretty 'binding'. Especially, if the record shows no one is backing out. This then is formalized in sr yr November with ED acceptance and signing of NLI/new contract.
There's decommits in football and hoops, because it involved 6 and 7 figure sums.
Why announce early? 1- lock up roster spot in current confusion. 2- be done early to relax and enjoy sr year. 3 - looks cool, it's the current prestige move.
It's actually surprising that more decommits don't happen on both sides, as we have a sport where an athlete can radically improve as sr, or have career threatening injury / illness.
It's not binding even if you think it's 'pretty binding'. IG isn't a contract. and IG is only the recruit announcing it. not the school. the school announcing it would be against NCAA rules.
Football & hoops have been doing this for years (well before NIL)
and just because you can't think of one doesn't mean it hasn't happened or can't happen in the future.
As the guy/girl said, nothing is official until the contract is signed. Nothing is binding - roster spot or money until the contract is signed. That's just the truth.
To bring this back around for you. If this kid (OP) opens her track season with a 4:35, I can't imagine more than one or two schools not figuring out how to get her on the roster with money.
(you are right about one thing though, the recruit does think it looks cool though.)
Thousands of football players commit early. Dozens of track runners commit early. The percentage of changes is likely similar. Addy Wiley was a 5 stat recruit who changed her mind. Some elite guy also went D2 rather than stay with his commitment but I can't recall his name.
no one said people don't commit early. it's just not binding on either party until the contract is signed. very simple.
I was the first one to state that earlier. I was answering the person who didn't see early track commits changing their minds. The point is that there are so few early track commits which is why he is seeing so many more football players change their mind.
re the summer meet idea, you have to factor in both healing time and the training time it would take to get ready to run a quick track race and handle elite opposition. so if you're out a month more, that's early june before you can train. you basically have to rule out any meet in that timeframe. you then know how many weeks you need to train to run a decent track time. if it takes 3-4 weeks after you start, that's early july.
there are some junior olympic regional meets in early july building to nationals in late july
there are also some meets like these later in the summer
there might be all comers meets over the summer, ask around, talk to a local HS or college coach
OR
hunt around for something early indoor if your state lets you run unattached
when they say they want a track time, they want a track time. they are intrigued by the cross times. they don't want your road race. they want apples to apples track times.
fwiw The Armory in NYC has HS-age indoor meets beginning in october. you'd have to check if your state allows unattached without eligibility issues. but if you didn't want to rush or have lingering issues, and can do it without losing your senior TF seasons, you could rest, do summer training then XC fall, and then see if you could find an indoor meet while still in cross shape.
every suggestion is going to be mixed bag. summer meets would be rushed prep or are you well. fall meets you'd have to double check eligibility. and if you wait until senior TF you'd basically have to start applying and then wave around times from next spring fairly late.
re the summer meet idea, you have to factor in both healing time and the training time it would take to get ready to run a quick track race and handle elite opposition. so if you're out a month more, that's early june before you can train. you basically have to rule out any meet in that timeframe. you then know how many weeks you need to train to run a decent track time. if it takes 3-4 weeks after you start, that's early july.
there are some junior olympic regional meets in early july building to nationals in late july
there are also some meets like these later in the summer
there might be all comers meets over the summer, ask around, talk to a local HS or college coach
OR
hunt around for something early indoor if your state lets you run unattached
when they say they want a track time, they want a track time. they are intrigued by the cross times. they don't want your road race. they want apples to apples track times.
