Best universities in the USA for distance running?

1. Running and education are equally important to me. My biggest dream is to become a professional runner, but I know I need to have something to do when my running career is over (if it even starts..). I honestly haven't decided what to study yet, but it will be either physics (or some other science subject), economics or physiology/biomechanics. I have heretofore only attended small schools, so it might be fun to try a big one for a change (but to be honest, it doesn't really matter). Geographic location isn't too important, as long as it's a bit warmer there than it is in Norway (preferably not colder than 0* Celsius during winter time)

2. I hope I understood this question correctly. You want me to be honest with myself about my potential in running and academics. I believe I can reach pretty far in both.

3. I'm doing research, and one part of it is asking you guys here on letsrun. Other than that I’ve been googling and looking up some universities' sites. It isn’t easy, especially the academic part, when I don't really understand your school system (What is a majors/minors and postgraduate/graduate programs?)

4. I'm in my junior year now. I got two more years at videregående (equivalent to high school) before I graduate. I don't worry too much about my academic qualifications, my average grade is currently 6 (equivalent to A, or whatever your best grade is), and with the extra points I get from some subjects I'll probably be able to boost my average to around 6,3-6,4, and I think that's enough to get into most schools.

ItsAllGood wrote:

Torsten,

Your English is quite good, but your trolling is weak.

-ItsAllGood

Thank you, I got an A in english during my last semester.

Don't think I am real? This link (http://www.kondis.no/800m-g17-froeskeland-best.4952495-127676.html) leads to an article written by the norwegian magazine kondis. The article is from the norwegian youth championships at 800m, and there's a picture of me there (the one with the ''Torsten blir nr. 3'' above it). You might recognize the guy next to me (Markus Loftås)who was in the semi-final at 400m hurdles in Lille.

Thank you for this serious and excellent answer. I'm currently in 1.55-shape and I turned 17 last month. If things go as planned I'll be in 1.49-shape by the time I graduate. I'm planning to run 1.52 next year and 1.49 the year after (hopefully the year I move to the states). I'm not super rich or anything, so a scholarship would help!

1. It is often (but not always) true that the best running programs (especially for 800m runners) are not among the best academic programs. A large part of your choice will be based on this tradeoff -- is going to a weaker running program worth it for the better academics?

In regards to weather, in the U.S. that would limit you to schools in California and the Southwest (Arizona, New Mexico, etc) and schools in the South (Texas, anything North Carolina and farther south). But if you've never trained in very hot/humid conditions, you may want to think about that tradeoff too.

2. It sounds like you should have good enough academics to go to almost any school you want, if the coach is willing to try to get you in. But that may not be true; you'll have to ask coaches themselves to be sure. Athletically, you have to find out what a coach's standards are to recruit and see if you are fast enough.

3. Hopefully you have an academic counselor or teacher to talk to about these things? In the U.S., your major is the field you are focusing on (for example, you can major in physics or economics, meaning that you will still take a broad range of classes, but you'll focus on physics or economics more so). Some people go on to get master's degrees (usually one or two years of extra schooling) or Ph.D.s (usually 4-7 years of extra schooling), and these are strongly focused/concentrated on a specific subject. If you know what you want to major in, you should look for schools that are ranked highly in that subject, and you may want to look for schools that are ranked highly overall (especially if you are unsure).

4. Sounds good.

I should have added

5. Money. You need to figure out how much you are willing to pay to go to which types of schools, and that may determine which ones you're interested in. You should contact coaches and/or do research to find out scholarship standards at different schools.

4.

Villinova. It a good academic school and has a rich history of middle distance running. Marcus O'Sullivan is from Ireland and wont hesitate to bring in a foreigner. He doesn't care where you are from, he just wants the best.

The OP wanted a school with great academics and a good distance program. This is obvious. Stanford. Best academics. Routinely awesome at cross/track.

STTTTAAAANFFFORRRD.

Wait. I just clicked on your link. Your times are pretty slow Torsten. I'm not sure you could actually run at any D1 school with a 2:02 for an 800m run.

this is sooo obvious wrote:

Wait. I just clicked on your link. Your times are pretty slow Torsten. I'm not sure you could actually run at any D1 school with a 2:02 for an 800m run.

Oh, never mind that. I WAS in 1,55 shape early in the spring, but then i got a plantar fasciitis in my right foot, and I had to spend three months just training in water, and bicycling and roller skiing. 5 days after I was declared healthy by my physiotherapist, I ran 1,57 in a solo race to qualify for the UM (norwegian youth championship). Then when i actually ran in UM, it was horribly windy conditions, up to 10 m/s, and on top of that I also ran a very bad tactical race. But everyone ran slower than their PB. The guy who won the race in 2,00 (Roald Frøskeland, who also was in Lille) actually had a PB of 1,53.

1. If that's the case, then I'm thinking: My body will only be able to reach it's full potential within running while I'm young. I have my whole life to get an education. So I just might choose running over academics here.

2. Note to self: Contact coaches before applying for university

3. Thank you for explaining! I'll check if my school has that kind of counselor on monday.

4. Thank you.

5. I think that if I find a school that i really like, I'll be able to scratch together enough money to go there. Do you know any circa times on how fast to run to get scholarships, how you could get other academic scholarships too?

For you i belive stanford or oregon. Stanford has excelent academics, a warm climate, and a okay running program. Oregon has an excellent running program, a warmer-than-norwegian climate and okay academics.

colleges in the u.s. southwest produce the most marathon winners, olympic medal winners, and iaaf outdoor medalist. the weather attracts the top runners and produces volumes of top elite runners.

If you want a warm climate, then these are the best universities to look at and research. But I would wait until you ran at least 1:52 to email the coaches.

University of California - Los Angeles

University of California - Irvine

University of Southern California

Arizona State University

University of Texas

University of Arkansas

University of Tennessee

Florida State University

University of Florida

University of North Carolina

North Carolina State University

University of Virginia

* Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas has a bunch of Scandanavian women on their track team, but I don't know what the men's team is like, or If they even have one.

*there are also numerous other universities which either are much smaller or are not as well known for their mid distance/distance teams

Hej Torsten,

Hvis du skrive paa Engelsk, saa skal jeg proeve og skrive lidt paa Norsk. Jeg har Norsk slektninger og har besoekt Norge en gang for et par uker. Det er et smuk, malerisk land.

(I tried to make it norwegian but it's probably got some danish sneaking in because I was also in Denmark for 3 months. Not sure if slektninger is the right word for ancestors and distant relatives).

Anyway,back on topic:

Coming from Norway, I don't think you will like the combination of heat and humidity in the southeast or southern midwest (like much of texas). It's withering!!

Anything on the west coast should be fine weather wise, even up to Seattle (where the University of Washington is) which actually gets less rain in the winter than Eugene, Oregon.

I agree with others that Stanford is the best academically but UCLA and Washington also have good academics, especially in some of your favorite areas like physics and bio/tech. Oregon is only OK in academics--not bad, not great. But, there is a reason why they are famous for their running program....if you are fast enough, you should still consider Oregon on your list--as long as the training principles fit who you are.

Be wary of those who anonymously trash coaches at any of these schools. Like UW sometimes gets trashed here for burning out their runners....take that with a grain of salt. Brown went from a walk on to an 800m ncaa champ at UW. When you get faster, you can talk to the coaches and actual runners at the schools to find out how these schools train their runners and what kind of runners have succeeded there, and how your own training personality fits.

By the way, what is your best 200m and 400m time?

Southwest schools in Arizona and Sooo Quereweefornia are fine to checkout.

The rest have crappy 5 month long summers with high humidity and crummy academics that teach to the test. W/O the fake BCS joke and SOS charade they'd go bankrupt since their only revenue stream is from college football. They suck.

Hei! Your norwegian ain't too bad! Jeg forsto ikke helt hva du mente med et smuk og malerisk land? Det kan ha vært dansk. Slektninger is relatives, while stamfedre is ancestors :)

Thank you for the tips! I think I might actually have to go on vacation to some of the warmer states to actually see if I can handle the warm and humidity to see if I actually can handle it. I'm currently having a good feeling about Stanford because mostly because of good academics, but it looks like they have great nature and enviroment for running not too far away from the university. And I've checked wikipedia and the average temperatures looks tolerable. But I'll definately check out the universities you mentioned too!

Do you have any idea how I can find the training principles for the Oregon team?

My PB's (with the year i ran them)

100m: 11,67 (+0,4) (2011)

200m: 23,57 (+1,0) (2010)

400m: 51,69 (2010)

800m: 1.57 (2011)

1600m(xc): 4.30 (2011)

My 200m and 400m PB's are from 2010 because, as I wrote in a previous post, I had a plantar fascia (inflamation) in my right foot almost the entire 2011-season (April to mid september). I managed to PB in the 100 and 800 in some fall meets, but I believe my times could have been a lot faster if I hadn't been injured.

I consider myself a speedy distance runner, kind of a 400/800 guy, and I try to train for speed the whole year. Does any universities favour that kind of training?

South united states wrote:

If you want a warm climate, then these are the best universities to look at and research. But I would wait until you ran at least 1:52 to email the coaches.

University of California - Los Angeles

University of California - Irvine

University of Southern California

Arizona State University

University of Texas

University of Arkansas

University of Tennessee

Florida State University

University of Florida

University of North Carolina

North Carolina State University

University of Virginia

* Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas has a bunch of Scandanavian women on their track team, but I don't know what the men's team is like, or If they even have one.

*there are also numerous other universities which either are much smaller or are not as well known for their mid distance/distance teams

Thank you for this nice list!

The weather doesn't have to be super-warm, but just warmer-than-norwegian climate! (Some of my runs last year was done in -17* celsius (0* fahrenheit). It would be nice to traing without having to worry about developing asthma)

Note to self: Run 1.52 as soon as possible!

The schools east of New Mexico are unbearably hot and humid half of the year. Plus they're dumb schools with lousy academics.

UNC is pretty much the best school in the nation if you want great academics and great track & field.

Torsten-

I would try the University of Virginia, first and foremost. They have who I believe to be the best middle distance coach in the country and they are outstanding academically. As a bonus, the coach isn't scared of foreigners. The weather is decent and the women are bangin.

Next: Stanford. Fantastic academics, great athletics. Pretty good in the middle distances with potential to be great, great weather year round, always a strong, strong choice.

Third: Villanova- the coach is great, the academics are pretty good. Problem: it is catholic, so you have to deal with all that BS. Also the training style is Jack Daniels-esque, if you're OK with that. ALso, the winters are cold as F.

Fourth: Oklahoma State. not as great academically, but honestly University is what you make of it. The coach is pretty good, but the town of stillwater blows. Especially coming from Norway.

Hope this helps. Good luck, step up those times this season.