D1 Walk-On Requirements

Also depends on the coach. Some coaches are cool and will let you walk on just for the hell of it. On the other hand, I've known of a coach of a crappy team that turned down good walk ons. Not sure why.

You guys need some perspective. On what 10th-20th in a region looks like. Davidson (19th in the Southeast) has walk-on standards of 4:30 and 9:45.

I agree with the earlier poster who said that a sub-16:15 guy should be able to walk on at all but the most competitive schools. While 9:10 may be 100th best in the country, there are a hell of a lot more than 100 D1 XC runners in an incoming class. Unless you have your heart set on Oregon or Stanford, keep in mind that most of the times listed on this thread are ridiculous for walk ons.

For the grammar police:

"You guys need some perspective on what 10th-20th in a region looks like.

I'm thoroughly embarrassed, I can assure you.

finger up wrote:

watchout wrote:

Also, what I could find on Gonzaga's second year runners:

Kyle Branch (SO) - ran 4:21/9:29 in HS

Matt Chrichlow (SO) - ran 4:22/9:23 in HS

Erik Fagan (SO) - ran 9:36 in HS, but has run 3:59.54 for 1500m at Gonzaga

Alex Foote (SO) - ran 8:47 3k in HS

Colin O'Neil (SO) - ran 4:19/9:24 in HS

Nick Roche (SO) - ran 8:44 3k in HS

Braden Van Deynze (SO) - ???

Andy Thomas (RFR) - ???

If they have a ton of mid level talent they should be higher than 17th. Find a school that progresses runners

They were 14th (in the west). And those are the runners that are only in their second year; the program wasn't so good not too long ago, it's been a rebuilding job for Tyson. Of the third/fourth/fifth year runners, there wasn't nearly that depth coming in. Their fifth year runner was a 4:30/9:30 guy. Their best pair of recruits in a while was Tate Kelly and Ben Lance, fourth year runners now, who were a 9:21-9:25 guys in high school. At least two of the other kids in that class were 4:40/10:00 guys in HS, and there another 4:30 guy in that class.

It's not like they've gotten a ton of talent every year. And it's not like they aren't in the top 15 of a mediocre region.

I walked on to my college team with a 1;57, 4:27, 9:56) (times ran at altitude). We were probably in that range my freshman year but ended up challenging for the regional title and getting top ten at nationals my senior year. If you want to walk on just do it you may be surprised at where you end up. Lots of coaches are to lazy to good recruiting so often talent goes unnoticed and unrecruited.

I got shut down by many D1's even by a middle of the road school in the Big Sky.

1:56 800 1500m 4:19 3200m 9:35 5k xc 15:59

So run faster than that.

Correction ^ 1600m not 1500m ****

runnning wrote:

I got shut down by many D1's even by a middle of the road school in the Big Sky.

1:56 800 1500m 4:19 3200m 9:35 5k xc 15:59

So run faster than that.

I love the guy that said everyone on this thread doesn't know what they are talking about. Oh, All Mighty Karnak...

This response is a reality to the fact that you need to shop around if you absolutely have to run D1. I would be surprised that the Big Sky would turn you down. NAU always has good guys at the top but still has to rely on developing some runners. I would think Weber, Montana St. etc... would be even more grateful. These times might be allowed to walk on a D1 program but not all or even many. These would be pretty good D2 times and D3 would just be thrilled to have anyone this good.

Again, find the academic program to help you reach your career goals but look for a coach that is willing to develop you for 4 years.

I'm applying based upon academics/other fits. I'm applying to mainly to D1 schools (one D3 school), not because they're D1, but because they're good fits for me.

For the most part, the schools I'm applying to aren't dominant on the running scene. In fact, only one school qualified for nationals and finished in the bottom five. Running in college would be awesome, and I'd love to continue running competitively for four more years, but in all honesty it probably won't have a major impact on my college decision process.

I'm quite certain that I can run 4:30/9:35, and from what most people have commented, it looks like that is not good enough.

;alsidrh wrote:

Coaching kids for some time now, these seem to be avg D1 Walk-on numbers:

800 1:53 or better

1600 4:15-4:17

3200 9:15 or better

You are so far off on those times it isn't even funny. The OP asked about teams that finish in the 10-20 range in their regional. Those are not AVERAGE DI walk-on times, those are average walk-on times for top five or maybe 6-8th place teams at their region meet, which is well above average. There are about 300 DI teams in the country, 300. That puts average at 150th in the country, or for the OP's question, 10th at regions would be around 90th in the country and 20th would be around 180th, based on having 9 regionals. Teams not in the top 100 in the country are not very good and will have considerably slower walk-on times than what you posted. Frustrating when people post stuff like you and several others have posted, because it confuses everyone. DI does not mean only the top 50 schools and not what the OP was looking for.

My former teammate walked onto NAU (and was their number 8-9 guy in xc this year as a freshman) with a 4:20, 9:20, 1:59 (ran once last year) and was in the mid teens at the Division 2 CA xc state meet.

Plus, he was a little more than a regular walk-on. He was guranteed a spot on the team without a tryout based on his track times.

to ;alsidrh

I think that you have valid points with your statement. Weber st. never responded to my emails, and Montana State couldn't offer a roster spot. Thus being said these schools at the time had a full rosters. It's all good though because I run D2 at a great school and love it! There is more than just D1 keep your options open.

Ok, maybe I don't have a number for the range of the schools you are more knowledgeable about.

However, have you the numbers that schools like Nebraska are looking for? They are pretty much at the bottom of the Big 10 yet their standards for what they are interested in are pretty high. While I agree that schools like that are willing to recruit with those standards to build something that hopefully will be competitive, they are still at the bottom. Fact: Can't walk on there with numbers slower than I've indicated yet they are producing results lower than the standards you listed.

Thank you Almighty Karnack!!!

I go to a D1 school and the coach sent me the requirements of being a walk on:

800 - 1:54

1500 - 4:02

1600 - 4:22

3200 - 9:30

XC 8k - 25:40

based on those standards I would guess around 15:30 5k shape is needed.

If you were desperate to be on the team I am sure they would let you be practice-only if you were slightly slower.

;alsidrh wrote:

Ok, maybe I don't have a number for the range of the schools you are more knowledgeable about.

However, have you the numbers that schools like Nebraska are looking for? They are pretty much at the bottom of the Big 10 yet their standards for what they are interested in are pretty high. While I agree that schools like that are willing to recruit with those standards to build something that hopefully will be competitive, they are still at the bottom. Fact: Can't walk on there with numbers slower than I've indicated yet they are producing results lower than the standards you listed.

Thank you Almighty Karnack!!!

I was responding to what the OP was asking, you were responding with what seemed liked a definite answer, which was way off base. There are way too many variables as to what the walk on standards are, but as I said in my previous post, your times are way off for the AVERAGE DI school.

There are many variables as to how a coach does walk-on standards. The biggest is that many coaches are limited to a certain number of runners on the team. In my case, we were limited to 15 runners by the administration and we were always between 5 and 15 in our region. Our standards were 1:58, 4:25 and 9:40 and we were consistently a top 50 to 75 teams in the country, so well in the top 1/3.

Another huge variable is the type of conference that a team is in. Many coaches will only let someone on the team if they feel they can be competitive in that conference. For that reason, a bottom feeder in the Big Ten may have tougher walk-on standards that the top team in the Horizon league.

Another variable is the size of the coaching staff. Some cross country staff's have several full, part time and volunteer coaches, while others may only have one or two. It is easier to have more kids on the team with a bigger staff.

Budget could be another factor. Sometimes even the larger schools don't always have a huge budget for cross country and adding several walk-on's can increase the cost of operating the team.

I could go on and on, but the bottom line is that there are a wide range of walk-on times and a 4:30, 10 flat kid could at least walk on to dozens and dozens of D1 schools.

The schools I'm deciding between now, UNCG and App State placed 13th and 14th, Winthrop had some injuries and placed 20-something at regionals and I ran 800 1:59 1600 4:26 3200 9:33 and I ran 15:24 5k this fall..

I'm getting scholarship money so walk on I guess could be 4:25 and 9:30 as a Senior?

Higher level D1 (Top 5-6 at regionals) would have to be more like 4:15-4:17 and 9:15-9:20 walk on..

Runner2013 wrote:

The schools I'm deciding between now, UNCG and App State placed 13th and 14th, Winthrop had some injuries and placed 20-something at regionals and I ran 800 1:59 1600 4:26 3200 9:33 and I ran 15:24 5k this fall..

I'm getting scholarship money so walk on I guess could be 4:25 and 9:30 as a Senior?

Higher level D1 (Top 5-6 at regionals) would have to be more like 4:15-4:17 and 9:15-9:20 walk on..

I am confused as to why you feel like a school would require 4:25 and 9:30 times to walk-on when you are receiving scholarship money for running slower times than that at 4:26 and 9:33. I understand those are your junior year times, but walk-on times are usually going to be quite a bit slower than scholarship times.

As for your last sentence, there are definitely schools that are top 5-6 at regionals that have slower walk-on standards than what you posted, but you are correct that many of them would have those types of standards or faster.

Because very school I have visited had told me they would like be to go sub 4:20 and sub 9:20 senior year.. so you're right.. Mid level schools should really be more like 4:30 and 9:45 ?

For our school, it depends on the type of athlete they are. 50.x and 1:57 for a mid-distance guy and 4:25 and 9:40 for a longer guy are pretty common walk-ons. Like you said, we are a 10-20 school in our region. Some of the people giving you times are looking at top 5 schools, other bottom 5 schools. I bet this is about right for smaller, but competitive DI's.

The biggest limit for us (says my coach) is something that has been mentioned here before, Title IX. I almost did not make the team as a freshman because we have a strict roster limit of 15 in cross country. Lucky me someone got kicked off and I got a chance.