Can a male 5 minute miler walk on to any D1 team in the country?

I ran 54 2 00 4 33 9 50 in HS and walked on to a top 10 program and made the top 7 my 5th year.

To give you an idea. In high school My best times were 800m 2:02.32; 1600m 4:24.16; 3200m 9:19.96; and 5k Cross Country 16:00 for 7th at the CIF State meet. I though about going to Oregon as a walk-on and the coach at the time Martin Smith said don't even bother I have too many of you already in my practice squad and I don't race any of you guys. Sure enough fast forward 3 years I would have been a consistent number 2 man on his NCAA Power House Cross Country team. A lot of hard work pays off not sure if it will for a 5:00 milers. We did have a guy on my college team that came out of high school with best times of 800m 2:33; 1600m 5:21; and 1600m 11:41 and a year later he ran 3000m 8:42; 5000m 14:51; and 10,000m 31:05 he eventually went on to run a 14:18 5000m and a 29:18 10,000m and placed top 50 at NCAA Division 1 in Cross Country 2 years in a row.

First off, every DIII runner is a walk-on.

Second, every DIII school in the Conference I attended had cuts, and 5:00 wasn't even near fast enough to make the cut. They'd let you try out though.

I know of schools who keep a good handful of people as long as they make a 4.0 GPA. Helps the team look good with the school and they get to run all the non-travel meets.

Is there a D1 school somewhere that would let him walk on? Sure, probably...somewhere.

But Title IX makes it a lot tougher for the men to have people like this than on the women's side.

ThatAverageRunner wrote:

What's up with this? wrote:

Curious: Why is your mile time so slow compared to your 800? I would think with a 1:52 you'd be going at least sub-4:30. I once had a kid who ran 1:54 and his mile PR was 4:25 off of about 40 mpw base (anymore and he would get injured). Your situation is kinda weird.

I wasn’t a 1:52 guy coming into college? That was the whole point of my post. My PRs senior year of high school were 55.9, 4:57, 10:46 and 17:20. Slowly cut my times down but senior year of college I got serious and ran 70mpw plus all the little things. Went from 2:03 the year prior to 1:52.

You can’t just assume a 5 minute mile guy from high school isn’t going to be anything.

You are missing the point. Your best event was OBVIOUSLY the 800. Based on your college 1:52 and also your HS times. The OP is asking about a runner he said is MUCH better in the mile than anything else.

Your HS 4:57 with a 55.9 400 (did you never run an 800??) is totally different than his situation.

Oddball wrote:

double talk wrote:

any division 2 or 3 school even worth anything will laugh at you... consider doing other things or another sport

Most D3 schools and even a few decent D2 schools would let a 5:00 guy walk on. But a lot of 5:00 guys won't take that option since they don't want to be the slowest guy on the team and can't stand being chicked on a regular basis.

In what situation would this theoretical 5:00 guy run against women? Also, I assume he is allowed to improve some by his freshman year? How many female 4:50 milers are in D3?

ck3237 wrote:

I ran 54 2 00 4 33 9 50 in HS and walked on to a top 10 program and made the top 7 my 5th year.

Good sir, 4:33 is WORLDS apart from 5:00.

Gary Glitter wrote:

every DIII school in the Conference I attended had cuts, and 5:00 wasn't even near fast enough to make the cut.

This isn't typical. I pulled up a college meet where they actually ran an outdoor mile (not the 1500), and out of 90 male runners, 10 or so D3 guys failed to break 5:

William Jefferson Clinton wrote:

They might let you walk on to the women's team.

This is really funny.

I say no to the question. Others want to talk about their improvement in order to make some other type of point. The poor guy just wants a list of schools where he can walk on. Oral Roberts was mentioned but I think they are a non-scholarship D1. I challenge anyone here to provide some legitimate schools that he can contact. I don't think he will be able to verify any.

ThatAverageRunner wrote:

double talk wrote:

no chance in hell sorry, you will be laughed and it will be considered a joke

any division 2 or 3 school even worth anything will laugh at you... consider doing other things or another sport

D2 and D3 schools would not laugh at a 5min mile guy. You might not make the travel squad but any D3 coach dumb enough to turn away a 5min guy is an idiot. My high school 1600 PR was 4:57 and I ran 1:52 for my DIII school. I think most DIII schools would be happy with a 1:52 guy.

I ran for a D3 school that was 25-30th a few years in a row at NCAA XC. A minute 5 miler would not have been even close to making it onto the XC or track team. We had a roster of 30 distance guys and there wasn't room for anyone running 5:00.

Based on criteria stated by OP, definitely yes. OP never stated walk on to track & field team. Those stating, "No" are responding as if OP asked to walk on to a D1 track & field team. A five minute mile runner can most definitely walk on to D1 cross country teams and race at least one meet a year. New Mexico State, Las Cruces, NM. There were a few guys racing over 17:30 5K XC for New Mexico State, 9/2/2017. For those who think the course must have been a tough one, it was Lobo Invitational. Lobo Invitational is raced on UNM campus on their very flat golf course. Other posters talked about scholarship. OP never asked about athletic grant. 17:30 5K XC runners don't need to be any faster than 5:05 one mile runners.

predictor wrote:

I say no to the question. Others want to talk about their improvement in order to make some other type of point. The poor guy just wants a list of schools where he can walk on. Oral Roberts was mentioned but I think they are a non-scholarship D1. I challenge anyone here to provide some legitimate schools that he can contact. I don't think he will be able to verify any.

Yes & I’ll name names. Creighton University. Wofford College. Sacred Hart University. Seton Hall University. Those that should are Vanderbilt, USC, TCU, LSU but because they have P5 football, they probably have strict men’s roster caps that may not allow for it. This list is not exhaustive...

There are some state schools that are in D1 that are a branch of the major school in the state bit are still D1. Example is University of Illinos at Chicago are known as UIC.

ironside wrote:

A five minute mile runner can most definitely walk on to D1 cross country teams and race at least one meet a year. New Mexico State, Las Cruces, NM. There were a few guys racing over 17:30 5K XC for New Mexico State, 9/2/2017. For those who think the course must have been a tough one, it was Lobo Invitational. Lobo Invitational is raced on UNM campus on their very flat golf course.

UNM is at 5,000' elevation. A sea level 5:00 miler isn't going to be running a 17:30 5K there even if the 5K were held on a track.

Bryant University in Rhode Island. They had mile trials at the end of XC season and 2 guys did not break 5. They were both walk ons. I believe they hit 5:04 and 5:14. Both guys got under 5 by the end of indoor, but not by much. The 5:14 guy also ran a 2:20 800m.

Guys got to compete a few times in low key meets. The coaching staff just looks for a good attitude to make that team.

Austin Peay ,tsu

almost higher than Denver wrote:

ironside wrote:

A five minute mile runner can most definitely walk on to D1 cross country teams and race at least one meet a year. New Mexico State, Las Cruces, NM. There were a few guys racing over 17:30 5K XC for New Mexico State, 9/2/2017. For those who think the course must have been a tough one, it was Lobo Invitational. Lobo Invitational is raced on UNM campus on their very flat golf course.

UNM is at 5,000' elevation. A sea level 5:00 miler isn't going to be running a 17:30 5K there even if the 5K were held on a track.

Some one as slow as a 5:10 mile runner could race the XC times I stated at Lobo Invitational, 9/2/21017. I've run in ABQ, NM. If one has been at 5000 ft. elevation for awhile, 5000ft. elevation shouldn't slow one down much. You aren't implying those 17:30 to 17:50 5k XC runners for New Mexico St.-Las Cruces are secret 4:30 milers?