Why aren't schools contacting me

I would assume most programs are waiting till after XC ends to start recruiting. If this is still the case by the end of January then you probably want start contacting them.

You are all taking us space with the fake posts about having buddies getting scholarships. Unless your buddy ran 8:45 in HS, he isn’t near a full ride in the B10.

The OP is experiencing the real world where fast HS runners get no replies from coaches. Most of you live in the ESPN world of BB and FB so you are used to scholarship athletes and then you try to apply that to the running world in LR. My college team only has 2 scholarships for the distance team and you have to break 9 minutes in HS to get 1/4. 9:20 won’t get a response from the coach. 9:10 is the average walk-on.

Finally a real poster wrote:

The OP is experiencing the real world where fast HS runners get no replies from coaches. Most of you live in the ESPN world of BB and FB so you are used to scholarship athletes and then you try to apply that to the running world in LR. My college team only has 2 scholarships for the distance team and you have to break 9 minutes in HS to get 1/4. 9:20 won’t get a response from the coach. 9:10 is the average walk-on.

Typical post. See, you are only willing to say this is finally a real posted because it's what you WANT to see posted. Wake up. Fast runners are getting contacted. You are too enclosed in your thinking. You'll take that 9flat kid all day long. But how do you know he still has upside? You don't. How do you know the 920 kid has upside. You don't. But if you talk to the kid and get to know the history of the kid, maybe you'll find out.

College coach here, of course you would give them your name and times in an email. depending on what state you're in those times look pretty good if you're thinking power 5, but remember that power 5s are able to recruit kids a lot faster than you and that's probably why you haven't been called. I'd maybe look at some good mid majors if you're thinking of getting a decent scholarship.

Yo yo ma wrote:

I would assume most programs are waiting till after XC ends to start recruiting. If this is still the case by the end of January then you probably want start contacting them.

Hahahaha waiting until January?!

ThatAverageRunner wrote:

Email coaches. I have a buddy who ran about the same as you for XC and ran slower during track, and didn't standout much at all until his senior year XC who emailed a bunch of coaches over the summer before his senior year. He ended up getting nearly a full ride at a BIG10 school. Throw yourself out there, show them your passion and desire to work hard. It can't hurt anything. Maybe talk about your goals, etc.

NO CHANCE that this happened

When I coached, on of the keys to any letter that was sent to a college.university programs was the athletes academic and extracurricular experiences. Our plan was for the athlete to highlight their background, before I wrote a letter on their behalf. As others have mentioned, a full ride cross country and track scholarship is difficult to obtain. But quite often a coach can work within their college/university to help with other avenues for scholarships. Several of my athletes earned full rides to universities that were arranged by a college coach. Good Luck!

We do talk to 9 minute kids. Nobody is getting signed sight unseen. Look at the 200+ guys at the NCAA meet and see if any were not fast in HS. The average 3200 time was 9:11. All of the guys either ran 9:11, 4:15, or 15:30 in XC. I challenge you to find more than 5% of the finishers who didn’t hit one of those marks. So why would coaches waste their time on 9:40 guys who turn into future 14:40 5k guys and never score a point at the conference meet?

Your times are definitely above average for most HS kids. You won't be offered a full ride from any powerhouse schools, but plenty middle of the pack Div 1 schools would offer good money with those times. Especially if you improve on them senior year.

Look around at schools you're interested in both academically and athleticially. Every Div 1 school should have a coach's/recruiter's email on their website. You need to put yourself out there and find a school. Send emails. Shake some hands. There are a lot of good distance runners in HS. Colleges can't reasonable keep track of every kid.

Keep your expectations reasonable but have a few big goals on mind so coaches can see motivation. e.g sub 4:00 mile in college, which is a big goal but not unreasonable with a 4:17 as a sophomore. Show you're a good student. Tell when what you do outside of track. Coaches love to see athletes volunteering at local track meets. It shows passion for the sport and its people.

The worst thing you can do for finding a scholarship is expect money simply because you run fast. Coaches recruit the person. Not the number. Cam Levin's biggest achievement was 4th at his provincial championship in Canada, and a 4:18 mile. Yet his can-do attitude helped him find a full ride at a small Div 1 school. He always kept motivated to his big goals and won the Bowerman Award.

Maybe I missed something on here but coaches aren’t going to start contacting you till after this track season. If those sophomore times are true and you improve than you should start contacting schools you are interested in. Right now they are finishing up with the class of 2019. Do not ever mention money in any of your correspondence. Also give up on the smoking whatever you called it. Not just for athletics but for your general well being in life.

Don't forget to file with ncaa clearinghouse or whatever it's called now.

Check the black box.

Fast Junior Male Runner wrote:

I don't get it. I have run a 15:48 as a junior and my soph track times were 9:19 and 4:17. Schools have contacted both slower and faster runners than me. I placed well at my state meet and my grades are good. I smoke a little braha but they don't know that. I expect to run Power5, get money, work hard and contribute. Seriously wtf?

What everyone seems to be missing, is that it sounds like you are a junior in high school. Coaches are worried about locking down next year still. They will start looking for you come summer when they are actually allowed to contact you.

Keep up if you are going to advise. They can contact junior year and visits can start also.

Fast Junior Male Runner wrote:

I don't get it. I have run a 15:48 as a junior and my soph track times were 9:19 and 4:17. Schools have contacted both slower and faster runners than me. I placed well at my state meet and my grades are good. I smoke a little braha but they don't know that. I expect to run Power5, get money, work hard and contribute. Seriously wtf?

0/100 fake poster and fake times

Fast Junior Male Runner wrote:

I don't get it. I have run a 15:48 as a junior and my soph track times were 9:19 and 4:17. Schools have contacted both slower and faster runners than me. I placed well at my state meet and my grades are good. I smoke a little braha but they don't know that. I expect to run Power5, get money, work hard and contribute. Seriously wtf?

I'm a college XC coach for a DIII Northeast school. I prefer to see folks run and talk to them, that's my style of recruiting.

Or I like to have folks contact me.

The way I look at it, at age 16, you are preparing yourself to become an adult. If you are seriously interested, I'm sure you have a smart phone (or access to a computer), and know how to use Google. You call them or email/text the coach.

From looking at your attitude, you aren't ready to be on a collegiate team -- I see a lot of "me, me, all about me" in your post. I don't need that, as I have dealt with it in the past and it's not healthy.

Good luck with your endeavors.

Finally a real poster wrote:

We do talk to 9 minute kids. Nobody is getting signed sight unseen. Look at the 200+ guys at the NCAA meet and see if any were not fast in HS. The average 3200 time was 9:11. All of the guys either ran 9:11, 4:15, or 15:30 in XC. I challenge you to find more than 5% of the finishers who didn’t hit one of those marks.

You are bad at math and bad at facts.

Milesplit did the math for you. Yes it was 9:11 and that is not the average of the individual qualifiers but the average of all of the qualifiers which includes the 6th and 7th runners for the 31st placing team.