WSUC runner wrote:
WIAC apologists: there is no shame in the fact that the UW school system is a great value albeit lower standards than the national average. Marquette and UW ARE more difficult to get into. Also, track/xc scholarship allotment is very tiny across all DI programs so the idea that sub 4:20/9:20 runners are getting scholarship offers is silly. Maybe partials, but likely do not match the value WI residents get within UW systems. Academic scholarships and aid are a different matter.
Dose of Reality: there are outliers in every scenario. I do not have examples for what recent WIAC standouts are doing post-grad, but early 2000’s Dan Sutton (UW-L) and David Cisewski (UW-O) are both MDs. Late 80’s Jamie Pollard (UW-O) is the AD at Iowa State. All 3 were DIII national champs at 5000m. Are you telling me they made poor school choices and simply pillaged DIII lesser competition?
At the end of the day, many decisions go into choosing the right school. But not sure why I wasted time posting since everyone’s opinions in the matter are set in stone. Just trying to be an objective commenter.
I cannot speak to the high school pr’s of the athletes you listed. I’m going to stay consistent with my posts though. If they had DI abilities and left scholarship offers on the table to run DIII, I just think that is weak. If they were developmental surprises like Nelson, La Mere, I am all about it. I appreciate the value of schooling in general, but these guys could have reached the same career heights after college with a DI education if they did it in DIII.