Recruiting for junior girl, preferably southeast or mountain west

There’s a big difference between 5:00 and 4:50. And 4:50 is good and should get replies, but it wasn’t one of the top times last year—take a look at Brooks and Arcadia results. Those are the athletes a B1G coach would love to target. But what matters in either case—again, especially if athletic money is desired—is whether the coach thinks this is an athlete that will develop and contribute. That requires a different analysis than what I’m seeing from the HS coaches here, who seem to think every college coach should ignore the transfer portal and the other good HS runners to improve the quality of their #5 miler who won’t make a final ever.

It’s tougher for the pure XC runner especially without supporting track times. I think that’s always been the case.

I did look back at some of the posts. I noticed several HS coaches complaining about lazy college coaches. I think that’s off the mark. College coaches are doing their jobs recruiting. It’s always been hit or miss with contact for all but the elite HS kids. College coaches today have more options and get more emails. Both HS and college times have improved a lot in the last few years, so any HS coach who thinks a 5 min mile today is the same as a 5 min mile a few years ago isn’t paying attention. Recruits need to adapt and stay persistent. HS coaches can help by helping them target appropriate schools and make sure the communication is correct. If you coach in a B1G state and the flagship isn’t responding but you think there’s a good fit, email the coach yourself.

You seem to be missing the thrust here which is contact an a roster spot. Only 25 juniors ran 4:50 last year. There are 300 teams each recruiting a handful of distance runners which us 1500 distance runners going D1 in the 2023 freshmen class. 5 minutes is faster than the fastest woman on more than 1/2 of the teams yet they aren't getting responses. Many of us have been at this for a long time and can tell you that the coaches have changed in behavior.

Yes, I understand lack of response is the concern. All I can tell you is that I worked with several local recruits last spring and fall and didn’t see this issue. They targeted appropriate programs and had a good response rate. I still see college coaches reaching out to recruits and attending meets. I still see programs filling up their recruiting classes. But the change is that there is a transfer portal, extra Covid years, and HS times are faster. It seems like some HS coaches don’t get that and haven’t adjusted expectations and targeting.

Just as an example: four years ago if I were a 4:10-15 guy I’d have put Andy Powell at UW high on the list to contact. I would have had decent responses from top programs and maybe 50-50 on a reply from Powell. Right now, UW has 8 sub-four milers. It’s possible he’d reply to a 4:10 HS kid but probably not, because there are more sub-4 guys on the portal. If the kid is in-state, response is likely. But otherwise his time is better spent elsewhere. That has an effect on the conference too, and what other coaches need to do. So, knowing that, I’d still reach out but most of my time would be spent on other conferences and coaches.

I don’t get the sense that the same targeting is going on with some of these posters but maybe it is. But if these kids are sending emails to every Big 10 and PAC 12 program, and that’s half of the 50 programs that’s a bad strategy and I’m not surprised they aren’t responding.

I agree and replied earlier in the thread, but wanted to add my two cents that my daughter was a sub-4:50 by early senior year and heard from coaches that sub 4:50 is the "new sub-5" which, if true in the minds of coaches, puts further distance between the very talented female athletes on the other side of the 5 minute mark.

Wanted to follow up. I was one of the posters. My daughter finally got a walkon spot at our local state school by running 4:53 for 1600. She contacted about 50 schools over the past 18 months and heard back from about 5. I was amazed at how many D3 schols amd mid majors didnt respond. I estimate that she would have been top 7 on every one of the 50 schools and would have been top 3 on 40 of them. It is amazing that they didnt reaond. She has a 4.0 GPA and a 32 ACT.

Thank you. My daughter ran 5:04 as a junior and she reached out to every school within an eight hour radius. She received only a few responses from D3 coaches but none from any D1 coaches. The D3 schools are tiny and offer very few majors. She ran 4:58 this spring but it didn't change anything in terms of recruiting. She decided to attend a school that is good for her major but she will not be running. She is sad about the situation and so are we. We always assumed that coaches would be happy to have a girl walk-on if she were to be top 7.