Middle distance programs, NCAA as a grad student

Iowa has the best 400/800 group in the country. They routinely place at nationals in the 4x4, they had 2 guys at 1:46 and 2 at 1:48 a year ago, and they had the B10 champ in the 400 in 2020.

Hawkeye Man wrote:

Iowa has the best 400/800 group in the country. They routinely place at nationals in the 4x4, they had 2 guys at 1:46 and 2 at 1:48 a year ago, and they had the B10 champ in the 400 in 2020.

i'll have a look thanks!

NAU likes to put a lot of focus on mid distance and doesn’t make anyone run XC from what I’m told.

If you're truly a 4/8 guy, Notre Dame wouldn't have you running cross (though you would have fall workouts with the 800m group).

I would look into these programs:

Georgetown

Iowa

Iowa State

Texas A&M

Texas Tech

Penn State

Indiana

Virginia Tech

There are some more but all of these schools have strong 800m programs, with some 800m runners running cross country and some not (usually 400/800 guys would not run cross, while 800/1500 guys would). A 1:50 guy would be a welcome addition to any of their rosters, and most of these schools have strong graduate school programs that you could do while running for them. The eligibility is a question you would have the most success talking to a coach about, but I believe you could possibly get all 4 years of eligibility at any of these schools. Whether or not you would do well is another question, a PhD program is usually quite intense, but these schools all have enough money to not make cuts if one of their recruits or transfers doesn't work out. Scholarships would be a toss-up, a 1:50 guy is not going to be the best guy on any of these teams, but it shows potential to possibly be a 1:46-1:48 guy with good training which would be very valuable. Georgetown is a notable case where a 1:50 guy like you may be offered a partial scholarship for 2 years, and if you performed well you could keep or increase your scholarship in your last 2 years.

Eligibility will be a bit different right now... generally you will have 5 years to compete in 4 years of sport, this clock starts as soon as you become a full time students at any college (US or international)... with covid you would likely have 6 years to complete 4 years of competition... you can definitely run in grad school but it may be program dependent. These are D1 timelines.

At a D 2 school I believe you can start and stop you eligibility if you drop form full time but not totally sure, you could definitely find a D 2 school that will give you legit money with a 1.50 and you may or may not have more eligibility depending on your situation.

Iowa. You kidding me. I’ve been around a long time and Iowa has never been in the top 5 in the 400/800/4x4 to my knowledge. Maybe a outlier every now and then.

You are pretty clueless. Iowa has been a top 3 mid-D program over the past 5 years. They have finished top 5 in the 4x4 and have multiple 800 runners from 1:46-1:48 every year.

Just looked back at results - so they had a couple 4th or 5th place finishes in the 4x4. One kid made the finals in the 400 1 year in the past 5 (got tired of looking) didn’t see any in the half. So wouldn’t classify them as a stong 400/800 program. They are the best in Iowa but not in the ncaa.

UTEP had a really good middle distance program, centered around Saruni, Korir and Koech (146 800 guy) I know Saruni and Korir ran XC but I doubt they took it seriously.

Virginia Tech, Penn State, Indiana University, Texas A&M, Texas Tech are all top-tier as well.

Iowa ran

2016 1:47, 1:48, 1:49

2017 1:47, 1:49, 1:50

2018 1:48, 1:49, 1:51

2019 1:46, 1:47, 1:48, 1:48

They only lost the 1:47 in 2020 so I can assume that they would have been even faster in 2020 had there been a season. Want to try to find another team in the NCAA who was better in the 800 while also consistently placing in the 4x4 at nationals. You can't. They are the best mid-D program over the past 5 years.

And where did all those fast guys finish in the big ten final? Great at time trials, not so good at championship racing. Lilly failed to make a big ten final

Lilly has placed first in 4x4 and DMR at B10 which was the point of the thread. That shows who has the strongest program, not just 1 individual. But there are 4 of those 800 guys who ran those times that placed at Big 10 meets which you probably already know. Two were brothers.

Oh and Lilly is a national record holder.

Penn State or Georgetown

Thanks for the reply, I don’t think I will need a scholarship as most places at a grad school are funded by the school but there’s been mixed messages about running d1 starting at age 21. From my understanding I thought I got a full 4 years as I still have amateur status but some people are saying you only get 4 years when you join any college?

My gosh, you clearly miss the point. Everybody can say they ran these times, but only a few actually do it when it counts. Iowa is where guys go when the good 400/800 schools run out of money and/or spots on the team.

This guy is looking for a good mid-D program. Pointing out the program that has taken the most 1:52 high schoolers to 1:47 seems exactly what he wants.