PA college distance programs

Steve Spence at Ship and Aaron Russel at Lock Haven have had the most long term success both in terms of teams and individuals in the PSAC and nationally. LH did cut indoor for men’s which has hurt them recently. Plus it’s one of the merger schools. Caufield at Cal U hasn’t had the team success but certainly has had some impressive individuals. But it’s also a merger school as is Edinboro which has had continued success post Watts. But who knows how long Foster will stay there. SRU does have a good rep for PT etc. and is in decent shape financially. Distance program is very inconsistent though.

Don’t let anyone disparage the education at these schools especially based upon your sons interests. My daughter ran at Haven and graduated with a communications degree and within 4 years was at a top 7 TV market in the country. She has friends who got into top PT and PA schools as well top grad schools. Same is true of a HS teammate who graduated from Ship with a degree in biology and got into grad program at university of Michigan. I know plenty of PA state school grads who have been quite successful (including myself and college friends). It’s all about the effort your son makes academically

lehigh alumni wrote:

Currently Lafayette College is the best at development. It pains me to say it as a Lehigh grad but I have to give them credit.

It's a small school and they don't get the best recruits because let's be honest, who has heard of Lafayette outside of PA? But they do the most with the least.

A few years ago I scoffed at their recruiting class and now I think they can beat both Lehigh and Bucknell this year.

This guy called it 3 months ago. Lafayette going in the right direction. Apparently not surprising to everyone.

Lafayette just handily beat Bucknell and Lehigh. Only 24 points behind Boston and 32 behind Army. Yes, Lafayette was only 32 points away from a conference championship.

If the people who vote for the regional rankings are paying attention, Lafayette should be close to the top 5 in the region. Bucknell was 8th before the meet. Lafayette looked stronger than Lasalle and Pitt who were 7 and 6.

Sounds like your son has a lot to offer a good collegiate program. My advise is to go at it from a reverse engineering method. First, make a list of the schools which have his intended major. They should all have solid info on board test passing and job placement rates.

From that list, determine his potential chances for being able to compete. Some P5 level schools may allow walk ons, but the # of meets you get to go to may be greatly limited. It's not much fun to bust your tail and not get to go to meets. I walked on at D1 and I've coached at all 3 Divisions of the NCAA and I can speak to the great experiences to be had when kids find the right fit. A big issue on many D1 programs is roster limits brought on by Title IX/Gender Equity considerations. Make sure you know that up front. That is usually not as much an issue at D2 and D3. And you don't see many D2 or D3 men's programs being cut.

Hope this helps. I wish you and your son the best of luck determining the best fit. I would not trade my experience for anything, but the landscape is vastly different from when I competed in the 80's. I would not be permitted to walk on to the same team under current constrictions.

happy laf fan wrote:

lehigh alumni wrote:

Currently Lafayette College is the best at development. It pains me to say it as a Lehigh grad but I have to give them credit.

It's a small school and they don't get the best recruits because let's be honest, who has heard of Lafayette outside of PA? But they do the most with the least.

A few years ago I scoffed at their recruiting class and now I think they can beat both Lehigh and Bucknell this year.

This guy called it 3 months ago. Lafayette going in the right direction. Apparently not surprising to everyone.

Very impressive. Do you have any idea what is different there now ?

Go to Oregon, you won't freeze your ass off in the winter time. Lane Community College (Eugene, OR) has better quality running program than the author's listed ones.

Perhaps of interest if interested in health care. His times should be good enough to walk on at Pitt.

https://www.shrs.pitt.edu/rsbs

HRE wrote:

happy laf fan wrote:

This guy called it 3 months ago. Lafayette going in the right direction. Apparently not surprising to everyone.

Very impressive. Do you have any idea what is different there now ?

They brought in a new distance coach in 2017 and he has built it up. They still have nothing. No scholarships in cross country or track. It looks like their roster limit is only 15, so just they develop what they have.

In 2016 they were dead last at the Patriot League Championship. In their dual meet against Lehigh, Lehigh took the top 16 places.

Now in the 2020 season, Lafayette beats Lehigh by 30+ points. 3rd in the league. Incredible turnaround.

Yeah, I've followed the PL for years and they were constant bottom feeders. Do you know if they get help from admissions in terms of getting kids in?

HRE wrote:

Yeah, I've followed the PL for years and they were constant bottom feeders. Do you know if they get help from admissions in terms of getting kids in?

Colgate and Lafayette get no help from admissions. All other schools get help, even Army and Navy.

An athlete I coached in high school applied and got rejected to Lafayette. He's now at Lehigh and he's gotten worse. I'm starting to tell other coaches not to send anyone to Lehigh because his experience has been bad. He got into Bucknell but didn't want to wear orange.

Thanks.

New Regional Rankings:

1>Georgetown

2>Villanova

3>Navy

4>Pitt

5>Temple

6>Penn St.

7>La Salle

8>St. Joes

9>Lafayette

10>Bucknell

11>George Washington

12>Lehigh

13>American

14>Marshall

15>Mount St. Mary's

HRE wrote:

Yeah, I've followed the PL for years and they were constant bottom feeders. Do you know if they get help from admissions in terms of getting kids in?

I was told the the coaches only have some admission pull during early admission.

american man wrote:

HRE wrote:

Very impressive. Do you have any idea what is different there now ?

They brought in a new distance coach in 2017 and he has built it up. They still have nothing. No scholarships in cross country or track. It looks like their roster limit is only 15, so just they develop what they have.

In 2016 they were dead last at the Patriot League Championship. In their dual meet against Lehigh, Lehigh took the top 16 places.

https://www.tfrrs.org/results/xc/10301/Lafayette_vs_Lehigh_Cross_Country

Now in the 2020 season, Lafayette beats Lehigh by 30+ points. 3rd in the league. Incredible turnaround.

Their new coach is a great guy. Extremely passionate about the sport. I ran in the patriot league a few years back and he has me wishing I was still in college so I could run under him!

If he’s interested in health sciences, strongly consider Pitt. It’s one of the top 10 med schools in the country, and the way UPMC runs this city is hard to understand until you get here. Pitt is a science powerhouse.

If your son was thinking liberal arts, however, Pitt wouldn’t be a great choice (except for the world number one ranked philosophy program - never understood that).

As for running - Pitt isn’t wildly hard to run for. Medaling at AAA PIAA XC would get their attention. There’s local kids who run 4:30/9:35 and walk on for them.

Any update or insight? We have a child looking at schools in PA and found your thread helpful! We were looking at Lafayette, however the assistant coach just left. While the school itself is great, losing the coach kind of puts a damper on our student's interest there.