NC A&T

Also another thing is I know my times may seem out of touch or not even close but I know I’m capable of running faster times next year.

I think you'd struggle to find active posters on this forum who have firsthand experience with distance programs at HBCUs. Are you black? Currituck County is only 5.8% black (while NCA&T is <5% white), so figured it's worth drawing attention to.

Based on your performances I can find online, you are wasting your time reaching out to D1 programs. At this point, running can't be something you prioritize in the college search. Focus on school and finding the college where you'd best fit and will have the best outcome rather than trying to game an athletic/scholarship system based on hypotheticals. NCA&T is one of the hottest T&F programs in the country right now, so a 2:10/5:00 guy emailing Duane Ross is disrespectful. You should sit down 1 on 1 with your high school coach before going any further here.

OP is too slow for D1 but probably too smart for this school.

The distance coach is a good guy who was an elite 400/800 guy for Jon cool back in the George mason days.

Teams have desired scholarship standards and you will find people on every roster that walked and and don't meet standard.

Why out month in a mediocre distance guy if you can spend it on another elite sprinter. Therefore to give money to a distance guy, they need to be of a legit level on par with the sprinters.

Lastly nobody puts much stock in what am athelte (or coach) says "I know I could have run faster." Then you should have and didn't therefore that is a negative and not a positive.

Apply get accepted run fast in the fall and then tell the coach you are coming and want to walk on.

You are confused. He is talking about the walk on standard. A&T has no scholarships for distance.

Make sure to stay focused on what you can control. I think your optimism is good and you're probably right, you likely have plenty of room for improvement (I did look up your times).

For cross country, that work starts now. You need to take another step forward with your training over the summer and carry that through into the season. Talk with your current coach and consult some online resources on your own and agree on a plan. This will likely be a gradual build up in mileage over the summer. I used to do 4 week cycles with small increases in total mileage each week for 3 weeks and in the 4th week I'd back off a little from the peak in the 3rd week to give my body a bit of recovery then repeat until I got to my peak mileage in the build up. In addition to base mileage, I'd mix in a weekly long run and harder workouts like hills, a summer road race for fun, fartlek, etc. A good summer and strong fall of training and staying healthy will result in faster times. Listen to your body and learn the difference between sore and hurting.

The NC A&T coach probably looked at your times and saw you were a bit outside of where he would expect an athlete ready to compete for his team so only responded with his expectations for what could help the team. If NC A&T is the school you want to be at regardless of running, then let the coach know as your training and racing progresses and let him know that you're realistic about where you are relative to his standards. He may have strict limitations of program size due to title IX or other funding limitations, but if you are already on campus anyways there is no harm in continuing to demonstrate improvement with the hopes of joining the team in the future. There are likely some road running clubs nearby at least you could train with to help your progress.

If you are set on running in college for your school, then there are plenty of other college teams that will be interested in what you could add to their program if you get some solid improvements this year. Division 2 and 3 programs have a wide range of standards for what they allow on the team. Some schools do not have any cut off for joining the team, they only cut the numbers down for meets meaning you might only get to race once or twice at a home meet depending upon your ability. Cast a wide net of schools at different athletic levels that you think you'd like going to even if you didn't run for the team and look into those teams too. You might find a better fit, you might not. Either way, train hard, train smart, and stay positive about your running experience.

Thank you for the respond I will for sure look into other schools. The problem is in North Carolina there isn’t that many schools that are division 2 that I would want to run for. My parents have stressed to me that if it is private I’m not going so it really limits my options. I also had a question about uncw because they are also a school I wouldn’t mind going to. Does anyone if maybe I would walk on to their team.

Why would anyone choose the school unless they are running or they couldn't get into a better school?

You're too slow. It's a sprinter school. They won't care about distance and won't waste time recruiting someone who has a zero chance of scoring in.

My two cents as a college coach. If you're in the mix with guys on their team when you finish high school you likely won't have an issue walking on. When coaches go through the recruiting standard talk it's because its with someone that they don't want to shut the door on, but aren't interested in what you've done yet.

The 16:30 you want to run likely makes their team just fine as a walk-on. The 18:00 that you have run probably doesn't. Don't be discouraged if they aren't insanely receptive in the recruiting process until you run faster. That's reasonable for most schools to do to prioritize recruits that they know are there. Run faster, show that you're improving, and the conversation will progress from "here are our standards" to "I think we'll have space for you." Just understand that recruiting will feel one sided until you're able to compete with their current runners

Does anyone if I could maybe walk on to a team like uncw also??

brysong222 wrote:

Thank you for the respond I will for sure look into other schools. The problem is in North Carolina there isn’t that many schools that are division 2 that I would want to run for. My parents have stressed to me that if it is private I’m not going so it really limits my options. I also had a question about uncw because they are also a school I wouldn’t mind going to. Does anyone if maybe I would walk on to their team.

I don’t know your academic situation but a school being private doesn’t mean that it will cost you more money. Yes the sticker price is higher than public schools, but the actual price you would pay could be much lower. At these smaller schools academic scholarships aren’t only for the ”super smart” as above average students can get some $$$ at these schools. I know that covid has complicated stuff, but try taking the ACT/SAT if you haven’t already. I know some schools are test optional but a high score can pretty much get you a free ride at some of these smaller schools.

brysong222 wrote:

Thank you for the respond I will for sure look into other schools. The problem is in North Carolina there isn’t that many schools that are division 2 that I would want to run for. My parents have stressed to me that if it is private I’m not going so it really limits my options. I also had a question about uncw because they are also a school I wouldn’t mind going to. Does anyone if maybe I would walk on to their team.

Here's the problem:

The problem is in North Carolina there isn’t that many schools that are division 2 that I would want to run for.

The reason you apply to colleges is because they do the first round of selections. This is very similar to a "right of first refusal". If you should be accepted at more than one, then you get a choice as well. Same with athletics at college, especially scholarship spots or even high-profile teams' walk on spots, you can apply and they get picked, but unless you are an athlete good enough to be warranting selection from multiple schools, then you're very much at the mercy of finding a school that will accept you. Let's not forget the NCAA and OT performances from NCAT make them one of the hottest names in T&F.

In my opinion (should your times improve), you should be focusing on the academics of the school, not the athletics. The path from walk-on to championships is incredibly difficult, and TBH while very good, your times do not indicate championship qualifying ability. I'd love to be proven wrong, but I'd also hate to see someone dump money into a degree as a means to vie for a walk on spot.

bluedot wrote:

I think you'd struggle to find active posters on this forum who have firsthand experience with distance programs at HBCUs. Are you black? Currituck County is only 5.8% black (while NCA&T is <5% white), so figured it's worth drawing attention to.

Based on your performances I can find online, you are wasting your time reaching out to D1 programs. At this point, running can't be something you prioritize in the college search. Focus on school and finding the college where you'd best fit and will have the best outcome rather than trying to game an athletic/scholarship system based on hypotheticals. NCA&T is one of the hottest T&F programs in the country right now, so a 2:10/5:00 guy emailing Duane Ross is disrespectful. You should sit down 1 on 1 with your high school coach before going any further here.

NC A & T is in Greensboro, Currituck County is about 250 Miles Away.

Heady guy wrote:

Why would anyone choose the school unless they are running or they couldn't get into a better school?

To pick up on Cambrea Sturgis, That Girl is CUTE.

brysong222 wrote:

Does anyone if I could maybe walk on to a team like uncw also??

Your times are pedestrian, especially on the track. We don't know anything else about you. Maybe you're actually lazy and talentless, maybe you're set to be valedictorian, maybe both your parents ran D1. Talk to your coach or your college counselor before continuing down this path, because right now you're wasting everyone's time. It is delusional to plan for running to be a part of your college journey at this point.

Not relevant. My suspicion is that this kid is caucasian and is doing so little research that he doesn't realize NC A&T is an HBCU. Trying to drive home how much we're putting the cart before the horse here... if you need someone on LRC to explain this, you need to sit down with an adult before you send out any more emails.

bluedot wrote:

douglas burke wrote:

NC A & T is in Greensboro, Currituck County is about 250 Miles Away.

Not relevant. My suspicion is that this kid is caucasian and is doing so little research that he doesn't realize NC A&T is an HBCU. Trying to drive home how much we're putting the cart before the horse here... if you need someone on LRC to explain this, you need to sit down with an adult before you send out any more emails.

Your suspicion is wrong.

Shut the hell up

Not nice. He is trying to help.