What is the slowest 1600 time that will allow a girl to walk-on to every college track team?

asfjklafsdj wrote:

Daddy overdo wrote:

Yes my daughter has run 5:00 but couldn't do 2x5:50.

Really? In HS I was a 4:20 miler. Doing 3x1mile with an 800m jog in between in 4:50 (+30 seconds each mile) would be an absolute CAKE WALK.

Of course, but it gets different as u go up in time..... the gap isn't as much of a effort decrease.... 520 to 550 isn't as easy, as 420 to 450.... and girls aren't as strong as guys.... there's got to be tons of girls who can hit a once a season 520... but aren't coming anywhere close to regularly doing the kind of workout described.

I would guess sub-5. I have had girls in the 5:01 - 5:08 range turned away from programs at the 10-25 type level but have never had a sub-5 runner turned away from anywhere they've looked. Sometimes those programs in the 10-25 range are actually a bit harder to get a roster spot because they don't have quite as much funding as the true powerhouses and keep smaller rosters.

Told my kid about this convo, and her input was "sub 5" but more important is the coaching staff's belief that the walk-on can hang with team in workouts. So once she is admitted and in school, it's all about showing up fit for more taxing workouts and staying connected with a training cohort. Lends credence to those on the string talking in terms of 2 x or 3 x mile interval performance as the better benchmark for getting on the roster and having a shot at contribution.

coachy wrote:

Utah wrote:

For BYU, it's 3x1 mile at 5:50, with an 800m jog recovery. A 5:20 girl could probably do it:

https://universe.byu.edu/2002/04/17/walkon-goes-the-distance-for-byu-track-team/

That's a story from 2002. Any chance it has changed?

I think that's what it was when I was there a few years later (although I don't remember if the jog recovery was 400m or 800m). To be clear, that was for trying out for the team - plenty of folks were "walk-ons" (no scholarship) who did not try out, including me. Every year we would have maybe one person get close - it's surprisingly difficult, but it was also at altitude the first week of school so if you were coming from outside of Utah it was rough (even for some folks on the team). In my 4 years there we only had a couple of folks who actually hit the try-out standard and "made" the team that way. But the coaching staff has obviously changed since then so who knows what it is now.

A high school runner in our county ran 4:58, is Mormon (if that matters), and was told she could not try out for BYU.

more man wrote:

A high school runner in our county ran 4:58, is Mormon (if that matters), and was told she could not try out for BYU.

that's wild. I say, don't count anyone out.

The average mile time of Rio Olympians in high school was 4:53.

Emma Coburn had a PR of 5:08

Courtney Frerichs had a 2:24 800 PR

Even Whitni Orton wasn't a high school stud. Neither was Anna CB. A lot of kids don't develop until college, and a lot of kids running those times are overdeveloped and don't have anything less to give.

Random, but remember Katie Gwynther?

A long time ago. She was like a 5:18 kid, went to Quinnipiac in Connecticut because she wasn't recruited, yada yada yada, was 11th at the NCAA XC Championships and was All American.

If we're only talking D1 probably something like 5:00-5:10, maybe even 5:15-20 if you have a good 5k time. I went to a D1 school that just signed someone with a 4:30 1500 heading into winter/outdoors their senior year. They'll probably get a little faster but they're getting a scholarship at 4:50-4:55. If you can break 18:00 for 5k, you're probably going to have a decent chance of walking on just about anywhere or finding a school that you wouldn't be a walk on at. That makes sense that BYU is looking for 3 x mile @ 5:50. Shows 18:00ish shape. If you can do that as a Freshman maybe by Junior or Senior year you're into the 16's & beyond. Worth some investment, especially if the athlete is undertrained.

Nope. My daughter ran 5 minutes last season but several programs won't even respond to her so it is at least 4:55. NC State may require even faster right now.

I ran at an SEC school (omitting the name for privacy) and they let girls walk on who had run 5:40 in the mile. They ended up cutting them later, but clearly these girls didn’t have the talent or work ethic to make it and they let them on anyway. It was such a shame because they gave them a sliver of hope and then crushed them when they cut them. I felt a little bad, but they really shouldn’t have been on the team in the first place and they were slaughtered in workouts and runs. Also I feel like it’s a waste of resources? Never really made sense to me.

SEC_insider wrote:

I ran at an SEC school (omitting the name for privacy) and they let girls walk on who had run 5:40 in the mile. They ended up cutting them later, but clearly these girls didn’t have the talent or work ethic to make it and they let them on anyway. It was such a shame because they gave them a sliver of hope and then crushed them when they cut them. I felt a little bad, but they really shouldn’t have been on the team in the first place and they were slaughtered in workouts and runs. Also I feel like it’s a waste of resources? Never really made sense to me.

Interesting. What were the times of the slowest runners that weren't cut? 5:15-5:20?

It really depends on how you are defining walk-on. Some of you are providing anecdotal evidence from your friends, daughters, etc, but in reality it depends on many factors.

Sure, coaches may not respond to your 5:05 or 4:59 daughters email, or may tell you flat out that she will not make it. But many of those coaches are not wanting to give false hope or lure an athlete in with false hope.

But if you are enrolled, at school, and looking to walk on, then that is a different story. At that point it becomes more about attitude, ability to handle workouts, and intangibles towards an upside.

We are not talking by about preferred walk-ons, but rather a true walk-on. I have had a couple of athletes that went to DI schools that had walk-on standards that they did not meet, but enrolled simply to attend school first, and try to run if possible. Those two ended up making the team, receiving money, being all-conference, and winning conference titles, collectively.

A recent grad team ran 4:59 in the 1600 and 2:16 in the 800. She had been admitted to Cal without any help from the coaches and they told her she was NOT welcome to walk on. She went elsewhere and ran top 5 on the xc team of another major D1 school as a true freshman.

Yes. Nothing changes if a coach isn't responding or says no. Enrolling in the school isn't something that the coach is looking at or cares about.

I am staying with 4:55. Stanford or NC State will take you but may not take somebody at 5:00.

I personally know a sub 4:55 miler who was not able to walk on at Stanford. Might be different today though -- this was around 7 or 8 years ago.

more man wrote:

A high school runner in our county ran 4:58, is Mormon (if that matters), and was told she could not try out for BYU.

I doubt it. Their twitter account "byutfxc" shows three recruits that signed that are 5:00+ 1600 runners.

We had another girl from our local HS team run 5:00 and 10:45 as a senior. She did this on low mileage (20-25 per week) and she was a great teammate and motivated athlete. She was admitted to Stanford. The coaches would not let her walk on. Our coach called and tried to convince them, but no chance. She joined the Stanford running club instead and she’s now a very solid club road racer post college.

Definitely depends on the school, but also the numbers on the team in regards to depth. I think some of the instances that have been stated about previously could have different outcomes on a given year.

To name the slowest 1600 time that will absolutely guarantee a walk-ons place on any team seems subjective, and fluid within 5 to 10 seconds IMO

My daughter ran 5:00, 2:15, 10:45 in HS on low mileage. She had scholarship offers from mid-majors and a couple lower tier majors and walk on offers from several top 25 programs. One top 25 coach ignored her. She is finishing her last year of eligibility this year and is a multiple time conference champ, all conference, all american in a P5 conference.

While she clearly proved successful as a D1 runner, the short term impact of Covid on collegiate budgets + added years of eligibility for current team members would've likely reduced her options if she were a HS senior today.