I’ve made my college choice but the coach says I can’t run.

you could start by pointing out - politely -your time as faster than current runners, and then asking what standards do you need to be on the team

I am sure the coach wants to be told by a recruit that some of his guys ran slow. The coach said no and no means no. Pick a different school. Check Tfrrs for season bests rather than focusing on one meet. But none of that matters if the coach doesn't want you.

Is there an academic requirement? I'm guessing it's a D3 school so not sure what other issues there would be.

This. Just politely state your times and ask for his standards, maybe talk about your training, and ask to jump in a practice or something. Coaches can be real weridos.

My son made the same mistake you are about to make.

He played J.C. baseball and played against a D3 school where he had much success.

My son was sure the coach would be happy to have him because he was better then most if not all the other outfielders. Not so!!

The coach was wishy washy when he spoke to him yet my son was sure he'd "prove it" during practice. He made the team and sat pine all year.

After the season my went to the coach and asked why and the coach said he recruits guys he wants and thats it.

My son transferred.

Go where you are wanted, you can't make girls like you and you can't make a coach want you.

It doesn't have to be a good reason. That's life.

ask him for updated standards or inquire about a possible tryout. it might be a matter of time trialing or racing a faster time as his standards may have changed from what's posted online. or it could be a matter of showing up in the fall and beating some of their guys in a home meet or something. if this is D3 as I assume, there's not really a financial scholarship obligation to you if you run a faster time, so I see no reason why he wouldn't let you on besides a roster cap or something. don't go the route of pointing out that you're faster than his guys. he might be trying to increase the quality of his recruits this year.

Is it possible these were some of his 400/800 guys doing over distance?

If you are paying to go to the school, and the team is one of your goals, thdn ask why your tomes aren't wanted vs his current team.

Copy the AD.

Look for other options and take your money elsewhere.

No one needs 4 years of coaching pettiness.

Name and shame, bro! Even Carleton, Olaf, and St. John's (the best teams in the conference) had guys around 5:00 or over in the 1500 last weekend. Or are you talking about St. Thomas, which is now D1 and would actually be justified in having time standards? The MIAC is super competitive (for D3) at the top but there's a LOT of pretty slow guys too. 4:28 would put you solidly in the middle of most invites. It would be interesting to hear if the coach can offer any explanation that actually makes sense, such as a roster cap or something. Otherwise either he's being unjustifiably elitist or maybe there's something you're not telling us.

Ask the coach what the standards are and if he would consider giving you a spot on the team if you meet the standards. The five guys running slower than you at a previous meet is meaningless, perhaps they were 400m guys running a 1500 in the pre-season.

Maybe his team had done a 5 x 18 mi. workout the day before last weekend's race. Their legs may have been a bit tired.

Sure. The AD will tell the school to rescind his acceptance and refund his deposit.

I was even slowly than that when I was a freshman in college (Centre College, a D3 school in Kentucky). I never ran track or XC in HS, and later made the Olympic Trials in the marathon.

Tell the coach to f*** himself.

The greatest thing about our sport is that you can do your own training, by yourself, and go run road races in the areas....they are open to all.

I wish you well.

Mayeroff - That's a pretty ridiculous non-tangential reply. That time would be 80th in the MIAC right now. Just because you made the Olympic Trials ages ago doesn't share any relevance to the current situation. You got a lot better. Congrats. Here's a cookie. Now go away.

As someone mentioned several teams in the MIAC have roster limits due to financial constraints and lack of staffing. Just because you want to run doesn't mean you should be able to. What a terrible concept!

The Johnnies and Olaf have huge teams while Carleton is pretty small. Olaf will take pretty much anyone and have an army of JV keyboard warriors. Some even run decent times on occasion. The Italian Stallion Kevin Montressor was a pretty terrible high school runner and will likely make conference in two events. Carleton just focuses on making everyone improve a ton. You could probably just show up to practice and Dave would think he'd recruited you.

OP, Olaf and Bethel have run their decathletes in 1500's the past two weeks. All were slower than you. But if you want to compare yourself to guys doing their worst event of ten, you won't win any arguments with the coach. Keep running, get faster and keep the coach updated. Otherwise, there is plenty of room with the Gusties!

As others have said, coaches can be weird. I had the same thing happen to me. I went to rival school after the coach said he didn't want me and ran faster than his whole team for 4 years.

Copy the AD, are you serious!? That is so petty please do not listen to this guy. You would look like the biggest crybaby alive calling on the big bad AD who doesn’t even give two shyts to do something about you wanting a spot on the team. Newsflash, that won’t work. The AD won’t even mention it to the coach at all. They have bigger things going on. Don’t be a pansy like this guy is suggesting and just ask what are the time standards? Plain and simple

Thanks to everyone for the advice. My mom wanted to email the Athletic Director, but I want her to wait. I will email him back to see what I have to do to make the team. I was surprised when I told him of my commitment because the Admissions counselor told me they don’t make cuts for any sports. I have a big 3000 this weekend and I’m hoping to run under 10:30. Should I try to get a video of the race to send?

This is an opportunity for an important life lesson.

Should you advocate for yourself to get on the team?

Yes, absolutely you should do this. In life, we are putting ourselves at a huge disadvantage if we accept "No" every time we hear it. We should always advocate for ourself and plead our case. I have seen many people in life get ahead because they were at least willing to try to rectify their situations and amend them. It can't happen if you don't try though and give up so easily.

If you don't get the results you want, then at least you know you tried and stood up for yourself.

Not cutting people isn't the same as letting slow people onto the team. You are very slow and seem to think HS and college are similar. The AD will absolutely instruct the coach to never allow contact with you.