should i go d2???

Dude you haven’t even hit puberty yet. Those are great times for a junior high kid, you’ll probably be a great 800/1600m guy in highschool. I know this isn’t the answer you want but don’t even think about college until the end of sophomore year. Just have fun with the sport and focus on beating people your age. I wish I would’ve relaxed and enjoyed highschool running more. In college you don’t get to choose if it’s stressful or not, so just enjoy it and have fun now.

Apologies, I initially read your post as “I’m only in junior high school”

Disregard what I said haha. The best way to know if a college will be a good fit is to look at walk on standards if they have them, if they don’t, look at what the top 3/4 of the team is running. Tfrrs is a great website for this. It can compile you a list of all of the colleges athlete performances.

Also ask around to members of the teams. I occasionally will get a DM or approached at meets asking if I enjoy the team culture/training/etc, and I have no problem talking about it to potential future teammates.

Lastly, shoot out emails to coaches, ask what kind of times would be good for a walk on athlete, and what would be needed for you to make a roster.

I landed on a team that stomps teams that ignored/rejected me, if you aren’t a good fit for a program don’t give up on finding other ones. Realistically, if you aren’t running 52 and about 1:26/2:00 you won’t really have a lot of fun at the college level, but I’ve seen people that have improved a ton from junior year to freshman year of college, so don’t give up and keep working hard!

that's hobby jogger times! You might as well pack it in, bud. Besides, who wants to try to maintain skeletal race weights in college. If you decide to do that, I guarantee you graduate a virgin! No chick wants a skelly!

Yes, that is DII material for women, especially if you can get that 400 under 60. There are plenty of schools who would love to have you compete for them.

prioritize your studies, then look for a team.

The 600 and 1k are indoor events that aren't recognized as well as the 800/1600/3200 outdoor events. Try to get some decent times in these events during the outdoor track season. If you are a female, 61 seconds in the 400 is pretty good for a HS junior, but it's nothing special for a male. Talk to your HS counselor about college choices, and talk to your HS coach about options to run in college.

I have a 2:29.35 800

Yes, lots of D2 would be interested. Alaska Anchorage would probably love to hear from you. Some mid-major D ones may also talk to you if you can get the 400 under 60 you wouldn’t get any money but may get a spot.

You're a girl, right? I was a D2 runner who really had zero top-end speed but I was faster than that (2:23) in HS. Not that I ran the 800, of course, I did that once in the relay. We only had cross country in college but no way would I have gotten in anything shorter than 5000 if we had had track.

If you're not a girl I wouldn't be surprised if there were D3 teams you could walk onto, though. NY State has a lot of D3 schools.

yes I am a girl. sorry I forgot to include that lol

D2 schools are terrible academically.

Colorado school of mines whips 90% of D1 schools in both running and academics. Try again.

That's one school. The group of D2 schools is terrible. I can tell you that D3 is slow and you will point out a school and a few individuals too. D2 schools are really dumb.

That's one school. The group of D2 schools is terrible. I can tell you that D3 is slow and you will point out a school and a few individuals too. D2 schools are really dumb.

This is coming from someone who graduated from one of the upstate ny d2 schools. Take from that what you will:

First of all, I will say that it is best for high school recruits not to think as much about division level when choosing a school, but more about what fits your needs. This means things like what you can afford, how much debt you're comfortable with, how close/far you want to be from home, what your ideal school size is, what you want in an athletic program, and most importantly, what you want academically. Whether you feel this way or not, college is (for about 99% of student-athletes) more about the education you get than the athletics you participate in. Unless you think you're going pro, your academics should take first priority over sports when choosing a school and when you're in school.

That being said, my best piece of advice is not to limit yourself just to division II because that's what you "think" your competition caliber is. By your PRs, I could see you getting into a d3, d2, or even d1 school in upstate NY and finding comparable competition. You have to realize that school competition levels vary so much, and it's not always about division. For example, St Bonaventure in NY is division I, though your times would probably put you among their top 400 runners right now. On the other hand, division III SUNY Geneseo, who has regular National-meet athletes, has many faster 400 runners and is just more competitive overall. This is not a judgement on either programs, I really don't know much about their coaches/teams beyond what's on tfrrs so don't take this as an insult or sponsorship of either. All I'm trying to say is that division isn't the determining factor of what makes a program good or bad, and you have to look at all the factors (coach, team size/vibe, competition, etc.) to get a good idea of what works for you.

All that being said, I would say that for a female you would definitely fit into a d2 program in NY, if that's what you want. The two I am familiar with, Roberts Wesleyan and Daemen, will take for the most part, anyone who is interested and committed to training as walk-ons. Scholarships are a different story, but if your PRs are real and you are consistent, perhaps you could get on scholarship. Don't take that as a guarantee. But if you improve this year and next, your chances only get better.

Things to keep in mind about both schools:

Roberts Wesleyan is a Christian school, which means dry campus, etc. A lot on the team are religious, but they do not discriminate based on that and it seems a lot of non-religious people fit in there fine. They seem to have a close team. They are more distance focused and I imagine the coach will want you to do XC if you don't already. But I don't think it's a bad thing--their women have made d2 nationals the last two years. Not sure about how much of a female coaching presence there is on the XC/track teams, so keep that in mind. But you really can't argue with the success that's come out of there. Seems like they have a proven track record of developing athletes.

Daemen is the historical underdog to Roberts Wesleyan, but they've been building their program the last few years. The last two years the women have tried to overtake Roberts at XC conference and regionals, but haven't been able to. Their team is based mostly on a couple of talented ladies, but I think everyone seems to be developing there. The women made d2 nationals for the first time this past year, and finished ahead of Roberts there. 1 of their top 2 will be gone next year. You will find a stronger party scene at Daemen for sure--it's also close to U at Buffalo, so there's that. Training setup seems to be difficult for Daemen, they are on a landlocked campus in the Buffalo metro area, and don't have their own track.

So, I hope that's at least helpful for you in getting to know the d2 scene here in upstate NY. Both Roberts and Daemen are fairly small schools. You'll have to go out of state to find a "big" d2 school. There's also Le Moyne college in Syracuse, but I have to be honest that I don't know much about their program. Pretty much all the rest of the d2 schools are downstate. Like I said, don't limit yourself to d2, because you may find a d1, d3 or even NAIA school is a better fit for you. But since I have a very specific knowledge about d2, I thought it would be good to share with you. Best of luck and most importantly--have fun!!

From what I have seen from 5 years competing in D2 and 2 years coaching in D2, NY based D2s and NAIA's are garbage. Better to aim at D1 or D3 if you're looking in NY. As others have said, find programs that have good development rates, high retention and graduation rates (are recruits leaving after freshman year basically) and are the academics suitable for your long term goals.

It's D3 but you should apply to Hamilton!! Its in New York!!

Yes, go DII.

Division doesn't matter and really shouldn't be a factor in your choice. Look academics, location, school, campus, team, etc.