Getting cut from D3 team?

Get faster

you have this whole summer go put the work in.

Ask your coach what would be required of you for a spot on the xc team - a time this summer or time trial in the fall. If he says - no way you can, title 9 numbers or something, make sure you race through the fall unattached or road races and train to insure these new guys don't take your spot in track. It looks like your 15 is much better than your 5, but I would try to get close to or under 4 by indoor if you don't want to hear that story again. Better yet, I'd transfer unless I was going into senior year.

You're already getting a lot of "get faster" type comments, but just want to give you some sympathy here. People don't really appreciate that D3 isn't high-powered, scholarship-athlete D1 even though some D3 programs are of course really good. They probably don't appreciate that most D3 schools are quite small and being on the team is a big part of the social life. Though I get that a D3 team shouldn't have to carry super slow runners who don't have any commitment and/or talent (many do!), your times are solid though outside the top 7 for a D3 Nats team. And fast enough that there could be potential to step into that top 7 with a little improvement or if there are injuries on the roster. Seems a surprising decision by the coach assuming that you're not a negative presence for whatever reason. I'd do what one of the prior posters said and ask if you can have specific guidelines or time trial goals that would keep you on the roster. Express your commitment to the coach and lobby for it a little bit too. Good luck!

This -- find out whether there is some standard for making the roster. If there isn't one, then your coach is the problem and you should find another place to run, if possible. If there is a standard, then you need to do what you need to do over the summer to hit that standard. Recruits don't always show up, they don't always show up in shape, etc.

The coach takes them to nationals but you think he is the problem? That makes sense. There isn't a standard. Title IX isthe problem.

This is an opportunity. Play the fall intramural sports. Intramural sports is what the cool people at DIII schools do when taking a break from studying. Take PE classes and learn golf, tennis, or archery. Some schools off sailing classes, the larger state schools will take non-students for a fee. DO NOT take a job as the XC team manager or water boy just so you can be with your friends.

Your 1500 is a lot better than your 5k; have you thought about moving down to 8/15? Or switching to the Steeple?

When your coach said there probably wouldn't be space on the roster, how literal was he being? Was it "you're not going to travel" or literally "you're not on the team"? It's a little weird to outright cut a kid from even training with the team assuming that he's competitive -- and you are -- so I'm wondering if there's something else going on.

Declare yourself a girl and go win races for the girls team. Worked for Lia Thomas.

No it isn't, wtf are you smoking.

OP, just keep training, don't overdo it, and come back for track next year. There's a good chance half the new recruits don't pan out. I agree with everything "that sucks..." wrote.

This is good advice… worst case scenario you don’t race xc but you can still practice with the team. If the coach is telling you that you can run track but you can’t practice with the team during xc season they are wrong (some tiny rule changes but as a mid-d guy you can certainly run with the team at daily practices).

Very strange. Never heard of a guy getting cut with your times. We used to have a time trial at the beginning of XC season and would cut guys who couldn’t hit 17:30/17:00/16:30 for sophomores, juniors, and seniors respectively.

I would agree with most who are saying follow up with your coach and ask if there is a similar situation. You should be allowed to at least try out in a time trial situation. Sorry this happened to you.

Looks like your coach is bringing in some new luggage named Louis.

at least your coach told you. mine let me train and lead on that I was racing meets and then the the entries came out I was never listed.

Really wild that there's "cutting" in D3, but maybe that's because my school let everyone run, and the only cutting involved who was in top 7 for the varsity race and, therefore, who made the cut to race at regionals and nationals. But aside from that, everyone was around all the time.

Having said that, talk to the coach about what it would take not to get cut, as others have said. Then, put in the work, and see what happens. If you DON'T make the team (and I understand what a bummer that would be, because my daughter faces the same issue with soccer each year), then keep training and find other ways to keep active with groups. Not being on the team doesn't mean you can't hang out with the other runners (though obviously that won't have the same feel to it, since they'll all be doing what you want to do), but it also means you can do some chill intramurals, club sports, whatever. Some of the most fun I had was playing intramural sports a couple winters when I wasn't running indoor track.

Finally, although it would be a major move, if being on a team is really that important to you, there's always switching schools. Not a move to be made lightly, but that's always on the table (obviously need to get some significant sign on from anyone who's paying the tuition bills). FWIW, I have not given my kid this advice, but I've thought about it in my head.

Try to make lemonade from any lemons you are served, and good luck.

Does your team have an sort of time trial in the fall?

I ran D3 in the WIAC in the late 90s...our conference had roster limits for men's teams (24)...we held an intersquad meet against alumni to make the team. So it was pretty clear in advance on what you needed to do to make the team. It was a fair way to do it even if sometimes the results sucked (my roommate/friend didn't make the team our junior years.)

A mid 27s guy would have made the team on any of our conference schools...though you wouldn't have been top 7 at most of the schools.

Yeah, pretty unusual to make “cuts” at this point in the year. A more normal approach is time trail at the start of season. You never know for sure who will show up healthy and fit at the start of a season. Assuming this is not a made up story, ask your coach about what time improvement would need to keep you on the team and work on a plan to make that happen.

I think 1 day a week is an NCAA mandated "off day" which means most runners do an "on your own" practice -- can link up with the team on those days.

Aim for a 5k in August, don't train stupid over the summer to prove something, just get the miles in. Lot of improvement can be made with even an okay summer build

4:10 is 740 on the IAAF points table; 16:10 is 613.

Thanks for your priceless contribution in the name of easily disprovable stupidity.

OP: you're in the wrong event.