Does anyone know anything about running in the Patriot League, such as scholarship info or anything about any of the teams? I'm starting my search now and I know that these schools are generally well regarded academically, although I have not heard much about athletics.
You could research the league at
As far as Scholarships are concerned they don't really exist as such. However from my experience you can get some back door help if you need it. The conference as a whole is getting more and more competitive. It's not one of the elite conferences but it's more than respectable. The education at any school in the League will get you very far.
In general only a few athletes will qualify for NCAAs but its a great league for someone who wants to work on their talent and could eventually contend to score some points. I'll assume your a male distance runner and break down the teams.
American: If you can handle the pounding you will improve greatly here, there is a reason this team dominates XC and the 1500.
Bucknell: A very well coached team that seems to get alot out of its athletes. There seems to be more team unity across all the disciplines here than most others.
ARMY:A very large team, don't know too much about what they do but you didn't really mention anything about the military so this probably isn't towards the top of your list. This is where you want to be for the rest of the men's track events.
NAVY: Good all around, depends if you want Military commitment.
Colgate: Generally not too good. They have a quota of only allowing one good runner on their team so it will most likely be filled.
Lehigh: Solidly middle of the pack all the time, good place to develop as a distance runner.
Cross: Definitely improving they will most likely not be last next year. Not a successful team, but a team that seems to have a lot of heart.
Lafayette: Generally have trouble fielding a full XC team, they know what they're doing Middle Distance wise but not at all in anything above 1k.
Patriot League Indoor Results with their US News rankings for Liberal Arts Colleges in parenthesis next to the name.
Navy (NR, service academy, but strong academically)
Bucknell (30)
Army (NR, service academy, but outstanding)
Colgate (17)
American (85 National Univ.)
Lafayette (34)
Lehigh (31-National University)
Holy Cross (32)
Can't really go wrong anywhere in the conference.
as far as scholarships go i believe only American offers "athletic" scholarships, although rumor has it Bucknell has a loophole in its financial aid system where they can give you an "academic" scholarship for excellence "outside the classroom". Army and Navy are both free of course. Colgate guys always bitch on here about how their AD doesnt allow more than 25 or so guys on the roster so i dont think there's much money there. Not sure about the other schools.
spring predictions:
Navy (too strong all around)
Army (points in more throwing events bring them back above bucknell)
Bucknell (got to think the home crowd helped at indoors)
American (centrowitz can't be happy about losing to colgate)
Colgate (probably won't place as high as indoors, they have no throws so the schedule works against them)
Lehigh (graduated too many guys last year)
Lafayette (same problem as colgate: good mid-D, weak everywhere else)
Holy Cross (tough to make an argument for a team that scored 5 points at indoors)