RUNNING IN COLLEGE?

If you are really serious and ready to put more time and effort into it than you did in high school, then go ahead and run in college. Don't worry about your times. If you put in some good mileage this summer and show up for the 1st day of X-C practice with a good attitude and in your best shape; you will be welcomed by any school.

i ran in college. wrote:

If you are really serious and ready to put more time and effort into it than you did in high school, then go ahead and run in college. Don't worry about your times. If you put in some good mileage this summer and show up for the 1st day of X-C practice with a good attitude and in your best shape; you will be welcomed by any school.

i'm a junior right now...

i'm a junior right now...[/quote]

then worry about it next year at this time; not now.

jabroni wrote:

my current 1500m, 3000m and 5k road race PR's are...

4:10

9:10

16:33

I realize that I am underachieving in the 5k but I haven't run it in a few months so I think I would be faster now. Anyways, I am hoping to run at the college level and was wondering what the general 1500/3000/5k times needed to run at each of the DI and DIII levels are. Also, how fast does one need to be to get a partial scholarship at the DI level?

Any help is appreciated

You're probably solid enough to walk onto any mid-low level DI school. As far as a scholarship, you're not going to get one as a Freshmen. Spend a few years on the team, contribute, work hard, be committed, and I'm sure you'll have a chance at a scholarship in a few years.

Check out Calvin College in Grand Rapids Michigan. Season best times/profiles for the current athletes at: http://www.koopsrun.com

Calvin College has an excellent distance program, consistently one of the best in D3, and probably better than any D1 school you'd get a decent scholarship to. However, they're also hardcore religious, so unless you want to spend 4 years having your teammates trying to "save" you, there are a lot of other solid D3 programs out there.

yeah i dont think i want my teammates to "save me" haha. any other suggestions?

Run as close to 4 minutes for the 1500 and, if you have good grades, talk to some Ivy League schools. Depending on your family's financial situation, you could get some financial aid money and a great education.

I know Columbia takes almost exclusively distance runners so even if you don't improve much talk to them.

Right now your times would get you on a low level d-1 team where you and your team will finish towards the back of most competitive races, but at least you can say you're d-1....or....your times will land you on some pretty competitive d-3 teams where you and your team might have a chance to contend for conference championships and maybe regional/national championships (in a program such as Calvin or others of that caliber). That might sound biased, but ultimately it comes down to what your priorities are and what kind of experience you want. It also might come down to the type of academic environment you want (large school v. small school) or what your finanical situation is (state school v. private school). Just start looking at a lot of options and visit a variety of schools. The more schools you visit, the more you have to compare.

I am also going to run the 2000m steeple this year. What kind of a time would I need in this event to help my chances? Again, any advice on any front is appreciated.

If you go to Calvin College, it is HARDCORE religious, meaning you'd better be Republican and expect your politics to go hand-in-hand with your religion.

Only go to Calvin if you think Baylor and Liberty are for wussies.

What do people think about the following schools? How would the times needed to compete for these schools vary? Which would be fastest (what kind of times needed) and slowest?

- Wake Forest

- Davidson College

- University of Richmond

- William & Mary

- Georgetown

- William & Lee

- University of Virginia

- Any NESCAC school

Any help appreciated once again

You have good D3 times. Probably not D1 quality, though you could possibly walk on somewhere.

Those are all good schools. How are your grades? Are you a good student?

Have you ever considered Middlebury College? It's in Vermont, D3, excellent school academically, you can run there, and the campus is beyond beautiful (lots of woods to run in). It is continually rated as one of the best schools to have a superior undergraduate experience.

I urge you to consider this school as you're looking at your choices. Middlebury college, Dude. It's in the same conference with Williams and Amherst. Great, great school with great traditions.

I'm old, and I've been around a long time. You could have an excellent career. 9-flat two milers sometimes don't do that well in college (I could give you a very long list of state champions who never did anything in college), and kids who were good but not great in h.s. often come out and really blossom. It could certainly happen to you.

When you look at schools, try to find one that is a good fit for your personality and your goals. Look at their academic programs first, then once you have that narrowed down, begin looking at their running programs. Try to understand the coach's philosophy as well as you can before moving there and always talk to runners that are on the team already. This will help you get a good feel.

But always look at the academics first. I am shocked at the number of kids who want to be . . . a physical therapist, for example, or a journalist, or whatever, and they end up going to schools that don't have a program in physical therapy or journalism. If you are undecided about your major, then try to go to a school where you will have an excellent academic experience.

Try to get your own goals (running and school) clarified in your mind, then choose a school that seems like a good fit to you. I went to a large state school that had a highly rated running program, but the dorms were so full of partiers and unfocused students, I couldn't get enough sleep because the atmosphere was noisy and often chaotic. The dorm was noisy until about 2 am every night. That's great if you're counting on college to mostly provide you with parties, but I couldn't find people to relate to, people who were serious about school and wanted their lives to go somewhere, people who wanted to achieve things. It wasn't the best fit. I learned there were pretty girls everywhere. It is just as easy to find a smart, interesting hot chick as it is to find an empty-headed party girl. Once I transferred to the right school I met more smart girls, life became more interesting, school and running were more gratifying, and I realized how unhappy I had been at the place I was before.

High school is high school. Scholarship or no scholarship, you could really turn out to be a great runner. Also, a lot of good, highly-rated academic programs (the expensive ones) can give you great aid packages (based on your parents' income) that are not sports scholarships, but can make the school very affordable for you and your parents. D3 coaches can sometimes help you with this as well.

Keep asking questions and we'll try to help you.

In my experience... Let's see. Having been the team captain at my college and having gone through the ranks as a collegiate runner, I have seen guys walk onto my team having run low 15's by the end of their High school careers and most of the time flop. With the crop of guys like you, I have seen more dedication, more improvement, and more heart then these so called "talented" guys. Having been the team captain at this level, the guys like you are the easiest to handle because you acknowledge that I and the other older guys have been in the exact same position as you. The "hot shots" are hard to handle, and won't make it all-American.

Dude, keep your head up, keep running strong. Go to a college you WANT to study at, then try to make the team. If you can't make it the first year keep up training, talk to the coach and see what kind of workouts you should do. He/she may laugh at you and not think anything of you, but with dedication and love for running, which I have almost always seen with kids like you, you will most likely come back and surprise yourself and everyone around you. Never, never, NEVER let someone's time standards deter you from running your best and always keep your head up You just have to discover your own potential, stay healthy and smart, and soon become an all-American athlete! Like I have said before, I have seen this before and truly believe that it's guys like you who keep distance running such an incredible sport!

Keep your head up kid!

I am a pretty good student, haven't received SAT scores back yet but I am not a "stupid athlete".

There is tradeoff with both DI and DIII. DI are generally much larger schools, with much faster track teams, meaning I would have a slim chance to run races and stay focused. On the other hand, DIII is harder to get into, better academics, slower teams, thus a better chance to compete, stay focused and get the smaller school experience.

What type of times/SAT scores would I need for a mediocre/lower half DI school? What about a good DIII school (academically and athletically)?

I ran in high school and in college (big DI school), and I'm a middle school teacher now. I have a ballpark idea for what you need to get accepted.

AS for a mediocre D1 school, I think your times are good enough now to just put in an excellent base all summer and try to walk on. I would try to get an idea for how the coach feels about walk ons at the school you plan to attend. Some coaches will give you a shot and treat you well, others will ignore you even if you make the team. It all depends. Try to understand the coach before you try to walk on so you know what kind of sitution you're walking-on into.

For D3, remember there are no scholarships, so everyone is walking on in a sense. Some schools will put a lot of weight in your SAT score, others not as much. The SAT is such a quirky test, many college experts don't believe it measures anything of value, or that it even helps measure how successful you might be in college. However, the websites of the schools you're looking at will tell you the average SAT scores of students they accepted last year, and that will give you a good idea of where you need to be. Your grades and class rank (your percentile rank--like top 10% or top 20%) is usually important, as are the classes you took in high school (they're looking for math, science, languages, upper-level literature courses).

Your letter(s) of recommendation can sometimes clinch your addmission to a favorable school. There are books (get them from Borders or Amazon) that will help you apply to schools. They will tell you what to put in your letters of recommendation, and how you can present yourself in the best light to the admissions panel. Usually one of your teachers is the best person to write a letter for you.

I was thinking about you all day today and mentally naming all the state champions, Footlocker finalists, and other high school studs who really didn't have successful college careers. My list is quite long. I don't want to name any names here, but my list goes back to the 1970's and it is still surprising how many runners who were great in high school and didn't have success, or much success in college. My brother and I were both state champions and I'll bet you never heard of either one of us. Neither one of us selected schools that were a good fit (we went to different D1 universities). It is often better to be a slightly good h.s. runner who ran 50 miles a week or less--something like that, than to be a multiple state champion who ran 95 miles a week in high school. Not always, but often it is. The 95 miler isn't going to improve that much from h.s., where the 50 mile runner often does (once he makes the adjustment to the harder/smarter training).

You can be successful. Sometimes all it takes is a desire to see how good you can be, a little focus and determination, and ending up at the right school for you. Only you, with guidance from your parents and maybe your coach or an informed teacher or counselor, can decide what is best for you. Choosing the right fit (correct college coach with the best training philosophy/method and the right academic program) is probably the most essential element that can lead to success.

Great Posts! Keep em coming!

I agree, anyone have any more input or tips for me or anyone else in my situation?