Div I Milers: What time did you run as a high school Freshman?

To answer the OPs question, D1 is pretty broad. Many D1 programs have 4.30 milers on their team, while some would not let him on with less than a 4.20. The term "miler" is pretty vague as well. I was a 4.20 guy in college, but considered myself an 800 runner. Then in college found success at the 5k. All I'm trying to say I would just have your son run and see where it takes him. Natural talent above anything will be the most important factor in his success and you can't control that.

I had a horrible career but did make it as a D1 miler

FR- 5:07

Soph- 5:03

Jr- 4:30

Sr. 4:23

FR- 4:13

Soph- 4:06

Jr- 4:04 (indoors first race, and broke my leg in 3 diff spots a week later)

Sr- injured

HS:

F: 4:28.8

S: 4:27.5

J: 4:14.9

S: 4:16.0

College 1500m and indoor mile:

F: 3:55.0 and 4:12

S: 3:50.3 and 4:07

J: 3:45.4 and 4:04

S: 3:44.4 and 4:02

Ended up as 3:41.7 and 4:00.2 six years after university

4:52 as a freshman in High School

about ~50 seconds faster now...

Improvement may vary wrote:

4:52 as a freshman in High School

about ~50 seconds faster now...

5:07 Freshman in HS

4:01 College

Junior- 4:30

Senior- 4:18

frosh- 4:09

soph- 4:05

Junior- 4:00

Alert! Alert!

"I want my son to make it to a Div. I college, and so does he."

The original poster likely means well, but with a 9th grader, the mantra should be to simply run consistently, enjoy the sport and see where it goes. That is all.

As others have mentioned, there are quite a few changes - bot physically and emotionally, that occur between 9th and 12th grade.

For the record, over 30 years ago I ran 4:26 for the mile and 9:24 for the two mile as a 9th grader. I was then 5"3 and 105 pounds! I wish I was merely encouraged to continue to have fun with the sport rather than being pressured to get a Division 1 scholarship. I did do that (ran under 4:10 my junior and senior year), but never enjoyed the experience all that much - I was a good student, and found that endeavor the most rewarding - not so coincidentally - one that given my family's lack of interest in academics was a task that I completed "owned."

staten wrote:

That's a tough question. Some run 420 while others don't break five. So much can happen with puberty and maturing between 9th and 12th grade

Puberty? Seriously? Do you remember having puberty in high school?

Campophenique wrote:

Okay, okay I know my question is tough to answer because no one knows how any particular runner will fare. That is why I am asking any real Div. 1 milers out there to tell me what they ran as a high school freshman. It would give me and him a realistic range to try for. Can a 6:00 mile Freshman make it to 4:15 as a Junior/senior, for example? Just throw some experience at me. Please.

I ran 4:34. I don't pay to go to an academically rich and very good and developing athletics program at a D1 school. Everyone here seems to want to highball the impressive times that you absolutely must have, but if you show potential and keep improving through high school, you will be quite heavily recruited. A good thing, too, is to show that you also have some good times in other events as well. Plus, if you set fast times early on, more schools are likely to notice you, but don't let that stress you out. Just do what you can and odds are you will get a good deal somewhere.

I managed to improve fairly drasticlly with some bad training so 6:00 to 4:30/4:25 might be possible depending on the kid.

9th - 5:50

10th - 5:10

11th - 4:57

12th - 4:37

I did not get serious until my senior year it would be possible to get from the 6:00 flat range down to mid to low fours.

old man potato stop you are a liar. Those are unrealistic times; no one improves that consistently over 10 years without some kind of injury or poor timing. Continually improving 2 seconds around the 4 minute barrier does not happen - sounds exciting to have a career like that but it is not gonna happen so stop lying to this guy.

4:45 hs freshman. 4:20 hs sr. 4:02 college.

have you stopped your pursuit of running? have not heard much from you, what happened? are you training?

In_Ithaca wrote:

Junior- 4:30

Senior- 4:18

frosh- 4:09

soph- 4:05

Junior- 4:00

4:34 high school freshman (4:18/9 flat 3200 as a senior). Never had the speed necessary to be a top-flight D1 miler. Did ok at the 5K at D1 level.

Let your kid take what he wants from track... I recommend not pushing him to be something he might not want but for the record I walked on to a top 20 xc D1 school with this experience

9th- PE

10th- 5:18

11th- 4:55

12th- 4:15

Any kid can take a massive jump one year to the next with proper training. ultimately if i can do it... he can do it too

9th: 4:37

high school pr was from junior year - 4:17, and then went to D1 school.

As a general rule just get under 4:20 by your senior year and you can run at pretty much any school you want to (Scholarship is another question entirely)

HS Freshman - 5:04

HS Senior - 4:21

Through Sophomore year of college - 4:07

I ran 4:41 at (altitude~5000ft) as a freshman and ran D1 with a 3:50 1500m PR (not at atltiude) if it helps. As many have said on here though freshman year is way to early to even pick an event let alone decide whether or not you are going to compete in college. I wouldn't worry about it most of running is based on talent and if he trys hard he will get as far as he can get with the talent he has. Also most D1 programs alow everone to at least come out for the team even if they dont make the travel squad so if he really wants to do it he can no matter how good he is he just might not get to race as much.