800m Junior 1.48.73 - academic interest

I can not imagine that this was your best/first/primary option.

EOD wrote:

I can not imagine that this was your best/first/primary option.

I wouldnt be surprised if it was. some foreigners just fly under the radar.

Newcastle was my primary option because of the strength of the academic course.

Details of my track races can be found at: -

http://www.thepowerof10.info/athletes/profile.aspx?athleteid=49026

I had very little correspondence from USA coaches but if any opportunities arise from this I will definitly think about them to improve the depth of my degree and learning.

By the way, I have already done the SAT (i got about 1700ish i think, my details are on collegeboard

Legit.

Normally I wouldnt recommend contacting the "Big Three" (Oregon, Penn State, Virginia) because they are generally so loaded at 800m, but 1:48 at 17 is ahead of even their normal recruiting curve, and they should express serious interest if your academics are even decent. Oregon might be your best bet overall as they just lost Wheating and need to recharge a bit (though they picked up Gedyon- hes more of a miler).

Texas seems to also do well with development.

Best of luck and look forward to seeing you stateside.

Yes, University of Oregon might be a good choice for a 1:48 runner. They do have a 1:46 guy on their team (Elijah Greer) who will be a sophomore, and they have a 1:47 guy who will be a senior. They do have several 3:36 1500 meter runners (Acosta and Centrowitz, both seniors) and a 3:40 guy, Mac Fleet, a sophomore. So you would have company, but you definitely would not be the star of the team.

What was the fastest 800m by a US HS athlete this year? Was it Sean Krinik ~ 1:49 - 1:50?

I would think you could get plenty of offers, regardless of what anyone at Oregon (or anywhere else) is currently running.

1:48 at 17 is Blue Chip. Never mind the 4-second improvement.

You are freaky talented. You can go sub 3:50 right now, and have looot of room for improvement as you get stronger and faster. Amazing that you can run 1:48 yet can barely break 50. Hit the weight room!

Crimea River wrote:

1:48 at 17 is Blue Chip. Never mind the 4-second improvement.

QFE+T.

Are you certain that your time at the Sheffield race was accurate? Your time for that one race is wildly faster than anything you have run before or after that race. One month prior, you ran a 1:51, then one month subsequent you ran nearly 1:50 followed by a 1:51 two months later, with no other race remotely approaching the 1:48. Also, your 1500 meter and 400 meter bests are not consistent with this one 800 meter race. I doubt that a top level American university would be willing to offer you much of a scholarship based on one race. My recommendation is for you to try to follow up with several more races in the 1:48 range, then you will have some consistency to show a coach.

I have never raced in Sheffield.

Ofcourse it was accurate, it was a BMC event.

I also ran 1.49 the month after and 1.17 over 600m

Woodwork Expert wrote:

Are you certain that your time at the Sheffield race was accurate? Your time for that one race is wildly faster than anything you have run before or after that race. One month prior, you ran a 1:51, then one month subsequent you ran nearly 1:50 followed by a 1:51 two months later, with no other race remotely approaching the 1:48. Also, your 1500 meter and 400 meter bests are not consistent with this one 800 meter race. I doubt that a top level American university would be willing to offer you much of a scholarship based on one race. My recommendation is for you to try to follow up with several more races in the 1:48 range, then you will have some consistency to show a coach.

His 1:49.98 is close.

If the 1:48.73 was mismeasured, we should expect other competitors in the same heat to have run big seasons bests also. Here is how that looks:

1st at Stretford in 1:47.82 - Mohammed. Other 2010 races - 1:46.92, 1:46.92, 1:48.26.

2nd at Stretford in 1:48.73 - Ross. Other 2010 races - 1:49.98, 1:50.71, 1:51.83.

3rd at Stretford in 1:49.95 - Evison. Other 2010 races - 1:50.09, 1:50.36, 1:50.84.

4th at Stretford in 1:50.21 - Brown. Other 2010 races - 1:51.36, 1:52.40, 1:52.65.

5th at Stretford in 1:50.23 - Learmonth. Other 2010 races - 1:49.23, 1:49.67, 1:50.25 (i).

6th at Stretford in 1:50.46 - Frey. Other 2010 races - 1:49.36. 1:49.38, 1:49.45.

So three guys had seasons bests and three guys did not. Sounds OK to me.

And one you get that consistency, you will pretty much have a golden ticket. Even if that 1.48 was a fluke, you still have consistently been in the 1.50-1.52 range which is great for being 17.

I would recommend simply emailing the coaches mentioned earlier in here, Oregon Virgina etc, with what you told us. Fast times and good grades are hard to ignore, its possible that coaches from the US simply havent been looking overseas so dont think that just because they havent noticed you yet youre out of luck

If you were Irish you would have been snapped up long ago.

Big Three" (Oregon, Penn State, Virginia) Please?

Oregon might be a good choice for you, but the coach, Vin Lananna currently has no foreign athletes on his men's team. Not saying he wouldn't be interested in you joining his stable of 800/1500 runners, but he doesn't go looking outside the US borders and I doubt he has athletic scholarship money to offer. You do sound like you have viable academic scholarship potential.

My understanding is you would(May have) already have spent one year of eligibility as a Non U.S. University Transfer regardless of participation.

Also, you really need to find out how much of your core curriculum through HS and now Newcastle would transfer.

Stuart Ross wrote:

I am writing to express an interest in potential links to the USA so this seemed like a good place to advertise myself to coaches as I have had limited contact in the past.

Have you done any research on any American universities you are interested in academically? If yes, you SHOULD email the track coaches, introduce yourself, and tell them of your interest in the program. Some places even have online questionnaires available on the school athletics' website. I believe right now is a good time to contact them because it's the transition period between XC and indoor track.

Good luck.