Midwest colleges to run at?

I would recommend Iowa State University and Wartburg. Good luck.

University of Chicago if you excel academically.

Have you looked at North Central College? Top 3 D3 program pretty much every year. If you want to develop as a runner, look into NCC.

Also, I've been trying to figure out who you are by looking at the TFX, but nothing aligns at all

First decide where you want to get an education. Go there.

If that school has XC and track teams, join them. You'll have fun and you'll probably become a better runner. If you're lucky your school will have a good team and maybe even a good coach too. But unless you have aspirations of a professional running career, these should not be the primary criteria you use to choose a school. Only the education you receive there will matter.

Well, you're sure not going pro at this rate, so better focus on the academics. If you can get accepted to WashU, that is obviously tops on your list. See what kind of money you get. I don't recommend UIC and Depaul. Loyola will be good locally. The other 4 are Big 10 state schools so you get what you expect.

I guess it's not technically the midwest, or a college, but I really like San Antonio. Great city.

ele wrote:

First decide where you want to get an education. Go there.

If that school has XC and track teams, join them. You'll have fun and you'll probably become a better runner. If you're lucky your school will have a good team and maybe even a good coach too. But unless you have aspirations of a professional running career, these should not be the primary criteria you use to choose a school. Only the education you receive there will matter.

Agreed. You're going to get referred to a ridiculous amount of schools here, many of which may be really poor fits, (for instance, Coe College, Knox College, Northern Ilinois,and Trine) but that's where they attend.

Instead of following along with this thread, visit as many as you can, and talk to as many of the athletes as you can at those schools, it's the only semi-reliable way to have some sort of judgement.

I ran for IU a handful of years ago. We were good then but the standards for walking on the team are much higher now. I don't think several of the schools you're looking at will accept you with those times.

Purdue always gets last in the Big 10 and I don't even think you could walk on that program.

The first 4 schools you listed would be good schools to check out for your performance level. If you are from or want to go to an Indiana School that has decent athletes and has produced a couple of really good ones over the years check out Indiana State. They seem to be a little more lenient in the walk on process.

Best of luck in your pursuit and I'm glad you made the decision to continue running in college.

AT

Iowan wrote:

I would recommend Iowa State University and Wartburg. Good luck.

Wartburg is Iowa's traditional D3 power, but they suck ass now. Luther and Grinnell are the current kings.

Well, the two most extreme cases have to be Wisconsin and Illinois. In the case of Wisconsin, they will take walk-ons with less than stellar credentials. Since you are only a junior, you have not necessarily hit your top high school form so maybe you will improve to 4:18 and 9:20, which would give you a chance if you fit in the right ways. For instance, if you are doing this on 50-70 miles per week and not 80-100, I would think that it leaves more up side. Also, if you have been progressing rapidly, it leaves more up side. etc.

One really unusual situation is the 'other' school in Madison - Edgewood College. They have just started a team the last few years and it is coached by Bethany Brewster, an top runner from Wisconsin [2001 Big Ten Conference Cross Country Athlete of the Year]. She really knows what she is doing, has access to knowledgeable people and has been making big strides. You would be one of the top couple of runners there, possibly number 1, but she has two pretty good runners now - one in Europe for the semester or year and the other with an injury keeping him out for the spring probably so they will not show up in results until next year.

Check out North Park University if you want the best academic and athletic experience.

ele wrote:

First decide where you want to get an education. Go there.

If that school has XC and track teams, join them. You'll have fun and you'll probably become a better runner. If you're lucky your school will have a good team and maybe even a good coach too. But unless you have aspirations of a professional running career, these should not be the primary criteria you use to choose a school. Only the education you receive there will matter.

this is the correct answer

Yeah, North Park and Edgewood are the ones you should be deciding between...

midwest trooper wrote:

I ran for IU a handful of years ago. We were good then but the standards for walking on the team are much higher now. I don't think several of the schools you're looking at will accept you with those times.

Purdue always gets last in the Big 10 and I don't even think you could walk on that program.

The first 4 schools you listed would be good schools to check out for your performance level. If you are from or want to go to an Indiana School that has decent athletes and has produced a couple of really good ones over the years check out Indiana State. They seem to be a little more lenient in the walk on process.

Best of luck in your pursuit and I'm glad you made the decision to continue running in college.

AT

I agree with this assessment. Indiana State does a great job developing guys that come into their program with times similar to yours. Also, consider Grand Valley State (gotta give my boy JB some love). They have a huge team, so walk-ons are definately accepted and I know they have guys on their varsity with similar high school credentials as yours.

I also have to agree with a previous poster: find a good school that offers what you want (and has more options if you change your major) and see if you can run there.

You'd be a great fit for a D3 program. I know WashU's developed a bunch of 9:30 guys pretty well over the last few years. You might also look into UChicago, North Central, some of the UW schools (Platteville, SP, Eau Clair, Oshkosh), Case Western, and Augustana.

Louisville

IU

Purdue

Xavier

find me a college wrote:

I am a junior in Illinois with times of:

9:34 3200

4:27 1600

2:00 800

I know Pat Savage of Depaul stepped down as head coach. Does it look like that program will be on a downfall from now on because of that?.

First of all, if you are running 9:34 in the early part of your junior year, none of these schools are potentially out of your league. Realistically you should at least be under 9:20 by the end of high school and that will allow you to at least walk on at most schools.

Also, why would Pat Savage leaving Depaul be a bad thing. I am assuming you are joking, but if not, this will be a good thing and maybe they can get to at least a point of being somewhat competitive.

Lastly, for those saying don't choose your school based on running because you won't be going pro, don't listen to them. Find a school that has the right combination of academics and athletics. You spend more time with your teammates and coaches than anyone else and choosing a school only on academics has left many people very unhappy. With a little work, you can find a school that fits both needs. Not sure why anyone would tell you to not consider athletics in your college choice if that is something that is important to you.

Good luck.

While not on par academically with Wash U, you might want to take a look at DeHaven's program at SDSU. D1 and you will be surrounded with similar "time talent". Brooking's is cold as snot, but so is Madison and the Chicago lake front...

Good luck on the seach.

There are literally a couple of dozen good running schools within a state or two from you....most here seem to be focused on D1, but you can have a great collegiate career in D2 or D3 also. A good D2 or D3 school trumps a bottom tier D1 school every time. I would suggest looking at the conference/regional results from the Midwest, look into the coaches at these schools and their philosophies, academic emphases, and (like someone already said) visit as many schools as possible.

Good luck!