What college do I have a chance of running at

You won't have any problem getting into a D3 school. If you're lucky you might get money for a D2 school. If not, you can work hard and maintain a spot on the team. However, the majority of D1 teams will turn you down.

Im not saying I need a scholarship. I just want to know if I can make the team

t94bell wrote:

You won't have any problem getting into a D3 school. If you're lucky you might get money for a D2 school. If not, you can work hard and maintain a spot on the team. However, the majority of D1 teams will turn you down.

Doubt he could even get money from a D2. He might be good enough for a club team or something. But those times have D3 written all over them. He can dominate D3 though. Convert a 9:43 out to 5k and he's probably borderline nationals at the D3 level.

He'd be a good D3 runner if he can adapt to the training. The 9:43 doesn't necessarily convert to nationals level although people with slower times have definitely made the big dance. He'd be able to get onto just about any D3 team I can think of (maybe not NCC or the like) but most D3 schools would probably be happy to have him. Also, depending on what he manages to run his senior year he might have a better shot at getting onto a DI squad but the DI coaches I talked to when I was searching would not have been welcoming to the posted times.

OP, best of luck. Don't close your options by not looking at D3 and then not making the standards for DI schools you look at, but at the same time, if DI is what appeals to you don't just look at D3 schools either. You'll be much more competitive in D3 than in D1 based only off of those times but its up to you to decided what you think would be more rewarding.

If you want to go D1, look at UW-Green Bay. I knew some guys who weren't as fast as you who got money from them.

I ran 1:55, 4:15, and 9:48 in high school. I went DIII and I wasn't an All-American as an individual (once on the DMR as a Soph) until my senior year. I think DIII is a really great choice for a lot of runners, but I think it's unfair to go getting peoples hopes up about how "easy" it's going to be.

Dude, you can totally run in college, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Find a program you like, with people you like, and have fun. No better experience in the world.

another way to go is to look at NAIA schools.

t94bell wrote:

You won't have any problem getting into a D3 school. If you're lucky you might get money for a D2 school. If not, you can work hard and maintain a spot on the team. However, the majority of D1 teams will turn you down.

Let me guess, you didn't run D3, did you?

I can assure you that nobody currently running 9:43 makes it to D3 track nationals. I'd say you need to me more like 9:10-9:15, and that range might make you one of the last qualifiers in.

That said, coming out of high school, 9:43 is a solid time. Probably good enough to be on or near the varsity on most D3 XC teams. Also probably good enough to come in about 175th place at XC nationals.

A 9:43 runner has lots of potential to do well at D3. But, he'd hardly be assured to dominate D3.

Another D-1 choice--Campbell University.

Guywhoisarunner wrote:

1600:4:29

3200m: 9:41

Those are my PRs. Am I even fast enough to run in college?

I am assuming those are your junior year track times.

Do you run cross country? How has your season been so far?

I've seen a lot of guys make some really good jumps from times like that during their senior year if they really get motivated and run solid, consistent miles during cross country and over the winter. Depending on how much work you did or did not put into running your listed times, if you can try and get yourself into some good races you could easily jump to 4:20 and 9:20 range.

Especially if you aren't looking at getting scholarship money or getting recruited, dropping your spring times a bit could easily open a lot of doors for you in D1, even as a walk on.

Good advice is to choose your college as if you weren't going to run, but since many colleges offer similar experiences and environments, pick one where you might have the possibility of running - i.e. you don't want to go to Stanford with those times and expect to run. But many many other programs would take a 4:20 9:20 guy if you can manage that.....

Good luck.

queens university of charlotte (d2) you'll get money there and they have an up and coming program

I think just about any d2 school in california would be happy to have you with those times (a few possible exceptions)

those were close to my PRs from high school, and honestly most of the D1 schools i talked to said i was good enough to walk-on. not necessarily for a top 30 D1 school, but just about any other and your fine to make the team. i went to a mid-level D1 school and did fine. if i could do it again though, i would go to a more academically prestigious school and just go with whatever it had to offer for a team. i went somewhere i thought would make me really good and in hopes of a scholarship and it probably set me back in terms of development.

You can run in college.

I ran at a D1 school that had NCAA champions and even won a team title that had guys at that level running with the team.

If you look at college invitational results there are plenty of guys running 4:10 for 1500m and 15's for 5000m.

Crippled Carl's School for the Legless

Uncle Systematic wrote:

Let me guess, you didn't run D3, did you?

I can assure you that nobody currently running 9:43 makes it to D3 track nationals. I'd say you need to me more like 9:10-9:15, and that range might make you one of the last qualifiers in.

That said, coming out of high school, 9:43 is a solid time. Probably good enough to be on or near the varsity on most D3 XC teams. Also probably good enough to come in about 175th place at XC nationals.

A 9:43 runner has lots of potential to do well at D3. But, he'd hardly be assured to dominate D3.

The other poster didn't say that he would dominate in DIII or that he could make it to DIII nationals with his current PR. He said that the OP would have no problem getting into a DIII school. So you're arguing against a point that was never made.

Anyway, what is the point of mentioning that his current PR wouldn't get him into nationals? This is true of most runners in every division. How many DI bound high school seniors have PRs that would get them into DI nationals?

Pretty sure Dan Lincoln walked onto Arkansas with a 9:42 3200. So there's that.

LULZ MAX wrote:

Doubt he could even get money from a D2. He might be good enough for a club team or something. But those times have D3 written all over them. He can dominate D3 though. Convert a 9:43 out to 5k and he's probably borderline nationals at the D3 level.

A 9:41 (his actual PR, not 9:43) converts to a 15:55 5k on McMillan. The provisional mark is 1:10 faster than that, and the last qualifier last year was 14:30. 14:30 5k pace is 9:17 3200 pace. Not at ALL borderline.

He can get there by the end of college, but you're being ridiculous if you think he's there already.

Apologies ... I quoted the wrong post in my reply. I was referring to LULZ MAX above.