D1 Walk-On Requirements

i walked on with 159, 435, 1012.

it sounds like you are obsessed with running D1 just for the sake of it being D1?

i would recommend a more competitive D2/3 school. i would have but it just so happened my school worked for me academically.

it really depends on the school, however. if they graduated their top 5, there are going to be a lot of openings.

i didnt even think of running in college until maybe jr. year of HS. there are plenty of opportunities out there and i def recommend at least trying to run in college. but maybe dont pick your school based solely on that.

A Solid D1 program

800m 1:53 1600m 4:12 3200m 9:10

But there are some terrible D1's out there, so really depends.

If 4:12 is a walk on time the program had better be goddamn exceptional.

1:55, 4:20 or 9:20 should get you a spot on the roster at most of the better D1 schools.

Just for clarity, 9:20 means 9:20, not 9:29.

Coaching kids for some time now, these seem to be avg D1 Walk-on numbers:

800 1:53 or better

1600 4:15-4:17

3200 9:15 or better

These are good times that most high school coaches would love to have on their teams. Problem is that they are pretty common nationally. About 5 years ago, 9:10 was the 100th fastest time in the country.

The key is finding a good academic program regardless of school size first (identify multiple schools) and a coach that is willing to work with you to develop your talent over the course of 4 years.

I've had a 4:10 kid turned down for scholarship at a Big 12 Univ. to reserve it for an African runner. He was asked to walk on. He went somewhere else and ended up being a sub 4 miler within a year. Pont is, it has to be a two way street. They had talented runners already so they didn't need to take on another developing runner.

Another thing D1 coaches have to pay attention to is Title IX. Roster balance in total numbers may limit your opportunity. D1 coaches need XC runners too to cover both sports. Hard to find them recruiting only milers that don't want to run XC. You have to run cross if you want to be ready for track anyway.

Head track coaches that aren't distance runners are looking for athletes that can score multiple times in a conference track meet. Distance runners don't normally do that so their importance on the team score is less than sprinter/hurdler/jumpers.

Other kids that have had the numbers I've mentioned went on to be All-Americans at schools where coaches were willing to develop them rather than pay for immediate results. Just look at the history of who their athletes are and where they are coming from. Also, ask a lot of questions from others about programs you are interested in to understand what kind of experience you will get at X-University. Some are more team oriented than others.

I know of a kid that runs for a D1 school whos times are 2:06 and 4:38. No typos there. But I also have a friend who ran 1:54 and 4:16 and is running at a comm. college. It all depends on the fit.

I walked on with 1:57 and 4:35, but I had to constantly email the coach and pretty much beg to be on the team.

Down to 9:20 and 4:20 for Gonzaga now (14th in West this year), as far as I've heard.

I ran 5:14 and 11:02 in high school and I am a guy. I busted my balls off and I can run low 27mins for 8k, so I think anyone can run in college, even d1, just not the top d1 schools

AMEN!

I ran 2:04, 4:50, 10:54(didn't run 2 mile that much). Able to walk on to a D1 team 2nd year of college. I ran 8k in mid 28s but I am improving. In high school, i was running 3 miles in 5:44 pace. Two years later I was doing 5:44 pace for 5 miles!

As someone above noted, it's kind of a moving target. High school kids are getting better, therefore roster spots are more competitive than ever.

I walked on with a 2:00, 4:19, 9:24 to a nationally ranked program 10 years ago (albeit at the bottom of their depth chart). I doubt someone with those credentials today would get the same level of consideration.

I also found that roster spots are a big deal. If a coach has an opening to fill, they may be willing to take a chance on someone that doesn't normally meet their criteria. If the roster is full, then you've got to be better than their worst guy/recruit. I think this is what happened with me. I was told "no thanks" at a bunch of D1 teams that were actually not as good as where I ended up going but happened to luck into a good program with a spot to fill. Nothing to lose in that case. If it doesn't work out, you get cut for the next test case the following year. No guarantee that getting on the team means staying on the team.

Also, one year our top 2 guys at regionals (both in the top 25) both had PRs slower than 10 minutes in high school.

Guy #1 ran around 4:34 and 10:03 in high school. 24:05 and 8:50 steeple in college

Guy #2 ran around 1:56 and 10:06 in high school, ran 24:15 and 4:05i in college.

watchout wrote:

Down to 9:20 and 4:20 for Gonzaga now (14th in West this year), as far as I've heard.

I am not doubting you, but that's ridiculous.

watchout wrote:

Down to 9:20 and 4:20 for Gonzaga now (14th in West this year), as far as I've heard.

I'm calling BS on this. How many guys currently on the team can actually run that right now? I'd be surprised if it was more than 4.

FWIW, there are tons of D1 programs you never hear about, so the talent pool (and therefore standards) is way bigger than you think. I'd say if you can run under 16:15, you can certainly find a D1 program to walk onto. It won't be something like Ok St or Wisonsin, though.

Personally, I'd recommend that you don't limit yourself to just a D1 school. Remember, going to a school is about what fits best for you, both academically (most emphasis on the academics, obviously), competitively, and socilally. There there are great D2 and D3 schools to run at and don't pick a school simply for the "prestige" of running D1. Also, keep in mind that unless the program is terrible, you'll probably race some D1 schools anyway.

to even CONSIDER walking on at an average D1 school..

1:50

4:05

9:00

and be running at LEAST 100 mpw, should be more

A lot of these guys have no idea what they're talking about. Sure, to walk on to a school like Stanford or Oregon, you have to be at the very least 9:12 or so to have consideration. However, for a school that you say is 10-20th in the region, like Gonzaga, or San Fransico, you probably could walk on with a 9:25 or a 4:20. Those are still very good programs and would a runner of that caliber should develop very nicely and still run well in Division 1.

Gonzaga has certainly been improving, Tyson and Ley have done a tremendous job.

And yes, there are more than four athletes at Gonzaga that have run under 4:20/9:20. I'm pretty sure that over half of the remaining roster were close to that level in HS even.

Here's a look at what their three true freshman ran in HS:

Conor McCandless 4:09/9:03

Alec Temple 4:19/9:23

Danny Lunder 1:55/4:22

and with a total of 3 seniors on the roster this year, I'm sure you can understand why the standards this year are tougher than you'd have thought.

Also, what I could find on Gonzaga's second year runners:

Kyle Branch (SO) - ran 4:21/9:29 in HS

Matt Chrichlow (SO) - ran 4:22/9:23 in HS

Erik Fagan (SO) - ran 9:36 in HS, but has run 3:59.54 for 1500m at Gonzaga

Alex Foote (SO) - ran 8:47 3k in HS

Colin O'Neil (SO) - ran 4:19/9:24 in HS

Nick Roche (SO) - ran 8:44 3k in HS

Braden Van Deynze (SO) - ???

Andy Thomas (RFR) - ???

The D1 school I go to has walk-on standards of 1:56, 4:20 and 9:20, and they got in the teens in the West Regional this season.