Walking on to a D1 school with mediocre times.

Your times and distance won't get you far. Try being a manager the first year. Then you will know if you can help the team in the future.

I walked on at a pretty decent D1 school with only ok times. I too emailed the coach over the summer but never heard back, but I didn't let that stop me. The first day I got on campus I went to the coaches office to talk about walking on, but he basically told me the team was filled and that they weren't taking any more people. However I kept going back everyday and after a week he finally agreed to let me tryout and the rest is history. So if you are really serious keep training hard and don't stop until you at least get a chance to prove yourself.

What exactly would the manager do?

Thanks for the encouraging response. And yes I been practicing on my own so I can at least run and prove myself if the opportunity is given.

Have you considered dressing up a female and trying out for the women's team? With all the social justice warriors out there, your times pretty much guarantee you a spot, if not scholarship money.

What school are you going to? Are you going to a school in Florida?

Your best chance is to move up to the 800, otherwise you have to seriously improve your times (22.low/49.low) to even warrant possible walkon consideration.

Your sprint speed isn't terrible but obviously not D1 caliber, especially if you are talking about a large D1 school in Florida/SEC, where 20.x and 45/46 guys are the norm.

Because of this focus on sprints many D1 track programs in your area have subpar mid-distance / distance groups relative to D1 schools across the country so I would look at your schools respective times for the 400/800.

If you want to try the 800 look into training for a 400/800 runner as the increase in aerobic work will be a change but if you aren't interested in the 800 at all you probably have no chance.

Realism wrote:

What school are you going to? Are you going to a school in Florida?

Your best chance is to move up to the 800, otherwise you have to seriously improve your times (22.low/49.low) to even warrant possible walkon consideration.

Your sprint speed isn't terrible but obviously not D1 caliber, especially if you are talking about a large D1 school in Florida/SEC, where 20.x and 45/46 guys are the norm.

Because of this focus on sprints many D1 track programs in your area have subpar mid-distance / distance groups relative to D1 schools across the country so I would look at your schools respective times for the 400/800.

If you want to try the 800 look into training for a 400/800 runner as the increase in aerobic work will be a change but if you aren't interested in the 800 at all you probably have no chance.

One of the fun things about LR is that one is never sure if someone is trolling, or clueless

The enduring myth of this forum is that almost everyone should "move up", often with the assumption that it is a lack of character that holds people back. So every 400m runner should really be in the 800, and every 800 guy is really a 1500 guy who lacks the courage to put in the work.

On topic, your times don't make you a candidate for moving up - your 200 PR is better than your 400 pr.

You may have the most upside in the triple jump. 42'6" is best of your PR's, but it's not all that good relative to your 200 time. And coaches will be more likely to take a flier here because there just aren't a lot of guys doing the TJ

If you really want to compete, start training on your own, now! If your high school coach knows what's up, ask her or him to help you create a program - or find a club or JuCo or another HS coach to help you out.

If all goes well, you could probably add two feet to your PR by the end of August, and would be a lot more attractive to your coach.

The coach and I considered the 800 because I ran cross country over the summer but the coach never put me in it because I had too many events (I usually did the 400, triple jump, and 4x400. I ran the 200 once this season at our district meet). I am going to USF.

I have been running on my own around my neighborhood for about a month, but now I think I'll contact my coach and work out on an actual track.

I'm still not quite sure if I'm a pure sprinter or not. During distance days, all the other sprinters run out of breath while I tend to keep up with some of the distance runners. Maybe from cross country?

What were your xc times? Or what can you run a 5k in?

21:32.00 for a 5k.

Okay, I just looked at a few USF results from last year. They had a frosh who TJed 50ft--but he appeared to be their *only* triple jumper.

It also looks like they had a pretty good jumps crew, so I'm guessing that's a point of emphasis for the team. Curiously enough, this could work in your favor--a "more the merrier" situation.

But the main question is whether they're limited in their men's total squad size (whether from $$$ restraints, Title IX, or whatever). You'd just have to talk to the coach(es) on that one, I suppose. BTW try to schedule a visit with them (at the coaches' convenience and your expense, of course) for some time this summer--it's a way to show that you're really interested.

They only have a half-dozen recruits listed on DyeStat (http://parser.dyestat.com/search.jsp?colID=7562) so far--all female, and mostly so-so distance runners--so they might be welcoming to an enthusiastic guy who's not going to use up any scholarship money.

Might as well give it a shot. Anyway, summer's a good time for triple jump training!

To be clearer, by "pretty good jumps crew" I meant that *overall* they seemed to have a lot of pretty good performers in the men's and women's jumps--still thin in the TJ, though.

BTN2013 wrote:

Hi, I am a 17 year old male who recently graduated from high school and will be attending a large D1 school in the fall.

I was accepted to this university but was not recruited by the track coach, so the only way I can run track there is if I walk-on. I emailed the coach about possibly walking on, but did not receive a response.

My marks, 200m:23.20; 400m:51.76, Triple Jump:42'6," are not D1 caliber so I'm worried that there won't be a spot on the team for me. I live in Florida; one of the most competitive states for track.

Does anyone have any advice for me as to what I should do (try walking-on or forget track)? Has anyone have any experience with walking on? I appreciate all suggestions given.

You got no chance with those times.

Running club?

Focus on your academics?

I guess I should have mentioned that over the past few weeks I've been contacted by an DIII school and two NAIA schools; I think it's weird that they all decided to wait till after I graduated to take any action (considering all the steps required, clearinghouse etc.). I told them I'll see how things go but to not be optimistic.

I don't want to stop track because I made remarkable improvements and I feel that I can do so much more.

What about the pole vault? You have decent sprinting speed and there are so few pole vaulters. If you go that route, please remember to wear a helmet. AND land on the bag.

.A Duck wrote:

What about the pole vault? You have decent sprinting speed and there are so few pole vaulters. If you go that route, please remember to wear a helmet. AND land on the bag.

Don't be A Dick. His times are plenty good for D3, and, who knows -- he might have middle distance potential.