Am I fast enough to run DIII cross country?

yes, and ah heck, live a little and risk ramping that mileage up 10 per a week. See if you might help your team a little...

Okay, thanks for the advice! I am a little concerned about ramping up mileage at this point because I don't want to over train.

You can easily go up to 40+ miles a week without being in danger of over training. And almost any DIII coach will take you with a 17:50 P.R even if you don't get it down at all, as long as you are committed to the sport and the team.

You're definitely fast enough. What are the top 7 at this d3 school running? 25-27min 8k's?

My high school PRs were 5:14 and 11min (sucked) and I improved pretty quickly to at least walk on the team, usually running 28min for 8k (not great but at least gets you a uniform and a spot).

As a general rule for most teams you gotta be able to at least get close to or break 30mins for 8K. There are d3 teams (just as there are d1 teams) where guys on the team run 35min for 8k - but I'm guessing you're not considering those teams. Those are the teams where it's unclear whether you can get 5 guys to toe the starting line on race day - someone might be tripped out on acid and drunk from the previous evening.

I am very relieved to hear that! And I will do my best to increase mileage before practice starts in 2 weeks, so I can give myself the best shot possible at running sub-17:00 PRs. Thanks so much for your help!

Division III runners run miles too. 25 a week ain't gonna cut it.

You need to get to at least 60-70 mpw gradually BUT GET THERE by next summer.

There may be some elite d3 teams that require a sub 10min 2mile or at a time trial or something like that, but those are more the exception than the norm.

My advice: Just make sure you train your tail off in the summer before XC season. In high school you can race your way into shape, but in college you really have to be ready to run pretty fast in late August, since you're more of a back of the pack guy. If you're not in your team's top 7 your season is done in October, so you don't have much time to get in shape. Also you'll be racing 8k and 5mile (quite an adjustment from high school 5k's) so it's all the more reason to make sure you're getting in some good mileage. You will want to come into school in mid to late August in the best shape of your life.

I am aware that my mileage needs to increase next off season, which it definitely will. I also do basketball and tennis/track in high school so I have been trying to find a balance between all of these sports this summer. Next summer though, I will be totally devoted to running and as a result I can get many more miles in preparation for college. I am currently at the front of the pack most high school races, but I understand that won't be the case in college starting out with adjusting to an 8k.

Yeah I knew guys who pretty much were 17min guys in HS and quit college xc. Usually it was because they didn't train much over the summer before XC and ran 30-32min 8k's to start to XC season, lost interest in the sport (weren't ready for the higher mileage of college programs) injured and quit. Without a solid mileage foundation and some hard summer work you will struggle at the 8k distance, so just make sure you train hard that summer. Also depending on the school the coach is probably gonna have you guys doing a minimum of about 50-60mpw during the season I would guess.

You "love the sport" but yet didn't train last summer at all and are just running 15-20 most of this summer? Where's your commitment to the sport you love? Is this the sort of commitment and dedication you plan on giving your future wife and employer? If so I predict you will be divorced and unemployed within a year. Your times aren't horrible. If you actually trained you could most likely run Div Ii.

oh brother, im not even going to read the original post. If you have legs you can, at the minimum, join a d3 team

You can make most, but not all, teams now. You couldn't contribute without a ton of improvement on any good ones. You will get injured or over trained unless you are very lucky or increase your mileage to something closer to what you will be running once you get there.

I didn't read from your original post that you're only doing 15-20mpw. Not to be mean but That is a Way too little & Only in high school will you find runners doing that little training before an XC season. Assuming youre joining a college team in fall 2014 youve got to be capable of handling at least 50 miles per week or so by then. (You can talk to the college coach about this because I knew of an injury prone d2 kid who was a 4:16 miler in high school whom the coach let do very little because he was new, very talented and coming off an injury, but keep in mind that generally your teammates in college are running7-10+ miles everyday at practice)

I'm surprised you've been able to run sub18 for 5k on 15-20mpw. Or we're you doing more under your HS coach when you ran 17:50? The good news is it suggests you've got a ton of potential for improvement. I only ran about 35-40mpw most of my senior year, and I got up to 55-60mpw going into my freshman year at a d3 college. I transferred to a d2 college after my freshman year. You could probably run d2 or d3. There isn't much difference to be honest. Some d2 might have stricter walk on standards though. Also d2 gives some scholarship money to the too guys (If you had a breakthrough senior year then who knows maybe that could be you)

Top* guys

This is seriously getting annoying. I already know that my mileage is low for college standards... but i am not in flippin college yet!!! I just wanted simple answers, not half-answers that are unrelated to my questions and rude.

Anyone can run D3 or NAIA xc, you just might not be able to get on a top 10 team in either division. I had a 17:30 pr in hs but was mid pack in a weak NAIA conference.

DIII programs are perfect for someone like you. Typically DIII programs are at highly rated academic schools, and there is not as much pressure in sports as in all D1 and some D2 schools. No coach will turn away a walk on in D2 or D3. It's just your decision on how much time you devote, and how much better you really want to be.

Mick Lovin wrote:

DIII programs are perfect for someone like you. Typically DIII programs are at highly rated academic schools, and there is not as much pressure in sports as in all D1 and some D2 schools. No coach will turn away a walk on in D2 or D3. It's just your decision on how much time you devote, and how much better you really want to be.

D2 and d3 do cut walk ons but it's rare and you have to be pretty slow

I think what their trying to get at here is your mileage is low by high school standards to. For instance my freshman run low 30mpw and by junior/senior year they are up to 60mpw for boys. This is off 6 days a week of singles. If they go 7 days a week or a couple morning runs it would be closer to 70mpw. You wont overtrain by moving to 40-50mpw unless your out there hammering every run and doing hard workouts all summer. Hope this helps.