college...gulp

D. 3 is a piece of cake, compared to D. 1. If you can swing a 20 minute 5k, you'll do fine.

cms.clarement.edu/westxcwomen04.htm

my bad

cms.claremont.edu/westxcwomen04.htm

Not to down-play DIII because there are some talented runners in the division, but probably anything under a 22 min 5k would put you on most teams, mostly because I doubt any of them make cuts. If you are under 20 for 5k, there are plenty of DII and some DI teams in the midwest you could make. Yeah, like you said, you probably won't get any money, but that's obviously not your concern. Where in the midwest are you looking?

Well, I live in MN, but I'm pretty much open to the surrounding states (including WI, MI, etc.) I toured St. Olaf and really liked the town of Northfield, so anything in that vein. I'm really just beginning the search so suggestions are VERY welcome!

What kind of times would you have to run at a D3 school for guys?

Check out Winona State or Mankato (Minn St).

I am a college coach in the mid-west. Shoot me an email.

Again, not to down-play DIII, but as long as you are willing to show up and put in the hard work, you're on the team. There are plenty of quality DIII programs out there, they are often just less selective as say DI and I can't imagine many cut as long as you show some dedication.

Is this true of guys too? Obviously the time would be faster than 20:00 for a 5K, but it's not all that hard to make a D3 team?

Honestly just about anyone can run on either a DI or DIII team. Title IX makes recruiting even 22min 5k runners a priority.

I run for a mens' DIII program that's top 10 at nationals just about every year and if you show up to practice and for races you're on the team. Hell you don't even really have to show up all the time, you can pretty much miss practice whenever you want if you're not one of the faster guys.

People are making too much of DIII by throwing out times and so on.

Here's the real deal on DIII:

If you can run, you're on the team. That is true for just about every DIII team in the country. There might be a running powerhouse or two that might not let you on, but if you're willing to run, you're on.

There were women on the team when I was in college who couldn't run a 22 minute 5k to save their lives. Hell, we had a couple guys on my team who couldn't run 22 minutes, and I'm not kidding.

If you're not terribly fast or terribly talented, you can run DIII. That's not to say that some talented runners don't run DIII, but you don't have to be talented to run there.

Flome is right, and the same is true for many Div. 1 & 2 schools as well. Anyone can run.

There are smaller schools down here in the South who recruit 22:00 5K women, and offer them money.

My wife coaches a Div. 2 school and she's giving scholarships to such ladies, hoping to turn them into a bunch of sub-20s in a few years.

This isn't rare hereabouts.

Even Stanford has a no cut policy.

The past couple of posts nailed it. DIII is basicaly the same premise as a high school team. If you want to run, you are on the team. I don't know why I even threw out a time, just to give the original poster a frame of reference. And also like was posted above, many, many DI teams will take you as long as you can finish the race. Ath. Depts. will do anything for more women for Title IX reasons. I know they specifically tell their coahes of olympic sport teams to get as many females as possible no matter what. Doesn't work that way with the guys, sorry dude. I don't want to discourage the original poster, just wanted to say the odds of you running at any level are in your favor.

By the way, I run for a DI school in eastern Nebraska that is none too selective. Not to knock my program, we are a hard workering, serious team, but we do not have a cut policy as long as you show up and run hard. Shoot me an e-mail if you want any info or want me to pass your e-mail on to my coach.

thanks for the advice...sounds like things are definately in my favor

U of Manitoba: http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/physed/athletics/crosscountry/