Can a male 5 minute miler walk on to any D1 team in the country?

According to Athletic.net, the slowest men’s mile time in NCAA division 1 during 2017 outdoors was a 5:03, from Sacred Heart.

https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/Division/Event.aspx?DivID=79754&Event=58&page=1

That's a very cheesy time to even consider walking on at D-1. Coaches would laugh themselves silly at the prospect. You've got to be sub 4:40 territory to even be considered walk on material at most D-1 programs. ☝️?

no chance in hell sorry, you will be laughed and it will be considered a joke

any division 2 or 3 school even worth anything will laugh at you... consider doing other things or another sport

This is also specific to the mile. It's more informative if you look at the 1500, more frequently run to get a better idea.

https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/Division/Event.aspx?DivID=79754&Event=5&page=26

This is unconfirmed, but someone I know who went to USC (Southern California, not South Carolina) told me that Coach Ron Alice lets almost anyone walk on to his sprint team. They supposedly get to compete in the low key early season meets.

He told me that almost every year, a sprinter in the 12.1-12.2 range would join the team and get to compete. It's not a 5:00 mile, but it's about the same level.

The race walking mile world record is 5:31 so there is no way you could walk on to the team.

It's not impossible for a male with a personal mile best of 5:00 for a mile to race 34:45 for 10K XC. That's where a walk on would start. If D1 XC coaches know you only have a mile or 1600m PB of 5:00, you will have to impress coaching staff that you can keep up in XC.

double talk wrote:

any division 2 or 3 school even worth anything will laugh at you... consider doing other things or another sport

Most D3 schools and even a few decent D2 schools would let a 5:00 guy walk on. But a lot of 5:00 guys won't take that option since they don't want to be the slowest guy on the team and can't stand being chicked on a regular basis.

Portland State currently has a Freshman with a 1600 PR of 4:57, and a Senior with a Mile PR of 4:45.

Div III yes. Div I, hello no.

Yes!!! This is a very common thing in most d1 colleges actually. Take myself for example, my mile Pr is a mere 3:56 and I am barley hanging onto my d1 college team. But you can surely walk onto our team, our coach loves the idea of new runners that seem very unlikely to be on a team such as ours. I mean shhhootttt, with that kind of time you can go anywhere you want!! Have a nice day old sport.

Three words: Oral Roberts University

Devil Dog wrote:

Portland State currently has a Freshman with a 1600 PR of 4:57, and a Senior with a Mile PR of 4:45.

Wow...that's sad for college runners.

What's The Deal? wrote:

Devil Dog wrote:

Portland State currently has a Freshman with a 1600 PR of 4:57, and a Senior with a Mile PR of 4:45.

Wow...that's sad for college runners.

Nah it's okay. They're sprinters who decided to try the mile.

This person competed for Oregon State despite having a PR of 4:35 in the 1500 (not 1600):

http://run-down.com/training/index.php

http://run-down.com/personal.php

double talk wrote:

no chance in hell sorry, you will be laughed and it will be considered a joke

any division 2 or 3 school even worth anything will laugh at you... consider doing other things or another sport

D2 and D3 schools would not laugh at a 5min mile guy. You might not make the travel squad but any D3 coach dumb enough to turn away a 5min guy is an idiot. My high school 1600 PR was 4:57 and I ran 1:52 for my DIII school. I think most DIII schools would be happy with a 1:52 guy.

ThatAverageRunner wrote:

double talk wrote:

no chance in hell sorry, you will be laughed and it will be considered a joke

any division 2 or 3 school even worth anything will laugh at you... consider doing other things or another sport

D2 and D3 schools would not laugh at a 5min mile guy. You might not make the travel squad but any D3 coach dumb enough to turn away a 5min guy is an idiot. My high school 1600 PR was 4:57 and I ran 1:52 for my DIII school. I think most DIII schools would be happy with a 1:52 guy.

Curious: Why is your mile time so slow compared to your 800? I would think with a 1:52 you'd be going at least sub-4:30. I once had a kid who ran 1:54 and his mile PR was 4:25 off of about 40 mpw base (anymore and he would get injured). Your situation is kinda weird.

What's up with this? wrote:

ThatAverageRunner wrote:

D2 and D3 schools would not laugh at a 5min mile guy. You might not make the travel squad but any D3 coach dumb enough to turn away a 5min guy is an idiot. My high school 1600 PR was 4:57 and I ran 1:52 for my DIII school. I think most DIII schools would be happy with a 1:52 guy.

Curious: Why is your mile time so slow compared to your 800? I would think with a 1:52 you'd be going at least sub-4:30. I once had a kid who ran 1:54 and his mile PR was 4:25 off of about 40 mpw base (anymore and he would get injured). Your situation is kinda weird.

I wasn’t a 1:52 guy coming into college? That was the whole point of my post. My PRs senior year of high school were 55.9, 4:57, 10:46 and 17:20. Slowly cut my times down but senior year of college I got serious and ran 70mpw plus all the little things. Went from 2:03 the year prior to 1:52.

You can’t just assume a 5 minute mile guy from high school isn’t going to be anything.

They might let you walk on to the women's team.