Question for those of you who ran in college (Read 883 times)

Thanks for the great posts! I haven't had a chance to look at them in detail, but here are DS's stats. He's a junior, still 16 (turns 17 in July). 800 - 2:03 (his team went to nationals in the 4x800). He does NOT like this distance - too short! 1 mile - 4:28 (track) 2 mile - 9:36 (track, at the Dartmouth Relays) 3 mile - 15:36 (XC) 5k - 16:28 (XC) - he is very pissed off that his 5k time is not faster! if his times improved in those post-season meets, because there will be some better competition. I will read all of your thoughtful comments and ask more questions. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help.

These were almost exactly my times in high school. If it helps, he can run for almost any school, DI or otherwise. But it is unlikely that he will get a scholarship to a program that would be good for him. Scolys are few and far between for distance runners (that's a whole 'nuther thread). But those times are good enough to carry some weight with admissions at the Ivys and elite academic DIII's of the world. As others have emphasized, running is part of the package. Visit schools, talk to people, and go with your gut. The good thing is that there are lots of good schools out there.

That's true. It depends on the school and the sort of program. I kind of came out for school at the nadir of high school running and had some better times for 800m and 400m. Things are more competitive now, it seems, both academically and athletically.

That's true. It depends on the school and the sort of program. I kind of came out for school at the nadir of high school running and had some better times for 800m and 400m. Things are more competitive now, it seems, both academically and athletically.

The nadir, huh? We must be the same age For some perspective I actually PLACED in the Maryland state meet with the 2:06 (10th) and that was sophomore year, pretty much the last time I was healthy for a full season. I finished 2nd in the county and 23rd in the state meet in cross country never even sniffing 17 minutes for 5K. 4:47 got me 3rd at the county meet mile. No one in the state broke 4:20 in the mile my senior year. I saw Baltimore area results from last year - some kid broke the state record in the mile (4:05?) in '08 and there were a ton of kids in the 16's for 5K. I might not have even qualified for the county meet this year in anything. I do know for a fact they've made the SAT test easier since I took it

My only advice for you is to encourage your son to choose a school where his academics will come first. Education is the purpose of a school and if he happens to gets to run while in school, it should be secondary.

That's crazy talk.

Hey now! It's not crazy talk and I am not suggesting that that athletics and social life should be completed ignored but unless you plan on being a runner or a socialite, I just suggest that academics comes first (and I didn't mention how close of a second running is ) But the fact of the matter, from what I understand is that her son is not going to attend a DI school. While his running clearly isn't "leisure" activity (because those are great times for a 16 year old!), but he's looking for PR's not olympic standards. He is young and still has a lot of time for improvement and may someday be chasing that goal but very few people are fortunate enough to make running their career and a good degree is something that will help him get a job no matter how fast he runs!

It's a piece of cake to be a great student, great athlete, and have a great social life...but that doesn't mean that you can have any KIND of social life. I work with lots of high school athletes, and I've helped a lot of them to college. I also know a ton of college coaches at all levels. One thing I've learned: when kids talk about wanting "balance," 99% of the time they mean that they want to party. If you're serious about achievement on the track and in the classroom, your Friday night will be a movie and lights out by midnight. You'll end up becoming best friends with your teammates, and a lot of your socializing will happen on the bus to meets. After conference, you might cut loose a bit, but you're not going to have the "typical" college experience. The key is to realize that you're not sacrificing something; you're CHOOSING the thing you most want. It's worth it, it'll stay with you, and you won't regret it. That said, because athletics can be so all-encompassing, it's important that you know what kind of a program you're getting into. When he's narrowing down his choices, he should definitely do an overnight stay with the team. He'll get a much better feel for what it would be like to join that program. A few other thoughts: He's not so fast that he won't have people to run with if he goes to a decent DIII program. To put things in perspective, I was just having a beer with 2 DIII guys who were not the fastest guys in their conference for most of their careers--one of them is a 4 minute miler, the other is a 30 minute 10k runner. Athletic scholarships are just about impossible to come by for male runners. Full scholarships are particularly rare. A wealthy school (like an Ivy), can often be a better deal because they can give so much financial aid, even though there's no athletic money. The Ivies are pretty strong distance schools, however. He probably wouldn't be recruited at the upper half, though he could walk on. The NESCAC is a great conference for DIII running. The MIAC is often strong in running, though weaker academically (with the exception of Macalester and Carleton). WESCAC schools are very strong at running, but weak academically. On the west coast, Willamette is the regional powerhouse, and Occidental and the Claremont Colleges are quite strong. Colorado College has a good program, but they're isolated from their competition. There's not much DIII in the South. One thing worth checking into is the geographic size of the conference. If the schools are really spread out, it can mean a lot of time in buses.

I was being ironical with the "crazy talk" comment. Ideally, the athletics and the academics complement each other. Did I learn as much from my college running experiences as I did in the classroom? Maybe not, maybe so. I definitely learned different things. To rank academics and athletics heirarchically: to say that one is first and the other second, is to misunderstand (I think) the relationship between mind and body.

Sheesh. You definitely learned more from classes than from running. Academics are more important unless you are going to be a professional runner/coach. And you want to be a professor?

Walking on can mean a lot of things. Generally, the way to do it is to have the coach's blessing in advance. It basically means that he or she would be happy to have you, but you're on your own with regard to admissions. What you want is a commitment from the coach that, if admitted, your son will have an invitation to preseason camp before his freshman year. Honestly, this shouldn't be that tough with his times at most schools. Something else I forgot to mention: don't assume that a coach doesn't want you because you haven't heard anything from them. Especially in DIII, there are too many kids all over the place for coaches to really recruit everyone they'd like. They have no idea if their school is right for a kid, if he's willing to move to a different state, how strong he is academically, etc. They have a small staff, and recruiting is not easy. If there's a school that your son is interested in, take the initiative and get in touch! My siblings were both national caliber athletes, but they ended up at their respective schools (Dartmouth and Amherst) because THEY took the initiative to talk to their coaches.