RUNNING IN COLLEGE

GOAL  Starting place for appropriately choosing a school you might want to run at  Know what to look for  Understand different options

THINGS TO CONSIDER  Where do you want to live  What do you want to study  How do you mesh with the coach / team  What is your commitment level and completion level

WHERE DO YOU WANT TO LIVE  Are there good places to run? (trails)  What is weather like when you are at school? How cold can you handle?  Do you fit with the lifestyle there? ex. Wyoming vs Chicago

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO STUDY  If a school doesn’t have what you want to study, don’t look at it.  If there is a possibility of you changing your major, make sure the school you’re looking at has that other major.  Running in college can be very time consuming, you may need to balance your school load with training

HOW DO YOU MESH WITH COACH / TEAM  Does the coach care more about running fast or the people on the team  Do you like the people on the team?  What type of people does the coach recruit?  Does the coach’s training philosophy mesh with what you believe

COMPETITIVE CHOICES  Division 1 – Biggest schools  Division 2 – Mid-size schools  Division 3 – Smallest schools – no athletic scholarships  NAIA – Size of D3 with scholarship money  Club teams – Available at D1 & some D2 schools

DIVISION III / NAIA  Smallest schools  More personal feel / some are prestigious  Most don’t have athletic scholarships (a few NAIA’s do)  Athletes aren’t always as dedicated  You will immediately be on almost all DIII varsity squads  You will get a lot of attention from the coach (if they only coach and don’t teach)  Less demanding on your time (easier to do well in academics)  You will not travel as far from school for meets  You will be a big fish in a small pond  Very good shot at being an All-American

DIVISION II  Many have scholarships  Good chance of you getting some athletic money  Solid chance of becoming an All-American  Very strong at top, but not as much depth nationally  Usually have small budgets for travelling  Good DII programs will beat good DI programs  Less feeling of entitlement (guys run cause they love running)  More room for walk-ons / less team restrictions than DI  You will be able to help most DII teams as freshmen, but you won’t be the best

DIVISION I  Bigger school = more academic programs  12.6 male Scholarships, 18 female scholarships – For TRACK  You will most likely have to walk on to a decent team  Won’t make the travel team as a freshman and possibly a sophomore  You will have to run hard year round (expect 60 – 100 miles a week during the summer)  Everything will have to go right for you to make All-American  Not as much coaching attention until you prove yourself  Possibility of good travel budget (you could go a lot of cool places)  Possibility of good equipment budget (free gear)  You get to race against the best in the country  Big school life – goods and bads  If you are good enough, they will pay for a recruiting trip – you are allowed 5

DIVISION 1 LARGE SCHOLARSHIP TIMES MenWomen :51.472: :08.64:50.0 8:57.310:28.8 Distances 400m 800m 1600m 3200m 10% ish scholarship – Can you score at conference (top 8) 20-40% – Top 3 at conference 40-70% - All American 80 – 100% - Top 10 in the Nation Times for 80%-100% scholarships

RUNNING CLUBS  At most bigger schools  Great option if you want a big school, but still want to run  Some schools like Oregon compete with other schools  Worth doing your research

TO DO LIST….  NCAA Clearinghouse – ncaaclearinghouse.net  Some coaches won’t talk to you at all until this is done  Make a list of potential schools  Location / academics  Appropriate Division  Where do they rank nationally  Convert times to sea level  I have a PC converter I can share with you  Look at team website & familiarize yourself  coaches

INCLUDE IN  Name, School, & Contact info  Times – 400m, 800m, 1600m (or mile), 3200m, XC  Converted Track times  Explanation for why you haven’t run any distances  ACT Scores and GPA

….CONTINUED  How long have you been running & where do you fit on FHS team  What distances do you think you’ll do well in college  What do you bring to the team other than running fast – all you understand hard work / dedication  What does your training look like  Summer – over distance miles per week with lots of hills  During season 25 – 40 miles per week with 2 to 3 workouts a week

VISITS  You get 5 official visits  An official visit occurs when the University pays for anything, lunch, dinner, flight, hotel  Make smart choices on your visit. You may be offered to do something you shouldn’t. (ex. Drinking)  Listen to your GUT on trips, if something seems off about a team, it probably is.