2024 XC/Track

Athletic Recruits
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My kid is a 2024 runner. I’ve been reading many many threads on CC, learning, and making notes for myself and the kid. The kid has spent all of the junior year in discussions with various coaches, mainly NESCAC and equivalent D3s and some high-academic/low-to-middle athletic prowess D1s, not Iveys. All the schools the kid is still speaking with have mentioned that a pre-read is the next step and have discussed what documents, papers, etc. will be needed. I’d assume based on this that all/most want to move ahead with that next step, but surprises could happen in June.

We’re now nearing the point where the funnel actually starts. How will the prereads go? Will the kid get overnight invitations? Will an offer of full support follow? I’m wondering if any parents who have already been through this have thoughts, advice, or tips to share. Maybe this is partly a place-holder thread for when the rubber really meets the road in a month or so.

I’m so grateful for all the wisdom you all have shared from your experiences and want to say thank you. I can feel my stress start to tick up. (We’re all in on shooting for a single, ED, hooked application and wow, if that doesn’t work out, we’ll really be scrambling.)

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It is a stressful process for sure. Sounds like your kid is casting a wide net, which is key. Expect surprises, disappointments, variable timelines, communication delays, and how your kid might prioritize the schools on any given day.

IMO it’s important also for the parents to be supportive, and try not to share opinions (that’s so difficult of course).

I don’t really know that many schools give XC/T&F official visits (and good news…starting this fall there’s no limit on official visits for D1 anymore, but still only one OV per school for T&F). I would be surprised if any D3 schools cough up $ for visits, they just don’t have the budget.

Good luck and Paging @politeperson to add insights as a T&F recruiting guru.

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Fair point on the official visits. I used the term imprecisely – I meant more, especially in the D3 context, an unofficial visit initiated by the coach (as opposed to the student visiting the school, doing info session, and perhaps also meeting up with the coach) as the last step in the evaluation process before the coach decides which few students to give full support to. You’re right though, that is rarely a true “official visit” in the D1 sense.

Thanks for the reminder of the inevitable twists, turns, and surprises. Fingers crossed that we’re able to roll with them.

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Continue of course to keep working hard at school and XC/Track, though I would start to focus as much or more on which schools would be a good fit.
You are probably doing this already as a family, though I would start to think more about what schools would be a good fit, do you need the coaches support to get admitted, what are the most important factors for selecting the school such as the schools academic reputation, school location, smaller college vs university, what areas do they want to study, is having a spot on the XC/Track team more important than other factors, is the cost a consideration, do they plan to go or would have to pay for grad school after undergrad, etc.
And IMO, make sure that the school is still a good fit, and they would like to go there even if they were not running XC/Track.
As with many students and families, you may not know the answers to all those questions but it tends to work itself out.
I am not sure if you are located within driving distance to any of the schools they’ve had contact with, or similar schools on the list, but you can always take an unofficial visit to see the campus, take a tour, and can reach out to the coach to let them know you will be there. Most are happy to spend time with you. It is not always possible but if it can be done while school is in session, you sometimes get a different feel than if visiting in the summer when few students are on campus.
Good luck!

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Good thoughts, @recruitparent. We’ve done most of this. We’ve got a list of 4-5 top choice colleges, all small NESCAC/Claremont/similar schools, a second tier of D3s that fit the same general profile as the first tier but that for whatever reason, although they would good final matches, aren’t quite first choices, and a handful of D1s that would also work well should the D3 ED process fall apart. We’ve toured all of the top choice schools, done the info sessions, met with the coaches, and met in person or via Zoom with current runners. Have a couple more similar tours scheduled for this summer should we get the sense that the 4-5 top choices likely will not work out.

I think(?) we’ve done all we can do to this point. Now we just get through the last month of the track season, keep the grades up as junior year wraps up, and wait and see what happens around June/July with prereads. It feels a bit like we’ve been in this process for ages (really, just shy of a year) and these final weeks are dragging.

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Sounds like you’re in great shape and have done everything you can for now.

A lot can change in the next few months with twists and turns, but you can’t control that (and maybe it’ll be straightforward).

I think all I’d add at this point is to prepare yourself for a longer journey than you might expect at this point. I have no idea what the timelines are at your preferred schools. But I know it’s easy at this point to feel like as soon as X happens, it’ll be a huge relief. The problem is X can keep changing (returned phone call? Preread initiated? Preread result? Invited for visit? Etc, etc.).

That feeling of relief can take a lot longer than you might think, so it’s good to have more of an “early in marathon” mindset than a “hitting the homestretch” mindset.

But otherwise, just keep doing what you’re doing and help your athlete focus on championship season without recruiting becoming a distraction (which I think you’ve done by getting everything set up well).

Good luck and keep us posted as things evolve.

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Sounds like you are very much on top of it and have a good plan. It also sounds like you have it narrowed down to or are more interested in smaller LACs, if so that should help with your focus.
I had a kid that was recruited for T&F. At that time I did not know of or had College Confidential to draw on for advice, so it was knew to us. I found that the coaches, at least in our cases, were upfront on how the process works.
This was a few years ago so timelines may have changed though it really broke July 1st heading into Sr. year.
Like you we had visited schools and had some communications with coaches, and some interest from schools that were on our list, plus coach interest from schools not on our list. As I mentioned, on July 1st we heard from coaches and schools that became of strong interest though we did not know we were on their radar.
The thing about XC/T&F, it is not as subjective as some other team sports. Coaches can look at the times and know where you stand and how you have been progressing and may progress, so it is easier to get noticed vs. having to look at film or go to a camp.
Good luck-I think you have done all you can at this point.

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You’re getting good advice. If you haven’t already do it, you should (yesterday) request an unofficial transcript from your high school (some HS registrars close for some or all of the summer). Also assemble the high school profile (usually available on line) and a college CV for your kid.

For the pre-reads, there isn’t much you can do (other than having that material at the ready). Your kid may want to ask the coaches what the time line will be for the pre-read and how do they see the chances. This latter question may reveal or provide a segue into asking where your kid is on the recruiting list.

Relative to campus visits, there are two types: official and unofficial. Of course, there are no limits on unofficial visits. The UVs are the ones when you take your kid to a school, go on a campus visit and maybe have an admission interview - just the same as any other prospective student (you could schedule a meeting with the coach, but it’s all on your dime). Official Visits (OVs) are definitely by coach invitation. There is a helpful chart on page 63 of the D3 NCAA Manual, which tells you how many visits, what can be paid for, etc. The link to the manual appears here: https://web3.ncaa.org/lsdbi/reports/getReport/90011.

Hopefully, you can accompany your kid to the OV (do NOT expect or plan to be there during the OV) and talk to the coach at the end of the OV. Even though your kid likely is super mature, being there for any coach meeting allows a bit more objectivity about what the coach is saying and allows you to ask the tough questions (i.e., is my kid going to get in, how much do you want him).

Best of luck. You will survive.

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For sure…not until the acceptance is in hand! It’s a classic hurry up and wait situation.

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@gointhruaphase (@politeperson @recruitparent and any others): your comment about the pre-reads perhaps serving as a segue into asking about where the kid stands on the list is interesting. We’ve* been really hesitant to ask any questions that try to get at that information. Do you all think it’s appropriate at this point to ask? Wait until the pre-read process is active? Wait until the results of the pre-read are back?

(*I’m purposefully trying to keep things vague so I’m saying “we” when really yes, the kid is doing all these things, not us. Only the child. Just clarifying in case anyone was rightly thinking “the parent really shouldn’t be this involved.” We’re not. I’m just trying to avoid gender-specific pronouns to keep some anonymity in my descriptions.)

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Others may have more input or offer different advice though at this point I would wait until you get to the next step of pre-reads and further discussions, and are getting closer to committing/applying before asking that. Plus it may be fluid on the coaches end too, depending on if someone commits or falls off at an Ivy, etc. so whatever they told you now could change.
When you get to that stage some coaches may volunteer that information and will tell you that you are their top recruit.

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I find uncertainty always means anxiety, and since this process is completely uncertain till the end, there’s a ton of anxiety!

But not only will you survive, I expect you’ll have a happy ending. But definitely, be prepared for bleak days as well as tremendous highs.

I also wouldn’t ask where your runner is yet. Clearly they are a top recruit if being offered prereads at this stage. I don’t know how many prereads track and field gets; the Middlebury soccer coach told parents that he has 50 preread spots. So you already know your child has passed this first potential winnowing stage.

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I wouldn’t ask about where your recruit is on the list at this point. What I would do in the conversations is ask what the process and timeline looks like at each school. Does the coach bring recruits for a visit before deciding on support, when are those decisions usually made, etc.

I think most of the actionable info will come from those questions. If you end up in the position of too many visits, or one school moving on a faster timeline than your preferred group of schools, I think that’s when you maybe start to dig a bit deeper.

Part of this is that for Track I don’t think most of these schools have fully identified and filtered a recruiting pool yet. I mean, today’s 2:15 G 800m runner could be a 2:12 runner with a 56 sec relay split in 3 weeks. Or a jumper who wasn’t even on the radar sours on Ivies and gets in touch. And at some of the schools I’d bet there’s never anything like a single list; Track coaches aren’t always super-organized linear thinkers.

I think if you’ve identified your universe of athletic and academic fits and your recruit is getting good communication and feels wanted at several of the programs you can just be patient. (Keep communicating as appropriate, obviously, to update and maintain those relationships. But don’t necessarily expect something like, “you’re 4th on our list”).

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Good advice and commentary above. Don’t be surprised if this process takes longer than you anticipate. It could very well go into the fall. Pre-reads might start happening this summer, but the coaches may not have a clear picture of their ‘pool’ of recruits until end of summer/early fall. And even then they still may not have them ordered. Fall was when the official visits happened for us for D3 schools (NESCAC, UAA, etc.). I use the term ‘official visit’ loosely - these were invitations from the head coach to their pool of recruits for a (sometimes overnight) visit with the coaching staff, team, and school activities like class attendance. Some schools picked up the cost of hotel, meals etc. for student, some did not.

It felt very slow after the prereads were all done and then, all of a sudden, everything happened within a 1 month span. We had 4 visits within a 9 day period in September.

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I appreciate the feedback that you offer to this group! I have a daughter who is hoping to run in college. She has walk on times for many D1 schools and has recuit standards for many as well. We stress the need for the school to be a good fit first and the running aspect second. I am curious as to how ‘walk ons’ work in the D1 world of running. Are coaches able to assist in the admission process (she is a great student with strong stats, but we know the world of admissions is crazy!) or do walk ons typically get into the school on their own and then reach out to the coach about the opportunity to run? Any insight you can offer is appreciated!

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Most schools will fall into one of two types of admission processes for athletes.

The College Confidential community tends to focus on the so-called highly rejective schools. At these schools, admissions help is the coin, and coaches tend to be given a very finite number of slots (various terms might be used) they can use to help get recruited athletes in, so long as the students have acceptable grades and scores. Different schools have different levels of number of students, definition of acceptable, and what help means, so there is lots of room for nuance here.

There are an awful lot of DI schools where admissions help isn’t all that limited, as admissions tend to look at students as being either qualified or not, and more or less all the qualified students are offered admission by the school anyway. Sometimes these coaches have some pull for borderline cases, but that tends to be one-off conversations with admissions. At these schools, coaches might offer some admissions help, but really will offer a spot on the roster (or a tryout) and scholarship money to athletes they really want.

If a female can get herself in and has walk on times, the coach will usually accept them as a full part of the team if they are willing to do the work. Title 9 makes it trickier for male walk ons.

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There is no blanket answer about how walk ons are handled as each school is different.

For example, one P5 school recently had a coaching change and that coach has decided to focus on sprints and field events. All of the distance recruits will be walk ons or offered very limited scholarships.

Some academically selective schools have a limited number of spots that can be given support with admissions. The rest of their team is also filled by “walk ons” who were admitted without coach support.

The majority of these walk ons have had previous contact with coaches. Your daughter should absolutely be reaching out to coaches at all the schools she is interested in.

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Good replies above. A few additional thoughts:

At D1 schools with low admit rates the coaches can help a set number of athletes with admission. At pretty much any of those schools (except maybe Stanford), if your daughter is close to their standards it’s highly likely they’d love to have her walk on if she can get admitted on her own.

At D1 schools where admission is less of a hurdle and the goal is a spot on the team, it might be a bit more hit or miss depending on the level of the team. Oregon, NC State, Washington, Colorado for example might be tough to walk on.

In either case, your daughter should reach out to any school where she has interest. Any listed recruiting standards are rough guides, not set in stone. Fill out the recruiting forms and follow up with an email to the coach; list PRs in the subject line and body of email and indicate a desire to learn more about the program and the recruiting process.

I think you’ll get a sense of the options by fall of senior year and you can start thinking more in depth about whether walk-on opps are what she’s looking for, or if a supported slot at an Ivy or similar is more likely.

As far as how walk-ons work, I’ve seen a few ways:

-athlete had been in touch with coach at competitive track program throughout recruiting cycle but wasn’t going to end up in scholarship position. Coach encouraged walk on and walked recruit through the process. Admission support wasn’t really an issue as it wasn’t necessary but iirc the timeline was accelerated.

-athlete ignored by selective school coaches, admitted on own, emailed coach after admission and was quickly welcomed to team and added to shoe/gear order

-athlete had a solid state meet senior year, hadn’t even applied to college, reached out to a few coaches and was admitted as a walk on within a few weeks (not at selective schools).

So I think I’d start as if admissions support or scholarship might be available and adjust as you go. I agree with lurkerjoe that the likelihood of walking on is probably higher for women than men due to the impact of football on title 9 numbers.

All this assumes your daughter isn’t already a senior. If she is, reach out to coaches asap.

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Just thought of another walk-on example:

A few years ago I knew an athlete who reached out to the coach after he was admitted. He was going to the school either way but wanted to keep running. The coach told him he could join the team if he hit a certain mark on his own or if he showed up for a tempo run in the fall and could complete it without getting dropped.

That kid trained hard over the summer but discovered that a D1 tempo run wasn’t like his HS tempo runs :slight_smile: Ended up joining the club team and loved it.

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Thank you, everyone! This is helpful. She is filling out the online forms, sending emails and has had conversations with several coaches. Most of the schools that she is interested in will be schools where she can likely get in on her own - a mix of those she has times for and those where she has walk on times. There are a few very selective schools that are D1 where she easily has the recruit times, but would probably need help with admissions because their acceptance rate so low. (She has a 4.5, 8 AP classes and a 30 on the ACT but is taking it again after a prep course - but I am not expecting higher than a 32!) I told her to complete the form and email the coach and see what happens! I figure she needs to cast a wide net. She thinks that she wants to a big school, but until she visits and meets people she really won’t know! Another question… how valid are the standards on Runcruit?

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