My feeling is that the runcruit times are usually pretty reasonable, but sometimes are way off. They are certainly in the ball park for my son’s school, and that’s all I can really verify. Lists published by the program are usually best, but coaches will sometimes play games with those, so they can be off as well. There are also different definitions of what the targets mean. Sometimes the minimum performances to be recruited means that is when the coach starts to return emails, and sometimes coaches are much more excited when you reach those times.
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We’ve found that runcruit is a good “in the ballpark” estimate, but can vary wildly from school to school. Some schools post their recruiting standards on their websites, but those also can be much different than the actual recruits they do get. Teams are always trying to get better so the published standards may be much faster than their current rosters.
You can look up team’s current statistics on tffrs.org.
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I’d take runcruit with a grain of salt but it’s useful for brainstorming and probably is in the ballpark for some schools.
Tfrrs performance lists are great for seeing what sorts of athletes coaches are looking to develop in various conferences:
https://tf.tfrrs.org/outdoor_lists.html
It’s also helpful to look at prior recruiting classes to see what marks incoming recruits have had in the past. If you’re in the ballpark of recruits they’ve brought in in the past there’s a decent chance of starting a conversation. Here’s an example (keep in mind sometimes these announcements list senior year times, but you can look on milesplit to see what those athletes ran as juniors):
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Another thing to keep in mind right now is that we’re in the midst of conference championship season and then regionals and nationals. So responses might be spotty as coaches are busy. But I’d stay persistent over the next few months (assuming this is a junior) and you should get some replies if you’ve targeted appropriately. Sometimes it takes a few emails spread out over several weeks to get conversations going.
Apologies if I am adding confusion, but I think this is worth mentioning so recruits are aware.
The transfer portal, along with additional years of eligibility granted to athletes during the Covid years has impacted recruiting a bit.
Top programs can now go straight to the transfer portal to see a list of current college athletes looking to continue competing (either as undergrad transfers or grad students).
There are programs focusing attention and funds almost exclusively on this pool of athletes.
Just as an example: the men’s and women’s Ivy steeple champs from last year (both NCAA scorers) are currently at Washington as grad students, as is the former men’s Ivy mile record holder who was third at NCAAs last year, the former men’s D3 indoor Mile champ, and several other very solid grad transfers. That’s in addition to the podium level mid-distance recruits from past years (including three of the top 4 returners from last year’s men’s 1500 final).
So needless to say, getting an email returned from Washington is a bit tougher for a good but not top ten HS runner these days. That’s true at other programs as well, and that has a domino effect with recruits needing to look around.
I wouldn’t be intimidated by this. But one needs to understand that coaches have a pool to pick from that they didn’t before and so might not respond to HS recruits that they would have jumped to recruit in the past. (The Covid extra years will work itself out in a few years but the portal will remain a factor).
Not all schools, not all recruits. But it’s a factor.
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Yikes! This is a little intimidating, but definitely helpful information. She is definitely not a top 10 recruit! I do think that she is being reasonable about the schools she is going to target. I have found looking at past recruits to be very helpful. She follows programs to see who they sign to make sure that she is in the ballpark. I know that the Covid years and the portal have changed the landscape for athletes everywhere. I wish everyone the best in this process. These kids work so hard chasing their dream!
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Lots of good advice here! As the mom of a D3 rising sophomore runner at Denison, one helpful thing for us was trying to figure out based on prior milesplit times where he would ultimately fit in within the team and whether he’d be comfortable with that role. Obviously, there’s no Magic 8 Ball, but you can usually get a sense of what kids did in HS and where they are within the team in College - and then try and make an educated guess of where your kid might land on that team. Some kids will be happy to be a back-of-the-packer on a college team, some will want to contribute at some point during their career, and some will want to be frontrunners, so to speak. I think that aspect of fitting into a team isn’t emphasized enough.
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Can anyone give guidance on how rigid Hopkins is w/ necessary test scores? I know it’s technically test-optional, but I’m wondering if there’s anecdotal evidence from recent years re: minimum ACT/SAT scores necessary to move forward with recruitment or how much (if at all) an athlete can be below the scores required for an unhooked applicant.
That is a question for the JHU coach…is your kid in contact with them? There have been posts on other threads in other sports that the JHU coach wants test scores, and for that test score to be 1500+.
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Yeah, we’ve been in touch for months. The answer received was cagey (is it really necessary to get 1 more point to gain admission as a hooked athlete, or does that additional 1 ACT point just free the coach up to dip down on someone else + get my kid in b/c the score is now exactly where unhooked applicants are). Of course, I can get clarity from the coach on that, but we’re hoping to get some outside perspective before pushing back against more testing.
Got it. It’s unfortunate the coach wasn’t more forthcoming. Does your kid have a sense where they are on that coach’s list? Hopefully someone with recent experience with said coach will chime in. Meanwhile if you kid does talk with the coach again, it’s fair to ask where they are on the list and does the test score impact that answer…all couched in the sentiment that ‘test prep is time consuming and I want to spend my time in the most productive way possible’.
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I’ve also heard 1500+ for XCTF. Source: two girls that were interested in running there. One eventually ended up there and the other didn’t.
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Thanks, that’s interesting info. Do you know if the one who didn’t end up there was because of a sub-1500 score (I’d doubt you’d know, but hey, maybe)?
Another sport at JHU but know of a recruit who was asked to score over 34 on ACT. Ended up taking the test 4 times- got the score but seems excessive if it is to move the needle by 1 or 2 points.
Good luck to your kid.
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Both girls met the 1500+. The one who went elsewhere wasn’t quite fast enough. They recruit well because of their academic reputation.
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It’s always hard to say why exactly, but we do know someone (different sport) who was rejected with a 1490. My kids reported it was all a big shock, but then I heard from someone else the “well, the coach had said he would support her if she cleared a 1500.”
This is all hearsay (the score is fact) but FWIW it’s the bar we were told (also not TF) by the coach. It was also the first thing the college counselor brought up when we put JHU on the list.
BTW, the student ended up at U Chicago.
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Thanks, everybody. Anecdotally, it does seem this 1500 threshold is real and enforced. I’m not exactly sure how we’ll progress with that info (one the one hand, we’re so close; on the other, testing has been a struggle, and getting over that line won’t be easy, even though we’re so close)
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I think you have do be direct with the coach about that question and the level of support. If he is evasive, I wouldn’t apply ED1 unless JHU is 100% your top choice and you are an otherwise competitive TO applicant.
You might get some clarity after pre-read (sorry if this has been addressed - I jumped in mid thread)
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Bobby Van Allen was direct with a minimum SAT score for his supported recruits for HS class of 2022 - 1530. And they were test optional then, also. The only reason I remember this is because DC’s first SAT was 10 points under. Second test was over, so SAT score mins never came up again with any other coach.
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@Ignutzz - our child is a 2024 recruit, and we are also feel like we are flying blind! I definitely second sending out emails - she has never received a reply from filling out a recruitment form (and she’s done many), but has from sending out emails. She is only looking at D1.
She has been talking to 5 schools in the last couple of months, and she is regularly in touch with the coaches at 3 of them. They are all selective academically (not Ivy), and one put her through the pre-read process two months ago. She contacted them after a couple of weeks to ask how the pre-read went and they said they got a positive response, so they are continuing on with the recruitment process. They did not act as though she was out of line for asking about the results. As a previous poster said, she was told that they have a certain number of slots with admission whereby the student does not have to meet the standard admission requirements, but there was still a minimum GPA and class rigor requirement. Interestingly, all of these schools are test-optional and she was not asked for her test scores. I believe the NCAA just dropped the minimum test score requirement for D1 and D2, so test optional schools are no longer required to ask for scores, at least for D1.
There seem to be a lot of knowledgeable people on this thread, so I would like to also ask a question: what should she expect with respect to next steps? Do official visits ever happen in the summer, or only late August/September? It seems I’ve been hearing more and more about kids taking officials in April/May, almost like the process is speeding up.
Thank you and good luck to your child!