Hi there! I’m a sophomore who would really like to run track ( and xc ) in college. In addition I could really use an explanation on how recruiting works as I’m very confused about it, so if someone could explain that to me that’d be great.
Anyways academically speaking (sophomore as stated before) I think that I’m in an ok position and don’t really have to worry about it, I’m not sure about it, but you can be the judge of that ( I still take it seriously though but I’m more worried about meeting times that grades ). For math and science I’m currently taking precalculus ( taking BC junior year ) and AP Chem ( taking AP Bio junior year ). And as for GPA…
Weighted:
District scale=4.29
College (4.0 scale)=3.80
Unweighted:
3.83
3.60
And colleges I’m interested in as of now are Azusa Pacific University, California Baptist University (my current top 2), along with other UCs.
And finally my times (keep in mind we’ve only had 2 races as Track just started)
1600m: 4:55.43
800m: 2:09.94
Are those good times? If I don’t get injured or anything, do you think I’ll qualify for D2 and possibly scholarships? What times should I get by senior year? Anyways sorry for the wall of text, I’m just really curious and wan to run in college. Thanks
If you look at conference results for the PacWest, where Azusa and Cal Baptist compete, you’ll see that competitive times in the 800 were generally sub 2:00. Of course you don’t have to be hitting that as a HS soph - but I think a good goal would be to get down there (or at least close) by the end of your Jr. season.
As for scholarships - even for the guys running in the low 1:50’s, big scholarships are pretty hard to come by. As an equivalency sport with large rosters, there are a lot of small partials in the T&F world. I’m guessing it’s even harder at a smaller D2.
Your grades look pretty good. Stay focused on that end -if you are looking for scholarship potential, my opinion is that you’ll be better off finding it on the academic side. Hope that’s somewhat helpful. Best of luck.
Like Varska said, athletic scholarships for track are difficult to get and even if you do, it will probably not be for a lot of money unless you are a really tip-top runner. You are better off to really work on your grades and test scores and shoot for an academic scholarship.
@takeitallin @varska Thanks, appreciate the replies, I had some idea that scholarships from track aren’t easy to come by and if they are they’re small just from reading around, was just wondering If I could run track in college.
Look up times for current runners at schools you are interested in and use them as a gauge for what you should shoot for. You are only a sophomore so have time to improve. Talk to your coaches to get tips on how to improve. Above all, keep up you academics as high stats will really help with coach interest and scholarships. Best of luck!
