My question is very specific, so I’m not completely sure I will get an answer. I am a rising senior who has participated in athletics throughout his high school career. I used to do swim and water polo, but switched to track just this year, due to the fact that I wasn’t good at polo (and barely got any play time) and didn’t enjoy swim much.
Now that track season is over, I will admit that I’m very pleased with my choice. I genuinely enjoy the sport and feel I have some talent at it. Therefore, I decided to email the coach of the CMS track team about the commitment required, how recruitment works, and whether I’m even good enough to be considered for recruiting.
For some reason it accidentally posted before I hit the post button. I will continue my post here.
It has been several weeks since the first time I emailed the coach. About ten minutes after I sent the email, I received what appeared to be an automated reply, giving me basic facts about the team and the colleges and asking me to fill out the recruitment questionnaire. I then filled out the recruitment questionnaire and sent the coach an email informing him of this and asking what the next step was. No response. I waited a few days before sending a follow up email. I again got an automated reply, this one telling me that the coach would be out of the office for a week.
A few days after the week was up, this past Friday, I emailed the coach again and have still received nothing. Now, I want to make it clear that I am not angry at the coach or anything. I understand my times may not be good enough to be considered. But I think I should at least be sent an email telling me that CMS Track isn’t interested in recruiting me.
I very much enjoy running, and Claremont McKenna is my top choice. If being a recruited athlete helps me get in, I will be a recruited athlete. Plus, I will have the bonus of being able to continue competing in track.
I think my GPA, ECs, and ACT scores definitely meet the standard and that I have a good shot at getting in even as a non-athlete. So what do you guys suggest I do???
Oh, also here are the times from my two best events.
300 hurdles: About 45 seconds
400: At League Finals, I ran an unofficial 54 seconds, due to the fact that it was a relay. That was my split time. However, my best official time is about 56 seconds.
Keep in mind that I have never run competitively up until a few months ago with NO prior training. I had never done hurdles and never raced. Since I had been doing theatre all winter, the last serious physical activity I had done was in November at the end of water polo season. So I was also not in my best physical condition. I plan on beginning off season training late this summer, and I believe I can significantly improve my times. Do you guys think I’m a viable possible recruit???
Hmm. I don’t have specific knowledge of track and field (so I can’t say if your times are competitive), but I do have experience of a different sport for D-III athletics at Pomona/CMC/etc.
To be perfectly honest, the coach is likely not interested. CMC takes its athletic teams very seriously, so I’d assume the coaches actively recruit. The biggest problem is that you don’t really have a track record; from what it sounds like, you’ve participated in significantly fewer events than other athletes, thus immediately raising a red flag for a coach.
Your times may also be uncompetitive––check past results and compare your times to current CMS athletes. If your times are competitive (immediately craft a resume/make a video/get a letter from your coach/etc…prove yourself), then I’d want to know your standardized testing/GPA. Is your GPA 3.8+ and testing 2100/32+? Keep in mind that since your record is shallower than most, your scores need to be very impressive to be deemed competitive by the coach. A little bit slower and the coach will not consider someone who has only participated in the sport for under a year. If your time are not competitive, then that’s why the coach isn’t responding. (Rarely does a coach ever send a “we are not interested in recruiting you email.”) I’d then recommend that you target schools with less competitive athletic teams (CMS is one of the best DIII, numerous other DIII schools are significantly easier to play sports for.)
Something else to consider: most athletes, even in DIII, want to continue to pursue their sport competitively and are not simply using it as a way to gain admission to a selective institution. Be sure that you fall in the group that wants to continue with the sport.
The competitive 400 meter times seem to be 51 and under, and the competitive 400m IH times seem to be 56 and under. I’d say your best shot at getting recruited would be through the hurdles. Getting down to a 41 second 300 got me around 56 in the 400 hurdles.
@aw_400
For someone who has never run track before and didn’t train on the off season, do you think I could drop each of my times by 3 seconds if I trained in the off season? My 400 time is a 54 and my 300 hurdles time is a 44. I have had no previous experience in track whatsoever.
@golfcashoahu
I am not being recruited. Do you think sending an email and then not getting a response from the coach would hurt my admissions chances later? Or would the coach not even bother telling admissions?
I would like to continue competing in college, but if I don’t get the opportunity, that’s fine. I am going to college for an education, not to run.
Email to coach won’t even be on admissions radar. Your times are pretty far from what a coach, even D3, would consider as potential to contribute. It is possible you will improve next year, and you should train hard. But there is no chance you will get meaningful admissions support from the coach based on those times.
Follow the above advice to your last question. You’re sort of missing the point, though. Why––when your running career at high school is pretty scant––are you targeting arguably the most successful D3 sports program? My hunch is there are plenty of lower-ranked athletic (but comparable academically) schools that would suit your needs. For example, look into Swarthmore or Bowdoin.
54 in the 400 definitely won’t get you recruited somewhere like CMC, although you could probably walk on. Personally my 800 dropped like 10 seconds when I actually trained so you could probably drop the 3 seconds in the 400.
If you are or probably can be in shape to run distance, I’d recommend considering branching out into cross country. It can help you get way better at mid distance stuff like 400s, and if you’re actually decent at it, it helps you diversify you as a runner, gives you credentials in a sport with a less stacked field, and legitimizes the idea to colleges that you actually care enough about track to run competitively year round.
Thanks for all the input! I am actually looking at Bowdoin. I realize that my times need to be better, my point was in asking if I was capable of my goal times seeing I haven’t had training or experience. But again, thank you! This cleared things up. I wish more people on CC were like you guys.