one of my former teammates also got recruited to a T10 D1 school with an 800 time of 2:28. she says she’s definitely on the slower side but she still practices and competes in races.
if i hit the times i really want to, i think i should be okay at most if not all d3 schools.
getting sub 3:10 in the 1k was enough for all county last year, and so was 2:30 in the 800.
So you were more of a sprinter until this summer? And I assume no FAT marks in distance events?
You can still check in with coaches but responses might be vague until you have concrete marks.
Most D3 distance coaches are pretty inclusive. The main question for most of them with walk-ons is whether there’s a training group to put them in. In other words, can the walk-on keep up with the slowest training group, or is the coach going to have to worry about a straggler on every run.
Once you have concrete marks and a solid training history these conversations should be pretty easy.
There are sometimes roster limits due to resource constraints or Title 9 issues but these usually affect (non-football) men more than women.
Competitive walk-on times for women’s D3 vary, but aim for 20:00-22:00 in the 5K and 19:30-20:30 in the 5K for NESCAC and SLAC schools. Contact coaches to learn more.
I have FAT marks for cross country, but not for track distance events longer than the 400.
That’s fine, just be aware that XC times alone are often viewed as unreliable due to variations in conditions and true course length.
This is less of an issue if you’ve competed at meets or on courses with which the coaches are familiar.
So if you’ve raced at some of the bigger meets you might want to share those times.
I think coaches are pretty familiar with my schools team in general, since we have had a fair amount of girls in the last 5 years run in college (mostly D1). All the meets in Nassau county are on 2 courses so coaches should have a fair idea about the course difficulty.
Use these times with a grain of salt, though. Usually the times are much faster. UCSB told my D24 she needed a 2:16 800m just to walk on.
UCSB is D1. OP is asking about walking on at D3 schools for XC. Apples and oranges.
Maybe, maybe not.
Recently had one from an under-represented state admitted test optional with slightly slower than walk-on time to an Ivy League school based on a push from the coach (who moved on just before the student arrived on campus for freshman year).
My bad, I totally misread the OP as D1 and D3. 
This wouldn’t surprise me. Like I said, my teammate got recruited to a Big 10 with a time of 2:28 in the 800…and she didn’t make that mark until her senior year. Amazing time, but at her school those times would not be typical of a recruit. Overall, I’m just gonna work my hardest to do the best I can and just hope for the best. My coach said I should definitely aim for the 1500 and the 800 since that’s what I’m good at and those standards are more attainable to achieve.
@lilyesh, I’m sorry, did I read this correctly - a teammate of yours got recruited to a Big 10 track program with a 2:28 800? That hardly seems right. Was she perhaps a true sprinter who ran up to an 800? Or she had a sub-11, 3200 time or sub-18 5k, but didn’t have the speed for the 800? This is confusing. I don’t doubt you, but it seems unusual. But, as we all know here, unusual things can happen in sports recruiting.
I think T10 ie top 10… So like maybe Hopkins or UChicago?
Maybe. She said “Big 10” so that seems clear. But even if she meant top 10 (Div 3), a 2:28 isn’t going to be nearly enough, assuming the 800 is reasonably “your event” – you’re a 400/800 runner or a typical high school distance runner. Of course, having a killer 3200 or 200 meter time and explaining that the 800 is a stretch for you (either too long or too short) makes that time possibly recruitable, but it typically wouldn’t be.
Oh in the first post it says “T10” so that’s probably what she meant. According to runcruit, you need a 2:20 to be a Johns Hopkins recruit. Maybe this particular student was spectacular academically.
Blockquote
one of my former teammates also got recruited to a T10 D1 school with an 800 time of 2:28. she says she’s definitely on the slower side but she still practices and competes in races.
Top 10 D1 school would be an Ivy.
Hopkins is D3 and has the extra snag of requiring 1500+ SATs of most recruits.
You’re exactly right, she did say D1. So it seems like it must be an Ivy. I’m guessing there is more to this story.
The 800 was her main event. She had a 5k right under 20 mins and also ran 64 in the 400. By the end of her senior year her 800 was 2:26 but yeah. She also ran 5:15 in the 1500. She says she’s one of the slowest.
I meant big 10. She goes to Purdue
She is very smart and did very well in school.
Wow. Good to know. Thanks for the update.
I’m surprised by this also. Those times are pretty far out of the ballpark for B1G recruiting. Perhaps there’s more to the story.
Purdue isn’t much of a distance powerhouse on the women’s side, and teams like that do often carry walk-ons. Still, a 2:28 runner who can only run a 64 getting recruiting attention seems unusual. I maybe can see walking on.
Having said all that, I don’t see anyone on the current roster who fits this description. Perhaps this was a few years ago?