<p>I'm an incoming junior and I'm wondering whether I should do xc. It's time consuming and I didn't enjoy it all that much the past two years due to never fully committing, always having some sort of pain, shortness of breath, etc. I'm much more of a track runner, but I'm not gonna get good enough to be recruitable in either. I ran 2 10 freshman year in the 800 off of light practice/ ditching many days. I got worse due to not stretching/ and injury sophomore year with a 2 12 (which was my first race without any practice and sick). </p>
<p>My main concern is that I wish to get into an elite college, but XC has affected my grades. 2 hrs everyday, in the summer and school year, in addition to the fatigue afterwards can really take a toll. I go to an intense private school, widely considered to be top 3 in Southern California, and my grades have been beneath my abilities. They weren't too bad. Sophomore year like 3.8/3.9 weighted and like 3.6/3.7 unweighted, and this with AP Calc, AP euro, AP Bio, English, and French 3 honors. Freshman year was around the same unweighted. These grades were primarily due to the fatigue and time consumption xc caused, my unstable home situation (divorced parents who still live together), my own anxiety and lack of feelings of well being, my competitive school, and my own laziness/ disorganization. </p>
<p>I plan on substantially improving my gpa next year by getting a headstart this summer. I'll be in AP Calc BC, AP US history, AP Chem, AP French, and honors Brit Lit (which we take the AP for as well). It won't be easy by I think I can do it. I took the PSAT like all sophomore at my school do. I ended up with a 218, not too good, but good considering I skipped 8 problems in Critical Reading because I ran out of time thinking about one q. I took some SAT practice tests and generally score in the 2250-2400 range, assuming I get a 12 on the essay. </p>
<p>I want to get pretty good at track and at least break 2 05 maybe even 2 in the 800 within the next year or two. Track is equally as time consuming as cross country, but the payoff will be more worth it.
My question is: Does Cross Country subsantially help with track, particularly the 800m?</p>
<p>Will being semi competitive in a track (with, say, a 1:58-2:00 800m time) but not quite recruitable help substantially in getting into Ivy League and other top schools? If I'm not planning on getting recruited, would it be wise to drop sports altogether?</p>
<p>I really do enjoy track races, the training not as much, but i find the sport in general exciting and fun, so...</p>