<p>I notice that the Division 3's are grouped into different conference's. Are certain conference's considered more competitive than others or are there differing levels within each conference?
For example, my S is interested in Bates which is part of NESCAC as is Williams. So, since I know Williams is out of his league, can I assume Bates is also? Or is it possible for a runner of my S's caliber to expect to walk on to Bates' team? Assuming S was accepted at Bates, LOL.</p>
<p>Yes, club seems to be the way to go.</p>
<p>Has he considered related "running" sports where his excellent fitness might be appreciated, such as Ultimate Frisbee?</p>
<p>Williams is particularly strong. I wouldn't rule out Bates.</p>
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<p>Sarha, you, or better your son, can email the coaches directly and ask about walk-ons. Many of the D3 coaches welcome them, some more than others. Many will honestly and intelligently answer your questions. Try it. Make it clear your son is not looking for help, recruitment, just asking about the team and his opportunity to run at the school.</p>
<p>One thing Curmudgeon didn't mention is that the men's CC team at his d's school ( Rhodes College) just qualified for the NCAA nationals. Probably not a good place for a dedicated but not stellar athlete to try to walk on.</p>
<p>dragonmom. Their conference is very competitive in most sports. Trinity in SA likes their sports, as does DePauw. Maybe not upper Nescac level and maybe not the nerdy nine level or whatever that WashU, Case, Brandeis, Chicago, Tufts, uhhhh....some others conference is called (University Something Something). But D was also interested in Scripps/CMC/Mudd Athenas and that conference didn't seem to be top to bottom as stout. I really think there are plenty of great schools where he could walk-on. </p>
<p>And whoever suggested that devil sport- Ultimate Frisbee? For shame. The anarchists' sport. They used tricks and deceit to corrupt a poor country girl with their radical i-dees. Nevermind she's having a ball and plays on both the coed (that means hairy-legged boys are on the team) and women's team. It's just shameful. They call it a club sport yet they don't allow the use of clubs. How silly is that? ;)</p>
<p>Take a look at Colorado College in Colorado Springs. D-III with respectible program. Besides, great LAC and wonderful location.</p>
<p>Southern Athletic conference.</p>
<p>My son is an "ok" lacrosse player. Good enough possibly for some very very smaller, not great program schools. Not good enough to have lacrosse be a reason for him choosing a particular school. He has his list based on academics and other things. If then, he ends up at one of the schools where he can possibly play, great. If not, he will find out passions and pursuits.</p>
<p>I suggest your son look at it the same way. He can always run. There are running clubs probably at school and also running groups everywhere that are not school related. It is an activity he can do for the rest of his life. Like I said before, I know for sure he could run at Goucher, where my daughter goes. I know Bates has a very strong team, not sure if they would keep extras on or not.</p>
<p>Again, I would not discount schools that he really wants to go to because he might not be able to run on their teams, as if he is truly passionate about it, he can always find a way to keep it up.</p>
<p>Thanks again everyone for all your input.
Curlygirl, your son seems to have very realistic attitude, one I hope my S will eventually adopt.
I agree with you that finding an academic match is the most important thing, however my S is the one who is determined to run on a x-country team.
I am guessing that he will become more realistic after approching a few of the coaches and talking about his chances.
I posted originally because I wanted to find out if my gut feeling that he didn't have much of a chance of running competetively was correct and it does seem to be. We are planning to look at Goucher so S will be able to speak with their coach .
I know the whole college search is a process, either my S will find a school he can be happy at academically and that will let him run or he will have to come to terms with not being on a team.
S knows he can always run on his own, but he loves being part of a team.
Thanks again.</p>
<p>lol, Curm. My S and his friends started an ultimate frisbee club at their high sch. this year. It has taken off like crazy, most popular club in the sch. S now has ultimate frisbee intramurals as a college requisite. He played his last football game last Fri. night. After 7 years of football, I was worried he would be lost without a sport. Ultimate seems like it will be a good substitute that he can get into in college.</p>
<p>One of the heartless things about running is that it is totally objective as the time clock doesn't care about intangibles. Team sports and the talent of their players are more subjective. If a walk-on can run faster/beat somebody in the top 5 or 6--upperclassmen OR new recruits--there are very few coaches who wouldn't welcome the walk-on! I would check the times being run by current runners and see where your S fits. Bear in mind that there are lots of D3 schools who would welcome even a mediocre runner because they can see the potential of working with that runner. Boys often respond to good college coaching and improve their times more often than girls. Believe it has to do with physical maturity and hormones!</p>
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Boys often respond to good college coaching and improve their times more often than girls. Believe it has to do with physical maturity and hormones!
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<p>Yep. As a former high school girls' cross-country runner, I saw this first-hand. A lot of the girls, including myself, saw their times get worse and worse as they went through the later stages of puberty, no matter how hard they or the coaches worked. I was at the peak of my distance running ability when I was 13. <em>sigh</em> It's an incredibly frustrating thing.</p>
<p>To get back to the subject at hand, a student who does not qualify for a school's cross-country team, but wants to run, could probably start a road runners' club, or something similar. That way, he could still get the experience of being part of a group and working out together.</p>
<p>My son who was a CC and track runner in HS is doing Ultimate Frisbee now in college and loves it! He tried the running club but didn't like it that much.</p>