One daughter ran cross country in high school. She also ended up with an injury and had to sit out an entire season. She eventually had to give up on track. She nonetheless did well at university, and is currently well and is half way through getting her doctorate (a DVM in her case). I think that her injury was of a “repetitive stress” type that went away slowly after she stopped running.
Sometimes we just have to change our plans, or adjust our plans based on what we and our bodies can do.
Life is not a race. We each should be taking things at our own pace. From what you have said, it sounds as if taking an extra year in high school is a perfectly sensible thing to do in your case. I would not expect this to be a problem at all with respect to university admissions. Of course admissions at an Ivy League or equivalent university is a reach for nearly everyone.
Perhaps one way to think about this: Ignore athletics. Think about academics and social life and your path through life. Do you still want to repeat a year in high school? If so, then this is a perfectly reasonable thing to do.
I’m going to give you my opinion. And that’s what it is. Chances of getting accepted to Ivy League schools is very small. These school reject 90% or more of applicants and there are plenty of very well qualified students who apply (and don’t get accepted). Thinking taking an extra year in high school to enhance your chances at these schools is just folly, in my opinion.
My daughter was small, SMALL. She was a competitive Irish dancer from 6 - 18, in the studio everyday. She joined x/c and track freshman year as well. She was definitely the smallest person in the HS, a gymnast friend almost as small. Her pediatrician wasn’t worried, said it was like she was a gymnast, and eventually once she stopped some of the activity and gained weight, she’d grow. She was also injured a lot, she actually lied to her dance teachers and told them she stopped running because they were angry about her injuries (specialists just said she was pounding her body too hard and wouldn’t recover until she slowed down). In the middle of junior year she took a few weeks off of everything for Christmas, gained some weight, hit 100 pound and actually got her period. Things improved, she actually broke a 4 x 4 record with her sister, but never met her dance goals. Looking back (she’s 22 and in a DPT program to get her doctorate), she realizes how unhealthy she was, with not enough calories and way too much stress on her body. She’s now 5’2”, into body building, healthy (but not restrictive) eating, injury free (still runs half marathons). He older cousin has the same body type, runs marathons, but did go through some stuff in college with food/exercise/injuries (ran D3 in college). Living with constant injuries is not fun (my daughter would go to the studio and cry through her dances in spite of her physical therapist telling her not to dance). No prize is worth it, even the possibility of an Ivy League acceptance. Listen to your body.
I agree with what others are saying about listening to your body, but this part is completely untrue. Most xctf offers are made fall of senior year, especially in the Ivy League, which can not extend likely letters until that time frame. Track times in spring of junior year are critical for recruiting. For now, focus on getting healthy. If you can have a strong spring season, things can still happen for you. But do not focus on one school. If you’d really like to run in college, cast a wide net. Good luck to you!
OP is a junior who is talking about reclassing, which means they would be a 2026 HS grad rather than a 2025 HS grad. So for XCT&F recruiting this student would have two more full years to compete before recruiting happens (for most students).
Many kids reclass (or do a PG year) to increase their chances of being recruited, it’s common. But it is a risk. No one knows whether OP will be able to remain uninjured, or put up more competitive times, etc. Things might work out, things might not.
OP has to decide, along with her family, whether the investment of time and money makes sense in terms of their priorities and goals. Coaches and colleges won’t ‘look down’ on this student for spending another year in HS, they see this every day.
It has sometimes sounded in OP’s post as if they are trying to justify to posters (and maybe herself) reasons to reclass…maturity, physical development, injuries, sports recruiting, etc. Those are all valid reasons to consider reclassing. OP doesn’t have to justify her reasons at all to anyone on this thread, just herself and probably her parents. The primary consideration should be what’s right for this student.
No one can know ahead of time if spending another year competing in HS XCT&F will lead to recruitment, but it could. The only other advice for OP I would have is to take rigorous classes in all five core subject areas if she is targeting highly rejective schools.
@Mwfan1921 the OP also wondered if reclassing would affect their chances of getting into an Ivy League college. I don’t think this should be on the table at all now. But that’s my opinion.
I agree. Better for OP to get/stay healthy, get back to regular running and competition and see how things go. I would counsel OP to (hopefully) compete in this upcoming spring season and then make the decision to reclass based on that experience.
I would tell OP to only consider reclassing if she loves running and to also be open to recruitment at non-Ivy schools. That’s not to say I don’t understand the pressure OP might feel because the rest of the family attended the same Ivy.
The simplest thing here is to check with the coach on your possibilities since you seem to be focused on a single school. You seem to be well connected to the single best source of information.
You should really think hard about this, what is your plan if things don’t work out at this specific Ivy?
I have direct insight into a similar situation that should give you some perspective. I know a 24 XC/T&F runner who is working through a similar situation right now though she doesn’t have to drop significant time to reach Ivy league recruiting standards. She has Power 5 numbers when healthy but has durability challenges as it seams you do. She has also struggled to make it through complete seasons in high school.
She is now focused on the Ivy’s but two different coaches have come straight out and said that durability is an issue and both are hesitating to offer and are waiting to see how this years XC season turns out before deciding on a last minute offer. As you might imagine this has been an incredibly stressful time for her.
If you are having durability issues with high school seasons do you really believe that another year of growth will give you what is needed for your body to hold up for full seasons at D1 training intensity?
Guys — really thanks a lot. Even after considering all the points everyone has made, the decision still makes sense.
But I’m still wondering about academics. I will max out on math classes. I’m already in differential calculus which leads to AP BC calc next year. The schools I have talked to said they get a lot of repeats so I should stop worrying about this but still. I will have a million APs on my transcript which I’m worried will look like to admissions that my reclass year was a huge hack and leg up.
To someone who said decide this spring—I can’t. Decisions for schools I’m applying to is all due February or March, I forget exactly when, but my main point is that it’s before the spring season even starts. I guess I do have indoor to help guide my decision but it won’t be too helpful.
Obviously my dream school is an Ivy, but this doesn’t mean I wouldn’t expand my scope to other schools. Even for other schools, as I pointed out earlier and like someone shared a story about, they probably don’t care just about the times but also my durability—the little amount I’ve competed for someone so passionate is a huge red flag. So even if I have the times for Bowdoin or whatever, they’d rather take someone who can run without issues. I will try and pay more attention to other schools/be less rigid, but it is true I feel a lot of pressure from my family.
I am actually improving on the durability and growth front. We have found a lot of problems and are addressing them. Hopefully this keeps up…
You have to apply before spring season, but you don’t have to commit until after much of the spring season is completed…aren’t most boarding school commitment deadlines in early May?
I wouldn’t worry about the academics. Having relatively more APs on your transcript if you went to HS for five years is not uncommon. Schools won’t think you are trying to game the system academically speaking.
I’m confused on your math sequencing, as differential calc (do you mean differential equations?) typically comes after AP Calc BC. Regardless, talk with the schools where you will be applying and ask what the math options would be for your 5th year…many will have linear algebra and differential equations.
Good luck. Wishing you the best for the indoor season.
I’m applying to day schools in the NY/CT area, no boarding. I just double checked and enrollment deadline is March 8th for all. Maybe it’s different for day schools in my area.
And no, I am in differential calculus. If it provides any insight, I took Algebra I 8th grade, Geometry/trigonometry 9th and Algebra II/Precalc 10th. Probably different than normal at my school. I keep trying to insert a screenshot of my schedule on this post but for some reason it’s not working? If you want more info you can google differential calculus age and something pops up about juniors taking it.
Thanks for the reassurance about gaming the system — makes me feel better.
I think first and foremost….you need to consider your overall health and fitness. Just regular overall health and fitness. If it takes an extra year to get that all straightened out, fine. But really…pushing in sports should absolutely not be your top priority, in my opinion.
You may be physically immature, but you are not immature in any other respect based on your writings in this thread.
Significant concern is that you may be setting yourself up for a major disappointment by focusing on one particular school which happens to be in the Ivy League. Downtime due to repeated injuries is likely to be a major concern of coaches.
As other posters have written–listen to your body. Overuse injuries are a quick way to exit a sport.
No need to reclassify now as a PG year at an elite prep boarding school or at a prep day school may be a reasonable option for you.
P.S. Be prepared for the unexpected such as a coaching change. About 2 years ago, a track athlete was recruited by a coach from a major conference D-1 school. The coach lost his job or moved on for some reason and the new head coach refused to offer the recruit a scholarship so the recruit moved down to a less competitive conference (which happened to be an Ivy League school). The Ivy League coach who promised full support was fired and replaced by a new coach who did not get along with the recruit on a personal level. In short, do not put all of your eggs in one basket as there are several variables which can affect your well laid plans.
Yes a spring sport is recruited heavily during junior season (which hasnt happened yet). But op says they already know they arent recruitable athleticly now and I think its a huge jump for op to assume they will be fast enough next year. They already have a long history of not being consistent with times.
If OP reclasses, they will have two more spring seasons (unless there’s an injury) before recruiting starts in earnest. It’s simply inaccurate to say if a coach hasn’t made an offer by now they aren’t going to. (OP is a junior so only has two years of HS XCT&F completed.)
Many students take a chance on reclassing (or doing a PG year) to improve recruiting chances… sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t.
No one here can predict, nor handicap, how OP’s recruiting journey might go. OP’s times are already competitive for some highly rejective D3 teams without reclassing. It’s up to OP if reclassing makes sense for her.