Profile: Completing Junior Year in High School. Strong student Academically
Track: PR of low 160s in Javelin. Season not done yet. Tried discus and shot but not as strong
Tests: First SAT score = 2060. 740 Math, 570 Reading, 750 Writing. Will retake in October to bring up Reading for superscore. Taking ACT and SAT 2s in June
Grades: Almost all honors classes in every subject. Unweighted GPA of 3.85. Senior year all AP classes
Given my academics, I’d like to consider targeting NESCAC, other selective D3s like Carnegie Mellon, Ivy League, and some competitive D1s academically like Villanova and Bucknell.
- Do I go to each school's website and look for the javelin or throwing coach to contact? Or is there a general recruiting coordinator that I should be contacting?
- What information should I provide in my letter and resume? In addition to the information I provided above, an electronic link to my PR? Should I not mention my discuss throws if they are not particularly competitive?
- Are D1s not be realistic because I'm not 180s or 190s in jav?
- Is there anything that I should be doing in general? For example, trying to meet with coaches over the summer? My friends in other sports go to junior days, camps, and big tournaments. I know track isn't quite like that, and if anything is nice because the numbers speak for themselves better than highlight tapes. Still, I didn't know if track has some elements of needing to visit with coaches, for example
I would suggest contacting event coaches, give PRs, test scores and GPA.
Low 160’s would be more on a par with D3 programs. D1 schools, including Ivies, would probably want more. Problem with D3s is the smaller rosters may mean they want their jav guy be a more well-rounded thrower rather than just a jav specialist.
I agree with your plan to get that CR score up.
Visiting coaches is always good - helps you get a feel for the program and demonstrates sincere interest on your part. Start with the email contact. As far as video - it can be beneficial for technique events like throws. If you show the size and power, but your technique is still raw, that could indicate good upside potential to a coach.
@varska That is an excellent suggestion about including a video. Anything else I should mention or include?
As for distances, I don’t quite understand how to discern where I fit in. How to assess what sort of PR will be competitive at a particular college
Looking at college rosters, I’m throwing further than nearly every D3 athlete I saw but not as far as most D1 athletes that I see. At the same time, I’m a high school junior and not a college junior, so I don’t know if I’m supposed to be comparing myself to the same distances as college juniors
Look at Conference Meets - if you can score points in the middle of the pack or above there will usually be some interest. At smaller D1s a thrower is usually going to be expected to be able to compete in at least one more event. College coaches mostly make evaluations based on HS Jr year times/distances. They will project you from there, but to see much interest you need to be able to make an immediate impact in year 1. So yes your most recent marks will be what is used to evaluate you against current college marks.
Agree w/ @lublub, for example, if you look at UAA conference championships, which includes schools like UChi, Carnegie Mellon, etc, you’ll see it took a throw of 164’9" to get on the scoreboard - which is what every coach wants.
http://www.tfrrs.org/results/40050_2520741.html
Looking at current rosters isn’t very informative, if a school is weak in an event, that doesn’t mean they want to bring on more guys who can’t score in that event. You really need to be competitive in the conference for a coach to be interested.
And yes, they will be looking at Jr. year marks. Since development can be like looking into a crystal ball, they would prefer a guy who can be competitive from day 1.
But since teams needs change every year, it’s best to just make contact with the coaches and see what they are looking for.