<p>I mentioned my buddy Watson earlier that tore his ACL/MCL/meniscus last summer. . .when he was a freshman he ran 5:21 in the mile. He started training, and ended up running 4:28 as a junior. It's just like anything else, it takes work.</p>
<p>EDIT: Hmm. . .maybe I didn't mention Watson on this thread. . .I'm subscribed to a bunch of track and field threads.</p>
<p>
[quote]
With a 4:20 I'm suprised you didn't get a scholarship anywhere. 4:18 is the outdoor national rankings and it's slower indoors (4:24?). No colleges were recruiting you? I'm very suprised.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I did not get any scholarship offers ... I got a few letters and phone calls (recruiting light)... but nothing that involved spending money (paid trips or scholarships). </p>
<p>I ran in the mid 4:20s and was probably ranked about 500th in the country ... probably 400 of those guys ahead of me were between 4:20 and 4:25 ... it's the top a standard nornal curve and there are fewer and fewer guys as the times get really good. In addtion, in my case, if anyone checked my out they could tell my upside in the mile was not that high (I just was not fast enough ... 57-58 quarter max). </p>
<p>Colleges only have a few scholarships for track so they may have 1 or 2 milers on scholarship (across 4 years of runners) and even then not all schools provide scholarships for track (see the Duke conversation). That said I was good enough to run in the IVYs or other DI programs of similar caliber ... and definately been pretty good at the DIII level</p>
<p>There is lots of room in college for HS athletes ... but the top of the hill is awlful tough to reach!</p>
<p>Know a kid who ran 4:56 as an 8th grader, hes a jr now.</p>
<p>Oh, okay, I thought you meant 4:20 flat. In which case, you'd be roughly top 120 in the country. The 4:18 outdoor national ranking is usually about the top 100 kids.</p>
<p>I have a son who is a sophomore and run a 4:23 indoor mile. he has been stuck there for awhile, but feels confident he can go lower. I can't remember his outdoor time last year, but it was about the same. he will definitley go sub 4:20 outdoors. he also runs XC - which is his real love. He is a top runner in our state. Although he is just a sophomore, we want to start thinking about colleges. he gets lots of letters from places, but I can't even begin to figure out how to go about this. his coachs want us to put together a list of schools by the end of the year. he doesn't have any specific career goals in mind, wants to be a school with a top running program and wants to be at a school that is big enough to expose him to a lot of career options. He is smart, but not brillant. Any suggestions of where to start??</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>If he ran 4:23 as a freshman, which I'll call BS on, he'll probably want to go to college for track.
I'd suggest Arkansas, Stanford, and Michigan as your top tier distance running schools.</p>
<p>EDIT:
1 Brain Rhodes-Devey 07 Slingerland, NY 4:24.17@
2 Bobby Moldovan 07 Fort Wayne, IN 4:28.86
3 Joseph McKenney 07 Cranford, NJ 4:29.24
4 Nick Kuczwara 07 Elmhurst, IL 4:30.28
5 Tim Stepp 07 Allentown, PA 4:30.61
6 Jay Moulton 07 Phenix City, AL 4:31.01
7 Paul Norland 07 Falls Church, VA 4:35.03
8 Darryll Oliver 07 Brooklyn, NY 4:38.23
9 Simon Biddle-Snead 07 Millwood, VA 4:39.18
10 Michael Spooner 07 Springfield, VA 4:39.41</p>
<p>Those are your top ten freshman in the country. Not one under 4:24, and I actually know Rhodes-Devey, so I doubt it's him. (I could be wrong though, you could very well be his mother).</p>
<p>EDIT: Definitely Arkansas though if you want to run the mile. The recruiting class they brought in is beyond amazing.</p>
<p>Hmmmm... BS huh?? No my son as a sophomore did run a 4:23 indoor.. Thanks for your suggestions.</p>
<p>"I can't remember his outdoor time last year, but it was about the same."</p>
<p>Nothing on there is roughly the same as a 4:23i, which would probably convert to a 4:16 outdoors.
I'm looking up the indoor national rankings right now. . .I'll report back in a minute.</p>
<p>EDIT:</p>
<p>Okay. . .here we go, runners between 4:22 and 4:25 indoors (I gave you some leeway)</p>
<p>B-Mile 4:24.18 Amirault, Mark, 2007, Xaverian MA 2/5/2005, MSTCA elite MA, # 1
B-Mile 4:24.93 RhodesDevey-, Brian, 2007, Dewey Guilderland NY 12/18/2004, Bishop Loughlin NY, # 1 NY Armory</p>
<p>Okay, so the only conclusion is Amirault. However, since we race Xaverian a lot, I know he didn't run 4:20 anything in the mile last year. And I know Rhodes-Devey, so it isn't him.</p>
<p>EDIT²: There are no more sophomores on the Elite list in either the mile or 1600.</p>
<p>As I said, i wasn't sure his freshman time, but it was "around" 4:23.... Which it was. Does Arkansas have a XC team?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I am actually trying to get some ideas for colleges which is what I thought this thread was about, not to guess who my kid is. Thank you for your suggestions.</p>
<p>Arkansas' XC team is absolutely stellar, but then again, they're the unstoppable force in the NCAA in every event. Their freshman class this year is bringing in my buddies Daniel LaCava and Chris Barnicle, both of them are sub 9:00 two milers (LaCava is a 4:12 miler / Barnicle 4:05 as well.
The XC team is lead by Said Ahmed, kid ran 1:51 in the 800 as a junior in high school / 2:25 in the 1000 as a senior. He was one of the only Americans to make the semi-finals at the Olympics last year in the 1500 (3:37). Adam Perkins is another stellar runner that ran 4:06 in high school in the mile. I forget their other athletes, but their team is stacked.
Anyone who wants to pursue running as a career goes to Arkansas or Michigan. Stanford is just a little way off.</p>
<p>EDIT: I want to guess who your kid is, that's half the fun. I know who it isn't.</p>
<p>What are the academic requirments at Arkansas; roughly?? SATs, GPA? Any ideas?</p>
<p>i have no idea</p>
<p>If you are on this forum, you do NOT want to consider Arkansas. I know they are getting all the top runners right now (I was just at a track meet where Scotty Mac, LaCava etc. were entered) but it is not worth the sacrifice in academics. Do what Ecliptica is doing and use the running to get into an awesome academic school. What are your son's academics like? My son is a junior and also planning to run in college. He just ran 4:24 for 1600 meters outdoor in his first outdoor race in 3 years.<br>
If your son really is 4:23 as a soph, I would set my sights on Stanford, Michigan, Cornell, Columbia (cross country), Wisconsin etc. Texas is building a super program, too, don't you think Ecliptica? Manzano just went 4:01 or something like that.
If you want to PM me, I'll give you more suggestions.</p>
<p>Manzano ran 3:59. . .but he's also a 20 year old freshman :)
One of my friends actually turned down both Columbia (her father ran there back in the day so she was a legacy) and Cornell for Georgetown. Their distance squad isn't too bad either on the guy's side, Lukezic was a sub 9:00 2 miler in high school, I believe.
Texas' program is phenomenal. They're bringing in a lot of talent in the hurdles and jumps this year and their academics are sensational, too. UT-Austin is one of the best public schools in the nation.</p>
<p>Congrats to your son, MoWC. If Davidson is still one of his top choices I know Coach Andrew will be very impressed.</p>
<p>Here in the Lone Star State we were pretty sure Manzano was 20 when he was a sophomore in hs!</p>
<p>Hi Rad's mom ... congrats to your son on his great accomplishment's so far. Assuming he continues to improve he is going to have a TON of options for school (on scholarship or not .. his choice). </p>
<p>There a bunch of great track schools out there but not all might be as good a fit for him for track. Here's a bunch of questions I would have it was my son. Is he more of a 800/1500 guy or more of a miler/XC guy (different schools focus on different distances0? Has his high school program run high mileage, fast intervals, etc ... does it make sence to find a similar program in college? Has he injury issues? Does the college have people run mutiple events each meet or mostly one event? Do the elite runners miss school events to run in national events (is that good or bad in your book)? What is a typical training season? Does he care if the school is at altitude or has access to serious hills? Etc</p>
<p>That said, I would not put track first unless he is Olympic caliber (top 10-20 in his event in the country fro his age). He is still young but can start thinking about big or small school?, city / suburban / rural school?, liberal or conservative?, artsy or science?, etc</p>
<p>
[quote]
If you are on this forum, you do NOT want to consider Arkansas.
[/quote]
I'd second this ... many of the top track schools will accept students at or near the NCAA mins (700 SAT or 2.0 GPA) and I would guess Arkansas is one of these schools. The polar opposite experience would be a Stanford and Georgetown which are terrific schools and have stellar distance programs. I'd recommend finding the right academic level for you son and then finding the track program to match at that level.</p>
<p>Yeah, u dont wanna screw up to choose wrong college.</p>
<p>3togo,</p>
<p>Those are great questions. I think he is more of a miler/XC than an 800/1500 kind of guy, although as a freshman he was ranked in the top 10 nationally in the mile. He really love distance and loves hills. I don't want to say he hasn't had any problems with injuries to speak of because it will probably jinx me, so i won't say it.</p>
<p>I need to find out more about his current training. I know they do a lot of distance and speed intervals.</p>
<p>Are there colleges that would be better for XC?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>