Thank you. Understanding College T&F isn’t as straightforward as it first appears. Visited a Patriot League team 2 weekends ago and visiting a Centennial League team this weekend.

@SCATrackandField

9 ай бұрын

Wish you the best on your visits! Seems like you have a bunch of great options to consider.

Sprinter at Amherst College here, people need to see this video😭

@Gtslmfa0

3 ай бұрын

set my PR on the AC track in the 100! The ol Amherst Spring Fling

Many great student athletes go to D3 schools because they love the school

Great advice as usual. Coincidentally, I just became aware of this perspective a few weeks ago when we learned that the Wolfpack picked up Fiona Smith off the transfer portal as a grad 5th year from St Benedict. Fiona just won the NCAA DIII individual title with a time of 19:54. Had she run that same time in the DI champs she would have finished just ahead of Amaris Tyynismaa, who was the Pack's second guy in and finished 25th. Who knows what her potential will be when she starts training with other fast women instead of running by herself all the time? I am sorry to hear you threw your letter from Haverford away. I graduated from Haverford a long time ago ('70) and it was a signal experience in my life. Haverford was then and is now one of the premier private colleges in the country. You would have fit right in, Coach.

@SCATrackandField

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for your comment as well as your perspective as always. Yes it is a small world in regards to the Haverford story. Lafayette and Haverford share quite a few similarities on campus from what I could tell, but the pull to go D1 is what got me lol.

@janinelargent9220

3 ай бұрын

I have had the privilege of watching Fiona Smith compete as my daughter also compares in D3. She is an amazing athlete. I wish her all the best at UNC

A lot of people don't know that there are some very slow D1 teams. I ran xc in the NAIA and was merely average for that level, but I could have made Kansas State's cross country team at the team at the time!

I started in D1 full scholarship and finished in D2 on full scholarship. GENERALLY SPEAKING D1 coaches are recruiters not coaches. I examined 30 years of data from Foot Locker XC championships to see progression of the "top" runners through college. While a few went on to improve to DI championships- statistically the majority never even competed in the DI championships during their entire college career. I was top tier at both HS and college- I burned through 2 D1 schools and ultimately landed in a D2 program because I met a couple of coaches who actually coach. D1 coaches do not coach, they go through motions. D2 and D3 and NAIA and CC coaches have to develop athletes and this is where coaching really happens. They get good at it. Not to say this is true for every school- you really need to look at the data. If you are choosing a school you should ask a coach to see the PR progression of his atletes.

@SCATrackandField

9 ай бұрын

Thank you for your comment as well as your perspective. I really appreciate it.

How do you identify a solid D3 program? What kind of questions should you ask.

@SCATrackandField

9 ай бұрын

You should definitely ask the coach what their conference goals are for the upcoming year. Or ask how many athletes they have gotten to the NCAA championships in the past. A solid program should have a well thought out answer for both.

In 2011 right before the Olympic trials they had at NDSU or North Dakota State University a guy almost make the 800 meter Olympic trials to only miss the time by 0.1 or 0.01 of a second, I forget what it was and he went on to be Semi Pro for a year after collage but nobody wanted to give him enough endorsements to run full time so he took a job with the scholarship he had to get a nearly free ride. This was a D2 school where you can still get a scholarship, not sure on D3 if they can get this but I know that smaller schools lower then D3 players can only get at max 1/2 scholarships for any single sport. This guy was in the grade below me. I think last I heard pre 2020 the guy was semi elite doing 5k--1/2 marathon events winning the smaller midsized events most people overlook okay though not like the sponsored elite at the events and dominating the small events winning them outright.

the best programs are those with the best coaches

There are some really great schools in D3. What athlete with the academic ability wouldn't want to go to MIT?

Go RedDragons

Hey Coach Rob, I'm a sprinter from Minnesota and won state in the 100m at the AA class level, with a time of 10.65 as a junior. My PR for the 200m is 21.54 as well, and at state I would've hoped to beat that, but I pulled my hammy. My track coach told me that I would be raking in offers/calls from college coaches simply because of my times. However as I'm progressing through my senior year, I feel like I have no one looking at me. So how do you suggest I gain more exposure for track? Or should I wait till my spring season to gather more confidence in my abilities for coaches to see?

@SCATrackandField

9 ай бұрын

Thanks for the comment. You are going to need to reach out to schools directly. But the real question is which ones. Reach out to me directly at www.scarecruiting.com/track-field-portal-enter and we can talk more about how to get you noticed.

@billa8083

12 күн бұрын

Cast a wide net and start emailing coaches and filling questionnaires on schools websites today!!! Start right now and make it your full time job. Like Coach Rob said you need to target the schools to make sure you’re on the right track.

Like this if you were recruited to a D3 school and you blew them off😂

Many d3 track runner could get beat by high schoolers is what i've seen over the year lols. There's talent at all levels, but the guys who end up at d3 weren't really wanted elsewhere and often higher rate of walk ons.

@math_the_why_behind

9 ай бұрын

Yes, I agree what you're saying that many D3 runners aren't that fast. That being said, that isn't the overwhelming truth. Like I could have run at a few D1 schools, but for various reasons they wouldn't have been the best for me (e.g. wanting quality of academics, not wanting the D1 pressure). (Like, as a freshman last year, based on my times at my D3 college, I would have been the fastest performer of a D1 college local to my hometown at the cross country conference meet, while I wasn't the fastest for my D3 college that isn't at close to being a D3 powerhouse.) So, yes, while I wasn't nearly close to being able to run at every D1 college, I had the ability to choose. I chose D3 because of the specific college I wanted to run at (I chose this college for a variety of reasons, including the running). Also, Nick Symmonds, who ended up being an Olympian, chose to run at a specific D3 college due to the program when he could have run at plenty of D1 colleges. Besides, there are high schoolers who could beat a lot of D1 runners too :) So, yes, on average D1 is significantly faster than D3, but also yes, there are plenty of D3 runners who could have run at a D1 college if they chose to (take UChicago, WashU, etc.). :)

@SCATrackandField

9 ай бұрын

Thank you for your comment and your awesome perspective in your response. Couldn’t agree more.

@math_the_why_behind

9 ай бұрын

@@SCATrackandField Thank you!