For Ivies, how many are "recruited"?

MegaVortex7 · 09-15-2009, 07:37 PM

I noticed that only 4 Freshmen on the Track Team were distance runners. How many, in total, were "recruited" by the coach? I'm sure more than 4 of these athletes applied and were told they had chances. Please let me know!

susgeek · 09-15-2009, 08:13 PM

My stepdaughter was recruited to Dartmouth. She was Salutatorian AND a star basketball player.

monstor344 · 09-15-2009, 08:28 PM

^ With all due respect, did you really answer OP's question?

I think in a sport like track and field there aren't very many recruits; only a handful as you have taken note of. Track is one of those sports that will typically have a lot of walk-ons, even at the D1 level.

For the more major sports, like basketball, football, baseball, hockey, lax, etc, more players are recruited each year. I think in baseball Ivy Leagues pull in 8-10 freshmen a year. Even these sports have walk-ons as well.

MaineLonghorn · 09-15-2009, 08:33 PM

This summer, the Dartmouth track coach told us he had a pool of 50 boys he was considering. He will eventually pick 6, based on their times, grades, and interest.

MegaVortex7 · 09-15-2009, 08:39 PM

Okay, wow. That's not a lot! Thanks for the info.

MaineLonghorn · 09-15-2009, 08:40 PM

You're welcome! Good luck. My son didn't get the feeling he'd be recruited much by Dartmouth, but he's going to keep them on his list, just in case.

riverrunner · 09-16-2009, 12:53 AM

Maine, do you think 6 for distance only, or 6 for the entire track program? (non-field events.) And are you guessing coach could get 6 likely letters, or some likelies and some "supported in admissions"? I don't have a horse in this race, and I promise to post the same info for another Ivy when I quiz the right person later this week. This info would be very nice for the Ivy track recruits to have.

Something to keep in mind: it's a recruiting CLASS, so although it may seem as though there aren't many Ivy spots, if each had 6, there would be 48 track likely letters available in the league each year. That's a lot of academically and athletically qualified kids, so this may give hope to those who wonder if they're really fast enough or smart enough.

TheGFG · 09-16-2009, 08:34 AM

The Princeton coach told us something similar to post #4 for the girls running program: he was looking at 42 girls, but would probably end up with 6-8 recruits. 6 seemed to be the average number we've heard from Ivies. So of the 6, we're assuming no more than 1 or 2 would be from any one event group, ie. sprints, jumps, throws, distance. Over the entire league, that would be a maximum of 16 I think. Would you agree riverrunner? Seen that way, the odds are a little worse. Walking on is possible too for those who can gain admission.

Columbia seemed to imply they had no rigid limit. They would accept all of the qualified athletes who came for official visits that year who wanted to matriculate.

pacheight · 09-16-2009, 12:03 PM

I'm a newbie here, but it seems to me that the more meaningful question is how much interest is a coach showing because I think in most sports the coaches start by looking at dozens or even hundreds of athletes and can only recruit a few...only a few freshman spots are generally available on a team. My D is competing with dozens of athletes and is fortunate to have a few coaches show her the "love" with multiple emails and phone calls, it became obvious who really wanted her. I think if your not receiving meaningful attention from the coach then you need to do something to get their attention, I've seen this work at Brown where an athlete kept calling and telling the coach how committed she was. Granted you have to be a good athlete, but that passion for the school and team can make the difference with some coaches.

MaineLonghorn · 09-16-2009, 05:50 PM

I should have specified, sorry. I forget that there are other events in track besides distance - my son has trained me well, lol. The Dartmouth coach was definitely talking about 6 distance runners, because we were discussing cross country.

riverrunner · 09-16-2009, 08:55 PM

^^ 6 does sound like a lot of recruits for distance, but I guess the thing to keep in mind is you have to keep reloading to keep 7 plus healthy distance kids for the XC team, whether they run track or not. The team I'm most familiar with (it starts with a Y) added 7 freshmen this year, and 6 last year (that's just on the women's team). I don't know if all received likely letters, or if some were "tips" or walkons. If they're all recruits, this supports what Maine and GFG are reporting as well. Maybe you don't need as many pole vaulters, for instance: one per year? I'm not telling any secrets here: the numbers on the roster speak for themselves....

TheGFG · 09-16-2009, 11:11 PM

Distance kids do double duty for the school--cross country AND track. They might count 2/3 of them as x-c recruits, and the others as track distance recruits.

3xboys · 09-17-2009, 09:19 AM

This year Dartmouth had 6 crew recruits and six soccer recruits.

Consolation · 09-21-2009, 11:30 PM

I find it hard to believe that D only recruits 6 runners per year. Last year they recruited 2 from the town next to us alone, and when we went to the party for accepted students there were a significant number of students, male and female, who had been recruited for track and field. And that is from a state with total population under 1.5 million. D seems to like distance runners from Maine.

MaineLonghorn · 09-22-2009, 09:59 AM

I don't know, Consolation, I'm just reporting what the coach told us. Maybe he's holding something back? You're right, he likes Maine runners. He's not the only coach who's told us that. I know it's just a stereotype, but coaches think kids from Maine are tough, raw talent, and aren't overtrained because they just can't run as much in the winter. Part of S's college essay is about shoveling a path through the snow on our street to run intervals, because even the Y was closed in a snowstorm. :-) That will be one of my favorite memories after he's grown.