Great NAIA for running?

politeperson
Thu, 12 Sep 2024 16:59:11 +0000

Sorry to hear that. It does make for a more challenging situation, but it’s great that he’s understanding about things.

If his academic stats are pretty good he might find more merit money than athletic money out there.

Would he consider expanding the search out west?

There are schools in the mountain west that are actually pretty reasonable where he could likely run. Colorado Mesa is one example and I believe has some auto merit options. Utah State can be very cheap out of state—look at their auto merit chart ( a bit of a step up in terms of running level so he’d want to confirm the coach would let him walk on).

And further west he could likely run at various WCC schools-Santa Clara, Gonzaga, etc-if admission and merit aid worked out. Not to mention the many D3s out west—Willamette, Oxy, etc.—that use merit to attract students, any of which he could run at.

Those are just examples. He could probably come up with more. And of course club options at many schools could work. Sometimes looking at the non-recruiting path (that would still eventually allow joining a team or club) can take short term pressure off, or just help with perspective.