The real big thing and you don’t need to know yet - but if engineering becomes a priority, then you’ll eliminate most LACs.
You might look at Purdue STEP or Rose Hulman Operation Catapult as the types of solid camps that can validate he loves engineering…or engineering is a hard no.
But if one wants to study engineering, eliminating non-engineering schools is an easy thing to do.
UAA schools like CWRU, Rochester, etc might be options. Some Patriot League schools, Lehigh, Lafayette, Bucknell might be options. Tufts, Union, Trinity College could work. There are possibilities out there that fit the profile. You should check out the schools along with Tfrrs numbers to see what fits both athletically and academically.
I am exposing my ignorance here (but new to the game)–what is a Terra number and where do I find those?
Tfrrs, I fixed the autocorrect.
OK, I know about that! 
I haven’t seen any less competitive schools suggested so I’ll throw out Ohio Northern- small school (under 3000) but has engineering, DIII track, and has ample music opportunities for non majors. Would be an extremely likely for your student.
Another option to consider is track on a club level. I know a top kid (ACT 36, All State in track) who chose a big D1 school known for engineering + club track over a D3 school where he could have run but weaker engineering/academics. His club is very good, faster than most D3 teams.
We’ve talked about that a bit because some of the top runners from last year’s senior class at his school are at big D1 schools for engineering and are not running intercollegiately at all right now. His cousin plays on the traveling soccer club team for Penn State, so he certainly has someone to talk to about that option. I can definitely ask his cousin to sit down with him and talk about his selection process.
It’s a reach school but Rice might be an option. It’s D1 but small. My daughter was friends with several runners and they seemed to love the program and coach. Lots of runners were engineering majors. It would be a good option if your son is interested in engineering or science. Excellent music school if he wants to continue taking lessons and they have an orchestra for non-music majors (Campanile).
Here are some smaller liberal arts colleges with well established engineering majors:
Ohio Northern
Bucknell
Lafayette
Swarthmore
Manhattan
Union
Fairfield
Santa Clara
Most have good track & cross country programs.
We just finished track and field recruitment for C25 and just wanted to make sure you know about the athletic recruiting forum on here as well. So much helpful info in there. We found that at the D1 level, coaches were not as receptive to science as a major and C25 went with a competitive D3 in the end as that matched what they wanted for college life and academics. I agree with what was stated earlier that athletic recruits start the process much earlier.
Very difficult to predict running fit for boys at that age. You’ll have a somewhat better sense after track season but it’s really junior year that is more predictive.
But I’d keep in mind that Indiana is a very strong distance running state. If your son still looks like a kid and not an adult, the ceiling might be higher than you think based on watching him compete with older kids in a competitive state like that.
So I agree with comments above about keeping the range of options fairly wide. Not sure I’d push smaller schools just for the running part, as there’d be time to focus the search there later. But it might not end up being the best running fit anyway, so see if the fit is right in other areas.
One comment on juggling running and music, and D3 vs D1, etc: keep in mind that college running isn’t like HS.
Most programs have athletes training at different times of day for different reasons. It isn’t necessarily like HS where everyone shows up at the same time and does the same thing. (Although some D3s are closer to this model).
At D1 programs racing has a purpose and everyone doesn’t race just because there are meets on the schedule. Top XC runners will race conference and regionals (nationals if they make it) and 1-2 other races. Those outside the top 10 might race only once or not at all. Track season will mean more racing for everyone, but that might be just 4-5 races.
None of this is like what I see at a lot of HS programs, where there are a dozen meets on the schedule and everyone races all of them. That creates a lot of time crunches that are less of an issue in college (at some programs).
D3s can tend to be closer to the HS model (although obviously no one is racing 8 or 10k more than 4-5 times a season probably). It’s a more participatory approach (usually) than D1.
I could easily imagine a musician having more flexibility and time for music at a large D1 school than a small LAC D3. It just depends on the program.
ETA: also, athletic level can really scramble the reach/match/likely/safety calculus. I know kids for whom Harvard was a safety and CU a reach…
Do you mind sharing what school. My son may be in this category. Recruited for D3 track, but not quite D1 material.
If he wants to run Rose Hulman, if not Purdue. Kind of easy for Indiana resident.
Sure, I’ll DM
Thanks for your insight–this is really helpful! I do think he may have already had his big jump in performance over the last year (finally settling into his 6’2" frame, starting consistent weight training, and reaping the benefits of increased mileage at the HS level). He got the most improved runner on the team for XC this season (going from 17:15 ish to 16:00 ish). I do think he’ll improve more, but I think it may be more linear as opposed to exponential from here out! He is very motivated though! The added part about athletics changing the calculus for admission is helpful as well. I also suspect his testing will be likely better than this year’s PSAT indicates (he got a perfect score on his PSAT 8/9 last year, is not currently taking a math course, and had a crazy busy week the week of PSATs this year with multiple exams, an important music tryout and concert/dress rehearsals).
Rose is definitely on my radar. Several of our (very good) former runners are at Purdue with no interest from their program as far as I can tell.
I’ve also heard similar things about basically wanting athletes to commit to only the sport at D1 schools. Regardless of whether he wants to continue with music, this worries me a lot- particularly with the new landscape in NCAA and the way that coaches are cutting athletes and forcing them into the transfer portal if they want to keep running.
This is an example of how to access a sport-specific recruiting form: https://athletics.hamilton.edu/sports/2020/10/14/recruiting-recruiting-forms.aspx. As others have suggested, I don’t believe now, or the coming months, would be too early for your son to contact schools of potential interest, should he develop a sense of which schools these may be.
My two cents is to focus on the athletic recruiting first. Not because it is the only thing, but because it is almost guaranteed admission, and that is incredibly valuable. And because the OP has said it is important to her son. ETA - And because that process starts years earlier than the regular process for admission.
Take a look at the athletic recruiting forum here. Consider getting The Athletic Scholarship Playbook (about $15 on Amazon) not because you’re aiming for a scholarship but because it sets out the recruiting process.
I do not know anything about your son’s sport but with other sports, sophomore year is the time to make initial contact with coaches so you can get on their radar.
Cast a REALLY wide net! Include schools that don’t have engineering – you/he will winnow the list later, once his interests, and his running level are clearer.
Finally, I suggest reaching out to the UAA schools, as their size means more options, while still being d3. And Tufts. From what you’ve written, I would not focus on D1 at this point.