Yes, they’ll view it differently if a senior rather than a Junior ran that time. But if the time is close to recruiting range they’ll still be interested. I think the challenge would be finding training and competitive opportunities during that gap year.
@gointhruaphase The NESCAC schools definitely have the same support for track as other sports do.
@oldschooldad You need to fill out the online questionnaire and email the track coaches 1. PR’s (and an explanation as desired); 2. Test scores and 3 GPA. If you can get a high school transcript and a screen shot of the test scores that would be best. The schools have already entered the pre read process so you are a bit late so time is important. They will soon be identifying and inviting those for overnights in the fall.
The schools will look to see whether the athlete can score in their conference championships within a few years.
@arbitrary99, my point had to do with comments by some that track coaches have less pull with admissions. If in general the NESCACs give 2 slots and 3 tips (more or less, about right) for non-football teams, that will have one effect on women’s softball and yet another effect for track and field. By way of example, Williams softball has a roster of about 16, while its Track and Field roster is about 50. This harmonizes the comments (repeated here on a couple of occasions) that the Bowdoin track coach has no admissions pull with your thought that track coaches get the same number of slots and tips as the other teams.
athletic ability will never hurt his admissions chances and it might help. If he ran a 53 second 400M as a high school sophomore he has some serious wheels and his potential may be much faster than 2:00