Hi,
I’m in 11th grade and running a consistent 18:30 5k with a PR of 18:01. Do I have any chance of being recruited by Yale? I have very good grades and go to a top boarding school.
If you click on each team member’s name, you will get their stats and compare your times to theirs: http://www.yalebulldogs.com/sports/w-xc/2016-17/roster
Thank you! The team is very small. Does anyone know why?
According to Ivy league conference rules, no member school can recruit more than 230 athletic recruits in any given year. While some school’s recruit the maximum number of athletes allowed, Yale’s administration has made a decision to recruit far fewer athletic recruits. That decision has resulted in smaller rosters for every team. See: http://yaleherald.com/homepage-lead-image/cover-stories/always-outnumbered-never-outplayed/ and http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2013/10/18/future-of-athletic-recruitment-remains-uncertain/
@gibby, those links were very interesting.
OP, I’m not much into college sports, probably being too focused on the negatives, but one story that resonated with me is Brandon Sherrod, who took a year off from school and the basketball team to tour the world with Yale’s a capella group, the Whiffenpoofs. Yale, IMO, stands apart from most schools in that regard.
I would contact the coach as that is the best way to find out. There are a lot of NCAA restrictions on when/how coaches can contact students, but you can reach out to them anytime.
In addition to what’s noted above, you can also compare your times to current Yale and Ivy runners on TFRRS and other track sites.
I took a quick look and for track, where the times are more easily comparable than XC, the top Ivy runner last year had a 16:04 and there were 22 women under 17:00, including two at Yale.
You might also consider some of the top academic D3 schools - NESCAC and UAA - where times are considerably slower than in the Ivy.
FWIW, this is from the Harvard Athletics Track Recruiting page. I imagine it’s the same for Yale and the rest of the ivies: http://static.psbin.com/5/x/jmeu9vu9zjsdmq/Recruiting_Standards.pdf
Thank you all for your input!! Much appreciated.