By Marc Coburn
For high school track athletes it is very important to not only have academic and athletic goals, but to focus on goals that directly correlate with college recruiting. Recruits should know specifically what times, heights and distances college coaches seek. Prospects must match their abilities with college coaches’ expectations in order to have a realistic idea of where they stand. High school track athletes should not limit their goals to winning Conference, Regionals or State, because while that does contribute to recruiting it does not ultimately guarantee a scholarship. An athlete could win State, but that doesn’t mean the time, height, or distance will impress college coaches.
Collegiate track is a combination of measurable attributes, awards, and state, regional, and national events. Refer to the recruiting guidelines to see how college recruiting is broken down for Divisions I, II, III and NAIA. In order to create these guidelines, NCSA tracked hundreds of former members who have gone on to compete at the collegiate level, polled college coaches across the nation, and analyzed college rosters at all levels of competition. This extensive research has enabled us to provide the standards that most young men and women must achieve in order to compete at the collegiate level.
