Olivia Horgan is a former cross country and track and field athlete at George Washington University. She was a distance runner who ran events as short as the mile and as long as the 10,000-meter run. Cross country and track and field teams both have huge rosters, which can make the recruiting process intimidating. Olivia Horgan talked with us about her track and field recruiting tips for high school runners who are currently going through the recruiting process!

What are the steps that high schoolers need to take to be recruited for cross country and track and field?

One of the great things about track is that it can all be based around your times. As long as you can get into a meet and run a time…you can get recruited.

Do you see people transitioning to different events in college?

A lot of people stay within the general grouping of what they're doing. If you're a sprinter, you're likely not going to move to distance events once you go to college…If you're a 100-meter runner in high school, you might find that your coach wants you to run the 200-meter instead.

Is there any website specific to track where you can see your and other recruit's times?

Each state has its own MileSplit website and it will show rankings of events and all the results in one place.

You run cross country, indoor, and outdoor track and field. Are you competing all year?

If you run cross country, you run basically the entire school year. 

Do you see that people are verbally committing too early?

A lot of the time track and field recruits don't have the possibility to commit early.

Image Credit: George Washington University Athletics

* Originally published on July 13, 2023, by 2aDays Staff