Qualifying for Nationals

Hey Hawks,

As the season starts approaching its close, we start to look ahead to what might still be out there for each of our athletes. We began the season dreaming of USATF Junior Olympics because Sacramento is hosting the national championship meet at the end of July.  As the season has progressed, we keep seeing growth in our kids and that is a great thing.  But qualifying for Nationals is a pretty high standard, and I thought it might help everyone if I did some analysis to define just what it might take for athletes to make it.

Before we go further, I want to clarify that qualifying for Nationals should in no way be the measure of success for a season.  It is a great accomplishment and one that we can all aspire to achieve, but a season that ends without a golden ticket can still be a successful, impressive season for every athlete who works his or her tail off and learns more about competing and himself or herself in the process.  Ultimately, we are racing our own shadow every time we step on the track - and that is the measuring stick upon which I hope we can focus.

That being said, it is good to have dreams.  Remember that there are hundreds of kids in our region vying for those 5 spots in each age group.  But I went back over the five most recent years of qualifying meets (2015-2019) and compiled the 5th place times for each age in each event. I then averaged them, to give us some idea of what it might take in any given year to qualify.  Conditions can obviously play a major role, so don't set these times in stone - I only hope that they can help inspire our Hawks to dream of what they could do, and where they might go, if they set their sights on the stars.

So without further ado, here you go:
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Boys
800m:
8 and under – 3:04
9-10 – 2:38
11-12 – 2:36
13-14 – 2:10
 
1500m:
8 and under – 6:20
9-10 – 5:22
11-12 – 5:09
13-14 – 4:30
 
3000m:
11-12 – 11:25
13-14 – 10:12
 
Girls
800m:
8 and under – 3:08
9-10 – 2:50
11-12 – 2:35
13-14 – 2:24
 
1500m:
8 and under – 6:31
9-10 – 5:50
11-12 – 5:19
13-14 – 5:00
 
3000m:
11-12 – 11:52
13-14 – 11:18

If you have any questions, let me know.

​Hawks Fly!
Coach Eric