We Simplify the Recruiting Process and Help You Find the Best Fit
FTR founder, Willy Wood served as a NCAA I Head Coach for 25 years, including two decades at Columbia University of the Ivy League. In addition, Coach Wood served as an Olympic Coach at the 2012 London Games!
““As someone personally familiar with high-level track & field, I assumed the college recruiting process would be pretty straightforward. Boy, was I wrong! Not only was the process itself far more complicated and nuanced, but when our son was shooting for an Ivy League spot, as an international student, in the middle of a global pandemic, our family was not prepared for the challenge ahead of us.
Thankfully, Coach Wood was prepared on our behalf! Having personally sat in the seat of an Ivy League college coach, he provided empathy and a clear understanding of what coaches needed from us. And having navigated dozens of other student-athletes to their dream college, his expertise and experience was able to guide our son every step of the way.
One of the features of the recruiting process I wasn’t prepared for was how long it lasted - starting at the end of our son’s sophomore year and ending in the middle of his senior year. Throughout that entire year and a half though, Coach Wood’s commitment to our son and our family never wavered. He was always accessible and readily available to answer our questions and navigate our expectations - and sometimes even manage our roller coaster of emotions.
To that end, it’s also easy to wear the “parent glasses” and see more of your child than is realistic. While consistently kind and upbeat, Coach Wood never shirked from shooting straight with us regarding where our son objectively stood with coaches and schools. Even though he began this journey as a complete stranger to us, Coach Wood’s honesty and integrity made it easy for us to quickly entrust our son’s future to his guidance.
Today, we’re celebrating our son as an Ivy League student-athlete. But to be clear, we would have never come close to realizing our child’s dreams without the care and competence of Coach Wood. Thanks Willy! ”
WALKER BEVERLY
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
CLASS OF 2022
Utilizing FTR’s personal coaching program Chloe was able to lower her PR’s to 4:46 - Mile, 10:06 - 2 Mile and 16:58 - 5000m!
IAN NOBLE - UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
““I cannot thank Coach Willy Wood enough for helping us navigate through the recruiting process. We had heard the process can be brutal and having Coach Wood to guide us through it was a true blessing!
When our son was finishing up his sophomore year he played multiple sports. He made the difficult decision to focus only on one sport. He confirmed his dream was to run at the collegiate level in cross country and track. We consulted Coach Wood regarding the best way for him to do that.
It was a difficult decision to give up basketball after all these years. But, thank heavens for his advice or our son would not have had as reputable of race times before the pandemic shut down the 2020 season. Over the following 2 years, he instructed him on what was expected and how to get there. He was a mentor for all of us and having him to guide us through the unexpected twist of a global pandemic was just a Godsend.
He helped us look at different programs and find the one that best fit our son. He made us feel he was truly rooting for him to find his dream. His experience, information and guidance were beyond valuable. Having Coach Wood on our side was just priceless to us and we feel so grateful to have been so lucky to have found him.” ”
FIRST COMMITMENT OF THE FALL!
GRACE HARTMAN - CLASS OF 2022
MACKENZIE HARTMAN
University of North Carolina
Class of 2026
WILL PELECH
NYU - CLASS OF 2026
AANCHAL KASARGOD
UCLA
CARVER MORGAN - AMERICAN UNIVERSITY, CLASS OF 2026
ALEXANDER RICH
Alex lowered his Mile PR by over 25 seconds using the FTR coaching program…4:24!
“Fast Track Recruiting played the most important role in my high school running success. Through Fast Track Recruiting, I was able to increase every personal best I had recorded prior to working with Coach Wood. Not only did my performance in my events increase massively, I was able to stay healthy. I was able to stay healthy due to the way I progressed my mileage and workouts. The most crucial thing for a high school-athlete is to stay healthy, and that is exactly what FTR helped me do. Another key benefit was being able to individualize my training and focus on what I specifically needed as a runner.
Furthermore, it was super easy to reach out to Coach Wood and the FTR team whenever I had questions about the training program. Lastly, Fast Track gave me amazing guidance to what colleges I could possibly be recruited by. In addition, Coach Wood became an active and helpful voice in my recruiting process, as he was able to reach out to potential coaches and speak on my behalf. Ultimately without Fast Track Recruiting I would not have been where I am today. When I arrive to Amherst College next year I am excited to make the FTR family proud!
”
JACK LENZ - CORNELL UNIVERSITY
Utilizing FTR’s personal coaching program Graham was able to lower his PR’s to 4:14 - Mile, 8:59 - 2 Mile and 14:58 - 5000m!
“PARENT TESTIMONIAL - WILLIAMS COLLEGE CLASS OF 2025
We went into this exercise thinking that recruiting was similar to The Blind Side or the first few scenes of Without Limits , with coaches calling or stopping by the house. In reality, the recruiting process required hard work, perseverance, and an intelligent guiding hand to help us through the undertaking. We started early during my son’s sophomore year visiting over 25 schools, and Coach Wood helped us navigate through it all by providing insight into the programs and in many cases assisting in setting up meetings with the coaches. He listened as my son reported on each visit, and offered his thoughts and guidance as we paired down the options. He patiently answered all of our questions from how to initially reach out, to what to wear on campus, and how to follow up after the visit. Most importantly, he helped my son understand what he really wanted in a school and cross country program. As a top 20 recruit he had his choice of Division 1 programs, and yet coach Wood didn’t force the big names on him. Instead he listened to my son and helped him find the perfect college fit for him. We can’t thank Coach Wood and Fast Track Recruiting for all of his guidance and help throughout the process and would recommend his services to any cross country or track runners who are interested in continuing their careers not only on top athletic teams but also elite academic institutions. ”
AVA JOLLEY
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
CHARLI STEWART
CORNELL UNIVERSITY
Haley Bishop
VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY
PHILLIP KASTNER
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
LONDON, ENGLAND
MORGAN JOHNSON - UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI
RAYMOND ORIAKHI
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
BAHAMAS
“PARENT TESTIMONIAL - WAKE FOREST CLASS OF 2024
“We used Fast Track Recruiting to advise us throughout our daughter’s recruiting process. We learned through this process that there are so many variables that come into play. As we quickly learned, some schools focus on certain events, have specific academic considerations, varying amounts of available athletic scholarship money and financial aid. Coach Wood has a lot of connections in the collegiate track and field world that were very helpful and his experience was a valuable resource to help us navigate this process.
We started with a long list of schools at the beginning of her junior year and from that initial group our daughter received 9-10 official visit offers form D-1, and high-academic D-3 universities. We lined up 5 visits and received multiple scholarship offers before our daughter committed and will be attending an ACC school this fall. Coach Wood was always available to advise us and help evaluate the various schools. We found his help to be extremely helpful and highly recommend this service.””
WHAT WE DO
Fast Track Recruiting was created to assist qualified track and field / cross country athletes increase their college options. Our mission is to help current high school student-athletes find the best fit for them. Utilizing our long list of coaching contacts, college track and field recruiting experience and keen understanding of the admissions and financial aid process, we have had our recruits take official visits to many of the top schools in the country. Fast Track Recruiting is not a do-it-yourself web-based platform – it’s a collaborative process designed to ensure you maximize the recruiting process by proactively creating opportunities for you at the best schools in the country.
Over the past three years, Fast Track recruits have been offered admission spots at 19 of the top 20 ranked US News and World Report National Universities, all eight Ivies and 9 of the top 10 Liberal Arts Colleges in the country.
Fast Track recruits have taken official visits to schools in the SEC, ACC, Big 10, Pac 12, Big 12, Big East, Ivy League and many others.
Let us help you discover the right school for you - We do NOT use algorithms to find matches for you. We utilize Coach Wood’s thirty years of college coaching experience and relationships to identify the right programs for you based on your academic record, athletic achievement and personal preferences.
GET CONNECTED TO COLLEGE COACHES
FTR founder, Coach Willy Wood proved a very successful mentor as a college coach. His former assistant coaches have gone on to have extremely impressive college coaching careers. Below is a list of Coach Wood’s former assistant coaches who are now currently coaching at the college level:
Chris Miltenberg, University of North Carolina - Director of Track and Field and Cross Country
Mauricia Powell - University of Washington - Director of Track and Field and Cross Country
Jason Saretsky - Harvard University - Director of Track and Field and Cross Country
Thomas Chorny - Miami (OH) - Director of Track and Field and Cross Country
Christina Engle - North Dakota - Director of Track and Field and Cross Country
Andy Powell - University of Washington - Head Cross Country Coach
Ersion Hurtault - NYU - Director of Track and Field and Cross Country
Joe Pienta - Iona College - Director of Track and Field and Cross Country
Elliott Blount - Troy University - Head Cross Country Coach
Sam Bradley - Radford - Head Cross Country Coach
Matt Esche - UAB - Head Cross Country Coach
ASSISTANT COACHES:
Jeff Petersmeyer (Louisville), Reuben Jones (Princeton), Jon Debogory (Wofford), Colin Boevers (Oklahoma), Gavin O’Neal (Boise State), Russ Peterson (Miami, OH), Tim Beach (Sacred Heart), Scott March (UCF),
ELLA LONGO
VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY
“Parent Testimonial - Penn Recruit- Class of 2023
As parents without question our investment in Fast Track Recruiting paid for itself many time over. Bottomline, Coach Wood is deeply connected into the Collegiate world of track and field. Everything played out how Coach Wood described it - coaches visits, official visits, and negotiations. Coach Wood will tell you if you can do what you want to do with the times, grades, and test scores you have. ”
“MAXIMIZE YOUR OPPORTUNITIES UTILIZING OUR EXPERTISE AND CONTACTS
If you’re serious about running track or cross country in college, Coach Wood is perhaps the best person you can have on your team. As a parent, you want to maximize the opportunities for your child and help them obtain the college of their choice. Coach Wood helped our daughter and us as parents - navigate the complex world of college track recruiting where hundredths of a second in the 100 meters can make all the difference. Coach Wood thoroughly understands the college recruiting process in both track and cross country and has an incredible network of former and active college coaches he can directly pick up the phone and call. Coach Wood was always available to us. My wife and I found him to be a thoughtful, experienced mentor who brought clarity, guidance and support throughout the entire recruiting process, one which ultimately led to daughter joining the track team at Dartmouth College. ”
“YOU GAVE US AN UNDERSTANDING MOST PARENTS WILL FIND EXTREMELY USEFUL
I want to thank you for your expertise and guidance concerning the recruiting process. I started taking matters in my own hands pretty late during the 2019 recruiting season despite my daughter being ranked in the top 40 in the nation for the 60 meter dash. However with your assistance, my daughter was able to receive several scholarship offers and official visits into August of 2019. You have an understanding and background that most parents will find extremely useful when weighing multiple scholarship offers in general. That said, my family was extremely happy with your service!”
ELLA DERSTINE - BUCKNELL UNIVERSITY & KYLIE EMMENS - RIDER UNIVERSITY
Our recruits have taken official visits to over 125 colleges in the past 12 months
WHAT COACHES ARE SAYING
“Coach Wood, I am thrilled to be working with you since you are familiar with the type of kids we look for (and eventually lose to the Harvard’s and the Yale’s of the world.) We will reach out to anyone you send our way. I fully trust your judgement… you obviously knew what you were doing at Columbia University.” NCAA Coach
FTR SUCCESS STORY: CONGRATULATIONS CHARLIE TEETER ON YOUR COMMITMENT TO JOHN’S HOPKINS UNIVERSITY. CHARLIE IS OUR SECOND RECRUIT TO CHOOSE HOPKINS IN THE PAST TWO YEARS AND JOINS A LIST OF OTHER WHO HAVE CHOSEN HIGHLY-SELECTIVE NCAA DIVISION THREE SCHOOLS SUCH AS CHICAGO, WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, AMHERST, AND POMONA AMONG OTHER. FALL 2019
COMMITMENT CENTRAL
See below where our Fast Track recruits are currently enrolled and competing in track and field / cross country!
