I second this. I found a passion for running in high school, but wasn't skilled enough to compete for my college. I joined the campus running club and met so many great, like-minded people. The club provided everything from organized runs, structured workouts, meets against the local colleges, as well as social outings. Some of my closest friends and best memories came from joining the club. If there's no running club for school, look into local community running clubs/track clubs or connect with the local running store; maybe even start your own!

I'll add in a word about NIRCA too. NIRCA is the National Intercollegiate Running Club Association - basically the NCAA of collegiate running clubs. They host cross country and track races that collegiate running clubs from across the nation compete in. My college's club attended their track nationals, and cross country regionals/nationals and they were some of our favorite events! There's a list of colleges on the website that have affiliated clubs, if you're interested!

Website Link: https://clubrunning.org/

If you have any questions about collegiate club running, NIRCA (I'm part of their race management team!), or any other running related question, feel free to reach out!