HS Track and Field National Records—Thinking Outside the Box
I’m posting this to illustrate the possibilities in hopes of raising the ceiling of expectations in the mind. In other words: If you are a young athlete (or even a coach) just because the fastest high school 200 meter ever ran in your state is, let’s say, 21.2 does not mean that’s probably as fast as you can possibly ever hope to run before you graduate. THINK BIG and you might be surprised at what you can actually accomplish.
The United States high school track and field records listed below are as maintained and presented by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFSH). For More information about the NFSH visit their website at www.nfhs.org.
Interesting Record Notes:
- There are 20 boys and 20 girls NFHS high school track and field records listed. Currently, out of the total of 40 possible record holders—only 10 are not from the states of California or Texas.
- The oldest national high school event record still unbroken is the girls long jump: in 1976 Kathy McMillan, of Raeford Hoke County, North Carolina leaped 22’-1 ¾”.
- The boys and girls national shot put records are held by a father and daughter tandem: In 1979, Dallas, Texas Jefferson High School’s Michael Carter (who went on to become an Olympic Silver Medalist and all-pro defensive tackle for the San Francisco 49ers) heaved the shot an astonishing distance of 77’-00″. But that’s not the end to this tale: later that year Michael Carter threw 81’-3 1/2” at the Golden West Invitational, a track and field meet held in Sacramento, CA featuring the top high school athletes in the country. The NFHS has obviously not recognized this as a high school sanctioned meet, but most everyone else does recognize the throw as being a high school record—many sports experts and pundits credit Carter’s 81′-3 1/2″ shot put throw as being one of the greatest sports feats in history. Twenty-four years later (2003), his daughter Michelle Carter of Red Oak, Texas set the girls national record with a throw of 54’-10”.
 High School Track & Field United States National Records | |||
| Boys | Girls | ||
| Sprints | Sprints | ||
| 100: HENRY NEAL, Greenville, TX—10.15 (1990). | 100: MARION JONES, Thousand Oaks, CA—11.14 (1992). | ||
200: ROY MARTIN, Dallas Roosevelt, TX—20.13 (1985). | 200: ALLYSON FELIX, Los Angeles Baptist, CA—22.52 (2003). | ||
400: CALVIN HARRISON, Salinas North Salinas, CA—45.25 (1993). | 400: MONIQUE HENDERSON, San Diego Samuel F.B. Morse, CA—50.74 shatterd previous record by 2 seconds (2000). | ||
| Distance Runs | Distance Runs | ||
| 800: MICHAEL GRANVILLE, Bell Gardens, CA—1:46.45 (1996). | 800: CHANELLE PRICE, Easton Area, PA—2:02.90 (2008). | ||
| 1600: ALAN WEBB, Reston South Lakes, VA—3:59.51 (2001). | 1600: CHRISTINE BABCOCK, Irvine Woodbridge, CA—4:33.82 (2008). | ||
| 3200: GERMAN FERNANDEZ, Riverbank, CA—8:34.23 (2008). | 3200: KIMBERLY MORTENSEN, Thousand Oaks, CA—9:48.59 (1996). | ||
| Hurdles | Hurdles | ||
| 110HH: DENNIS BRANTLEY, Houston Worthing, TX—13.10 (1980) manual time. CHRIS NELLOMS, Dayton Dunbar, OH—13.30 (1990) FAT. | 100HH: VASHTI THOMAS, San Jose Mt. Pleasant, CA—13.03 (2007). | ||
| 300IM: REGGIE WYATT, Riverside La Sierra, CA—35.02 (2009). | 300LH: LASHINDA DEMUS, Long Beach Wilson, CA—39.98 (2001). | ||
| Relays | Relays | ||
| 200: FORT BEND HIGHTOWER, TX (Isaiah Sweeny, Cleon Davis, Ugonna Amarikwa, Clyde Lee) —1:23.92 (2007). | 200: LONG BEACH POLY, CA (Shana Solomon, Jasmine Lee, Shana Woods, Shalonda Solomon)—1:33.87 (2004). | ||
| 400: FORT WORTH O.D. WYATT, TX (Milton Wesley, Michael Franklin, Montie Clopton, DeMario Wesley)—39.76 (1998). | 400: LONG BEACH POLY, CA (Shana Solomon, Jasmine Lee, Chanda Picott, Shalonda Solomon)—44.50 (2004). | ||
| 1600: HAWTHORNE, CA (Michael Marsh, Michael Graham, Sean Kelly, Henry Thomas) —3:07.40 (1995). | 1600: LONG BEACH POLY, CA (Shana Woods, Dashanta Harris, Jasmine Lee, Shalonda Solomon)—3:35.49 (2004). | ||
| 3200: WARRINGTON CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH, PA (Jeffrey Dickson, David Manion, Matthew Poiesz, Thomas Mallon)—7:33.48 (2009). | 3200: GARDEN CITY, NY (Taylor Hennig, Katie O’Neill, Emma Gallagher, Emily Menges)—8:49.88 (2010). | ||
| Field Events | Field Events | ||
| Shot Put: MICHAEL CARTER, Dallas Jefferson, TX—77′-00″ (1979) Carter later bested this throw, heaving it 81′-3 1/2″ at the 1979 Golden West Invitational (see Interesting Record Notes above). | Shot Put: MICHELLE CARTER, Red Oak, TX—54′-10 3/4” (2003). | ||
Discus: MASON FINLEY, Buena Vista, CO—236′-6″ (2009). | Discus: ANASTASIA JELMINI, Shafter, CA—190′-3″ (2009). | ||
| Javelin: SAM CROUSER, Gresham, OR—242′-2″ (2010). | Javelin: RACHEL YURKOVICH, Newberg, OR—172′-8″ (2005). | ||
| High Jump: JAMES WHITE, Grandview, MO—7′-5 3/4” (2009). | High Jump: TONI YOUNG, Del City, OK—6′-4″ (2009). | ||
Pole Vault: ERIC ESHBACH, Orangefield, TX—18-2¼ (1999). | Pole Vault: TORI ANTHONY, Palo Alto Castilleja, CA—14′-1″ (2007). | ||
Long Jump: JAMES STALLWORTH, Tulare, CA—26′-4 3/4” (1989). | Long Jump: KATHY McMILLAN, Raeford Hoke County, NC—22′-1 3/4” (1976). | ||
Triple Jump: CHARLES MAYFIELD, Pasadena Muir, CA—52′-10 1/2” (1980). | Triple Jump: YCHLINDRIA SPEARS, Luling, TX—44′-2 1/4” (2001). | ||
