National Indoor Middle distance Usa High School Track Records - What it Takes to Be the Best

After receiving my 2009 All-Time World Indoor List of the records and best performances compiled by Ed Gordon, I asked myself, "What are the best United States high school middle length indoor records?"

This inquire popped into my mind because I had just completed an description on the 2009 Simplot Games, the premiere high school indoor meet in the West, and one of the top gatherings of prep talent in the nation.

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Gordon's 221-page book is an foreseen, variety of every world indoor description with an full, listing of best times following the world-record performances. This sort of publication is a gold mine of data for a someone like me, who just happens to be a member of the Track and Field Writers of America (Tafwa).

Having been a track fan, follower and participant for more than 58 years, reading the records brought back some great memories for me. Even the high school list is too long to publish all of the records in Gordon's compilation, so I focused on the middle length events because that is my area of knowledge and expertise.

Two factors should be carefully in sharing these impressive high school performances with you. First, there are very few indoor competitions compared to outdoor competitions, so there are a lot fewer opportunities to break records. Second, indoor tracks can vary from an old time 11-lap track made up of cinders like I used to run on, and a modern 8-lap, 200-meter track made up of banked-boards or an artificial, blend surface. That said, here are the athletes whose stars are still shining:

First is Alan Webb, who competed for South Lakes High School in Reston, Va. Webb holds the indoor records in three events-the 1000-Meter in 2:23.68, the 1500-Meter in 3:43.27 and the Mile in 3:59.86, all set in 2001. The 1500 description was set enroute to the Mile record. Running a sub-4 microscopic mile as a prep runner is no mean task, and doing it indoors is even more difficult.

Before he graduated from high school, Webb would also set the national prep description in the outdoor Mile (3:53.43) and outdoor 1500 Meter (3:38.26). Ultimately, he would set the American description in the outdoor Mile (3:46.91) in 2007.

Another running legend, Gerry Lindgren of Rogers High School in Spokane, Wa, holds two of the records-the 3000 Meter in 8:06.3 and the 2 Mile in 8:40.0, both set in the same race in 1964, 45 years ago and never bested the best of the best since. After graduating from high school in 1964, Lindgren would gain worldwide consideration by beating two seasoned Russian runners to win the 10,000-Meter event in the Us-Ussr Track Meet in Los Angeles.

While running for Washington State University, Lindgren would win 11 Ncaa championships and to this day remains only 1 of 2 runners to ever beat Steve Prefontaine in an Ncaa Championship, winning the 1969 Ncaa Cross-Country individual title when Prefontaine complete 3rd.

Lindgren would finally share the world 6-Mile description (27:11.6) with Billy Mills, the 1964 Olympic 10,000-Meter Champion and Gold-Medal winner.

Dave Merrick of Lincoln-Way High School in New Lenox, Il set the 3-Mile description by running 13:37.0 in 1971. Brad Hudson of South Eugene (Or) High School set the 5,000-Meter description with a 14:29.28 in 1971. To of course appreciate Merrick's indoor record, you only need to know that he ran back-to-back-to-back miles at a 4:32 pace; that is a lot of laps on a small track.

Two other records are of note. Michael Granville of Bell Gardens (Ca) High School ran 1:50.55 in the 800 Meter in 1995, and Greg Gibson of Connell (Wa) High School ran 2:10.1 for the 1,000 Yard in 1972.

Among the girls' records, no name shines brighter than Mary Decker of Orange (Ca) High School. Decker still holds the 800 Meter (2:01.8) and 880-Yard (2:02.4) records set in the same race in 1974. Those two indoor marks were world records at the time; she also set the 1,000-Meter world description (2:26.7) that same year as a prep runner.

Decker (now Mary Decker Slaney) was very popular, very talented and a fierce competitor on the track. Decker would go on to set 36 national records and 17 world records. She is the only American runner, man or woman, to hold all American records from 800 to 10,000-meters at the same time.

Decker still holds the American records for 800 Meters, 1,500 Meters, 1 Mile, 2,000 Meters and 3,000 Meters.

Another high school indoor record-holder who would come to be even more famed was Lynn Jennings of Bromfield High School in Harvard, Ma. Jennings set the 1,500-Meter mark by running 4:18.9 in 1978.

Jennings would go on to win 3 World Cross-Country Championships, 9 U. S. National Cross-Country Championships, and come to be the bronze medalist in the 10,000 Meters at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain. Her Olympic time (31:19.89) in the 10,000 Meters set an American record. Her American road-race description for the 10,000 (31:06) still stands.

Melody Fairchild of Boulder (Co) High School holds two national indoor high school records-the 3,000 Meter in 9:17.7 and the 2 Mile in 9:55.92, both set in the same race in 1992. She would go on to come to be a repeat Foot Locker National High School Cross-Country Champion and still remains the policy description holder. Fairchild was the first high school girl to break 10 minutes for 2 Miles.

Other indoor girl records were set by:

Diana Richburg of Lansingburgh High School in Troy, Ny in the 1,000 Yard-2:26.3.

Sarah Bowman of Fauquier High School in Warrenton, Va in the 1,000 Meter-2:43.40.

Debbie Heald of Neff High School in Miranda, Ca in the Mile-4:38.5.

Cathy Schiro of Dover (Nh) High School in the 3 Mile-16:20.9.

Brianna Jackucewicz of Howell North High School in Farmingdale, Nj in the 5,000 Meter-16:43.02.

Copyright © 2009 Ed Bagley

National Indoor Middle distance Usa High School Track Records - What it Takes to Be the Best

Usa High School Track & Field Records And The Current Best 2008 Performances

Performance results in track and field are positively understandable through time zones and cultures colse to the world. Unlike words and their pronunciation in separate languages, numbers need no explanation to understand. It also helps that the metric ideas of estimation for distances is dominate worldwide.

Track and field competitors colse to the world are curious in comparing their performances with the performances of athletes in other countries. Here are the current United States high school track and field records through 2007 followed by the best current performances by high school competitors in 2008:

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Usa Boys High School Track and Field Records

100 Meters: 10.08 - 10.17 by Jeff Demps of South Lake High School in Groveland (Fl).

200 Meters: 20.13 - 20.80 by Markus Henderson of Lewisville (Tx) High School.

400 Meters: 44.69 - 46.41 by Tavaris Tate of Starkville (Ms).

800 Meters: 1:46.45 - 1:48.97 by Joseph Franklin of Godby in Tallahassee (Fl).

1,500 Meters: 3:38.26 - 3:52:63 indoors by Colby Lowe of Carroll in Southlake (Tx)

1,600 Meters: 3:53.43 narrative set at equivalent yards distance - 4:05.57 by German Fernandez of Riverbank (Ca).

3,000 Meters: 8:03.67 - 8:16.0 by Luke Puskedra of Judge Memorial Catholic in Salt Lake City (Ut).

3,200 Meters: 8:36.3 2-Mile) - 8:46.40 by Luke Puskedra of Judge Memorial Catholic.

5,000 Meters: 13:37.91 - 13:55.96 by Chris Derrick of Neuqua Valley in Naperville (Il) - (Derrick's time is the Usa narrative for a high-school-only race).

110-Meter High Hurdles: 13.22 narrative set at equivalent yards distance - 13.51 by Spencer Adams of Butler in Charlotte (Nc).

300-Meter Intermediate Hurdles: 35.28 - 36.28 by William Wynne of McEachern in Powder Springs (Ga).

400-Meter Intermediate Hurdles: 49.38 - 50.46 by Reggie Wyatt of La Sierra in Riverside (Ca).

4x100-Meter Relay: 39.76 - 40.26 by Rowlett (Tx) High School.

4x200-Meter Relay: 1:23.31 - 1:24.06 - Hightower in Sugar Land (Tx).

4x400-Meter Relay: 3:07.40 - 3:11.87 by Dominguez in Compton (Ca).

4x800 Meter Relay: 7:32.89 - 7:44.39 by North Penn in Lansdale (Pa).

Sprint Medley Relay: 3:21.1 - 3:26.16 by Mid-Prairie community in Wellman (Ia).

Distance Medley Relay: 9:49.78 - 10:02.47 by Carroll in Southlake (Tx).

High Jump: 7-7 - 7-3.75 indoors by Eric Kynard of Rogers in Toledo (Oh).

Pole Vault: 18-3 - 17-4.5 by Nico Weiler in Los Gatos (Ca).

Long Jump: 26-9.25 - 25-6.75 indoors by Christian Taylor of Sandy Creek in Tyrone (Ga).

Triple Jump: 54-10.25 - 52-4.75 by Will Claye of Mountain Pointe in Phoenix (Az).

Shot Put: 81-3.5 - 70-6 by Jordan Clarke of Bartlett in Anchorage, Ak.

Discus Throw: 234-3 - 222-1 by Mason Finley of Buena Vista (Co). (No. 3 all-time performer).

Hammer Throw: 255-11 - 244-8 by Trent Kraychir of Twentynine Palms (Ca). (No. 3 all-time performer).

Javelin Throw: 241-11 - 223-8 by Kyle Smith of Daphne (Al).

(Note: Leaders based upon marks verified as wind legal in sprints, hurdles and horizontal jumps. Only fully automatic times are listed for sprints and high hurdles.)

Usa Girls High School Track and Field Records

100 Meters: 11.11 - 11.16 by Victoria Jordan of Dunbar High School in Fort Worth (Tx).

200 Meters: 22.11 - 23.43 indoors by Ashton Purvis of St. Elizabeth in Oakland (Ca).

400 Meters: 50.69 - 52.83 indoors by Nadonnia Rodriques of Boys & Girls in Brooklyn (Ny).

800 Meters: 2:00.07 - 2:03.20 by Chanelle Price is Easton (Pa).

1,500 Meters: 4:16.6 - 4:17.46 by Jordan Hasay of Mission Prep in San Luis Obispo (Ca). (No. 7 all-time performance; Hasay also has the No. 4 and No. 5 all-time performances run in 2007 and is a threat to break the Usa high school record.)

Mile: 4:35.24 - 4:41.22 by Stephanie Morgan of Barnesville (Oh).

3,000 Meters: 9:08.06 - 9:23.90 by Jordan Hasay of Mission Prep in San Luis Obispo.

3,200 Meters - 9:48.59 - 10:03.07 by Jordan Hasay of Mission Prep.

5,000 Meters: 15:52.88 - 17:03.79 indoors by Chelsea Ley of Kingsway in Woolwich Township (Nj).

100-Meter High Hurdles: 12.95 - 13.26 by Jacquelyn Coward of West in Knoxville (Tn).

300-Meter Hurdles: 39.98 - 40.96 by Donique Flemings of Saginaw (Tx).

400-Meter Hurdles: 55.20 - 58.96 by Ryann Krais of Methacton in Norristown (Pa).

4x100-Meter Relay: 44.50 - 45.17 by Dunbar in Fort Worth (Tx).

4x200-Meter Relay: 1:33.87 - 1:35.94 by Dunbar in Fort Worth (Tx).

4x400-Meter Relay: 3:35.49 - 3:37.16 by Roosevelt in Greenbelt (Md).

4x800-Meter Relay: 8:50.41 - 8:43.12 by Roosevelt in Greenbelt (Md). (New Usa High School narrative set this year.)

4xMile Relay: 19:56.75 - 20:10.76 by Saugus in La Crescenta (Ca). (No. 3 all-time performance).

Distance Medley Relay: 11:33.42 - 11:42.16 by Roxbury in Succasunna (Nj).

High Jump: 6-4 - 6-0.25 by Victoria Lucas in Midland (Tx).

Pole Vault: 14-1.25 - 14-0 by Rachel Laurent of Vanderbilt Catholic in Houma (La). (No. 2 all-time performer and a threat to break the Usa high school record.)

Long Jump: 22-3 - 20-3.5 by Jacinda Evans of Southern in Durham (Nc).

Triple Jump: 44-11.75 - 42-8.75 indoors by Vashti Thomas of Mt. Pleasant in San Jose (Ca).

Shot Put: 54-10.75 - 52-4 indoors by Karen Shump of Penncrest in Media (Pa).

Discus Throw: 188-4 - 183-11 by Anastasia Jelmini of Shafter (Ca).

Hammer Throw: 201-7 - 179-0 by Victoria Flowers of Classical in Providence (Ri).

Javelin Throw: 176-5 - 167-11 by Hannah Carson of Rhodes Junior High School in Mesa (Az). (New Usa high school freshman record.)

(Note: Leaders based upon marks verified as wind legal in sprints, hurdles and horizontal jumps. Only fully automatic times are listed for sprints and high hurdles.)

2008 Boys and Girls Highlights Thus Far:

All of the highlights in 2008 have thus far been produced by the girls, led by Roosevelt High School's new Usa high school narrative of 8:43.12 in the 4x800-Meter Relay, breaking the current 8:50.41 record. Roosevelt is located in Greenbelt (Md). Think for a moment about how difficult it would be to find 4 girls on a high school track team that could average less than 2:11 for the 800-meter run.

Second best endeavor comes from Jordan Hasay of Mission Prep in San Luis Obispo (Ca). Hasay has run 4:17.46 for the 1,500 Meter and has run two races faster at the same distance in 2007. The Usa high school narrative for the 1,500 is 4:16.6, less than a second away.

Will she set a new Usa high school record? The odds say yes. She also has the current best times nationally in the 3,000-Meter and 3,200-Meter runs as well. She has to be the premier girls high school middle distance runner in the country.

Rachel Laurent of Vanderbilt Catholic High School in Houma (La) is only 1.25 inches shy of matching the Usa high school narrative of 14-feet-1.25 inches in the pole vault. Her best height so far is 14-feet even. Can she set the national record? I say yes, she can.

Watch out for Hannah Carson of Rhodes Junior High School in Mesa (Az). She has thrown the javelin 167-feet-11-inches to set a new Usa high school freshman record. The national narrative is 176-feet-5-inches. Wow, she has an improbable opportunity to garner a national narrative before she graduates from high school.

We will keep you posted on the final 2008 results after the high school district and state meet competitions are held. I am sensing some more new national records from these superior young women.

Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley

Usa High School Track & Field Records And The Current Best 2008 Performances