How fast were top track and field sprinters in high school?
With both the Canadian and US track and field championships in the rearview mirror, it’s time to take a look back at some of the meets’ stand-out athletes and performances.
Particularly, I’m keen to dive into the sprints and hurdles events to find out how fast the winners — and a handful of other big-name athletes — were when they were in high school.
Now, if you’re a high school sprinter reading this, don’t be intimidated. Keep in mind that these are some of the top athletes in the world today and there’s plenty of space in the sport at both the collegiate and pro levels for athletes who weren’t quite on this level in high school.
Also keep in mind that the best way to grow as a track and field athlete is to create a Streamline Athletes profile, browse college and university teams, get recruited, and go from there.
I’ve broken it down by event below.
100m
Men
Aaron Brown (Canada) and Christian Coleman (USA) each clocked times of 9.96 in their respective semi-final rounds over the weekend. With a 9.98 in the semi-final, Andre De Grasse (Canada) was the third of three total from both meets to dip under the 10-second mark. Coleman won the USA 100-metre final in 9.99, while Brown and De Grasse had to go to the hundredth of a second to determine whose 10.03 was faster — Brown came away with the win.
Now let’s see what each of these guys were running over 100 metres in their final year of high school:
High school times for 100m men:
- Christian Coleman (2014 100m SB): 10.30 🇺🇸
- Aaron Brown (2010 100m SB): 10.47 🇨🇦
- Andre De Grasse (2012 100m SB): 10.59 🇨🇦
Women
The fastest women over 100 metres over the weekend were Crystal Emmanuel (Canada) and English Gardner (USA), who both ran 11.16 semi-final rounds. Emmanuel would roll on to record an 11.17 to capture the win in the Canadian final. On the American side of the border, Teahna Daniels took the final W in 11.20. Also competing in the American final was newly-turned pro, NCAA champion, and collegiate record holder (10.75), Sha’Carri Richardson.
High school times for 100m women:
- Teahna Daniels (2012 100m SB): 11.24 🇺🇸
- Sha’Carri Richardson (2018 100m SB): 11.53 🇺🇸
- English Gardner (2014 100m SB): 11.56 🇺🇸
- Crystal Emmanuel (2010 100m SB): 11.59 🇨🇦
200m
Men
No one has run 200 metres as fast as Noah Lyles (USA) so far in 2019 — his 19.50 marks the world-leading time in the half-lap event. His dominance flowed into this past weekend, too. Lyles was the only athlete to break 20 seconds at either the Canadian or US meet. And he went way under, clocking 19.78 in the final.
High school times for 200m men:
- Noah Lyles (2015 200m SB): 20.18 🇺🇸
Women
The standout performer in the women’s 200-metre event across both championship meets was Dezerea Bryant (USA), who won the final in 22.47. Angie Annelus (USA) has the fastest time among Canadian and American women so far in 2019 at 22.16; she finished 3rd in the USA 200m final.
High school times for 200m women:
- Dezerea Bryant (2011 200m SB): 23.01 🇺🇸
- Angie Annelus (2015 200m SB): 23.30 🇺🇸
400m
Men
The Americans took the spotlight in the men’s 400-metre event. Fred Kerley beat Michael Norman to the line, running the world’s second fastest 400 of 2019 in 43.64. The only faster time this year belongs to Norman himself, who ran an early-season 43.45 that’s been in the world-leading spot since April.
High school times for 400m men:
- Michael Norman (2015 400m SB): 45.19 🇺🇸
*The earliest outdoor 400m time I can find for Fred Kerley is a 46.38 from 2014, which is the year after he finished high school.
Women
Far and away the fastest (and second fastest) women’s 400-metre times both came from Shakima Wimbley (USA), who recorded a time of 50.20 seconds in the semi-final and 50.21 to win the final. Also of special note was Allyson Felix, who qualified for the final after a four-month post-C-section training block in pursuit of her ninth World Championships appearance. Her 49.26 from 2015 makes her the 20th fastest woman of all time over 400 metres.
High school times for 400m women:
- Allyson Felix (2003 400m SB): 52.26 🇺🇸
- Shakima Wimbley (2013 400m SB): 53.67 🇺🇸
110mH
Men
Daniel Roberts (USA) ran consistently through each round of the men’s 110-metre hurdles event, topping out at 13.23 to win the final American final. Roberts was able to take the win from the man who beat him earlier this season for the NCAA title in the same event, Grant Holloway. Holloway recorded a time of 13.36 this past weekend and won the NCAA in a collegiate record of 12.98.
Damian Warner was Canada’s fastest, winning by a wide margin in 13.53.
High school times for 110mH men:
- Grant Holloway (2015 110mH SB): 13.75 🇺🇸
*The earliest outdoor 110mH time I can find for Daniel Roberts is a 13.82 from 2016, which is the year after he finished high school.
100mH
Women
Keni Harrison (USA) ran the two fastest 100-metre hurdles times: 12.54 in the semi and 12.44 in the final. Harrison is the third fastest woman in the world in this event so far in 2019.
High school times for 100mH women:
- Keni Harrison (2010 100mH SB): 13.79 🇺🇸
400mH
Men
On the American side, Rai Benjamin went into the weekend as the favourite in the 400-metre hurdles event, having recorded at 47.16 in June. And that’s exactly what happened: Benjamin crushed the competition and won the final in 47.23.
High school times for 400mH men:
- Rai Benjamin (2015 400mH SB): 49.97 🇺🇸
Women
Quite possibly the top highlight from across both the Canadian and American championships held this past weekend was the women’s 400-metre hurdles. In Des Moines, IA, Dalilah Muhammad (USA) stormed through the rain to set a new world record in the event. Muhammad clocked a staggering time of 52.20. On her heels and pushing her to the finish was 19-year-old phenom, Sydney McLaughlin, who crossed the line in 52.88 — her fastest time of 2019.
High school times for 400mH women:
- Sydney McLaughlin (2017 400mH SB): 53.82 🇺🇸
- Dalilah Muhammad (2008 400mH SB): 57.81 🇺🇸
