The list of United States high-school national records in
track and field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...
is separated by indoor and outdoor and boys and girls who have set a national record in their respective events.
While these records have been compiled for over 100 years, there are varying standards for these records. The
National Federation of State High School Associations
The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) is the body that writes the rules of competition for most high school sports and activities in the United States. NFHS's headquarters are located in White River State Park in Indi ...
(NFHS) compiles records based only upon competitions its state affiliates sanction. Those would be scholastic dual meets, high-school-only invitationals and championship meets up through the individual state championships.
''
Track and Field News
''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on runni ...
'' ''(T&FN)'' has tracked records by any American high school students, in any competition until they enter college. These records include marks made in open competition against higher-level competitors, post-season meets and international competition up until August 31 following their high-school graduation.
Since there are no national championships in high-school competition, post-state-championship meets that proclaim such a position are not sanctioned by the NFHS and thus fall only under the ''T&FN'' guidelines.
Additionally, high-school competition is conducted under slightly different rules, which have evolved over time. For example, in 1980, high schools converted their running distances from Imperial (yards) to metric, but instead of running conventional international distances like
1500 metres
The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...
in place of the mile run, a more equitable but non-standard 1600 meters was chosen. For the two-
mile run
The mile run (1,760 yards or exactly 1,609.344 metres) is a middle-distance foot race.
The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling races. It survived track and field's switch to ...
, they run 3200 meters. For the long-hurdle race, they run 300 meters instead of the
400 metres hurdles
The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women.
On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once a ...
. Some states ran over lower hurdle heights for a period of time. In field events, boys throw different weights of their implements than with international open division or the more comparable junior-division implements. Some states throw javelin or hammer, while the majority do not. Over time, this has resulted in statisticians collecting results and performing conversions as athletes have run different distances, jumped different hurdles and thrown different weights. Invitational meets have offered an assortment of legacy events and an array of relays, which allow each new generation of athlete a legitimate opportunity to compete in all these events, effectively keeping all records relevant and contemporary.
On this list, marks listed as the NFHS record with no other marks listed for that event, are the universally accepted record in the current official events.
Outdoor
;Key:
Boys
Girls
Indoor
;Key:
Boys
Girls
Notes
References
;General
Track and Field News boys records – Outdoor''21 April 2022 updated''Track and Field News girls records – Outdoor''21 August 2022 updated''Track and Field News boys records – Indoor''25 March 2022 updated''Track and Field News girls records – Indoor''25 March 2022 updated''NFHS National High School record bookNFHS National High School Track and Field Records – BoysNFHS National High School Track and Field Records – Girls''3 June 2022 updated''
;Specific
{{DEFAULTSORT:United States high school national records in track and field
United States high school
track and field, high school
High school records
Track and field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...