Best High School Performance of All-Time

I think we have an answer to this now. I don't think any other high schoolers are gonna touch 19.49 anytime soon.

This is the correct answer. It’s hard to even fathom. Can you imagine Colin Sahlman beating Jakob? Yes, that’s what happened in San Diego in 1965. It is the greatest achievement by a high school athlete, period.

Knighton's 19.49 200m >

The time is insane, but for this race to have the same impact as Ryun’s, he needed to beat De Grasse. The competition matters.

In what world is a 3.55 mile better than a 19.49 200m run??? No one cares who he beat.

I always think of Charlotte Moore running 1:59 for the 800m when she was 17.

You do realize it was 1965? Ryun broke the American record with that 3:55.3. At the time it was the 4th fastest mile ever. Did Knighton break the American record? No. This mark was the high school record for 36 years

And this is 2022. Track and field events have only gotten much harder since 1965. Do you even realise how hard is it to break any elite sprint or throw record nowadays compared to those days?

Agreed.

Knighton’s performance was incredible and certainly the greatest sprint performance of all time. As a pure feat of human performance given what humans were able to do in 1965 v 2022 it’s hard to say if it’s better or not, but I’ll give it to you, that it was. But what would Ryun’s time have been on a good track and with dragonflys? Also, sprinters mature earlier than distance runners, especially in the 200 it seems. Certainly, as a performance that anybody cares about, Knighton’s run was a tiny blip and Ryun’s had a seismic impact. Ryun’s landed on the cover of SI. He was on the front page of every newspaper. He was a national hero. If you really think that there’s no comparison between these prrformances, then you don’t understand the history of the sport nor the evolution of human athletic performance.

He is a paid pro. He is not eligible for HS competition.

Ryun ran 3:55.3 on June 12, 1965, defeating the Olympic champion, Peter Snell who held the mile WR at 3:54.1 until June 9, 1965. On June 9, 1965, Michel Jazy set the WR at 3:53.6 at a race in France.

The 3:55.3 was within 0.51% of the recently set mile WR.

Knighton's (non-HS eligible) 200m time is 19.49 is within 1.6% of Bolt's WR.

That Swedish kid from Louisiana in the Pole Vault

Ok, so it wasn't technically the best high school performance but it might be the best performance by a high schooler.

Although i still might go with the only high schooler and youngest T&F athlete to win an Olympic Gold.

Are we talking one-off performances or like one-day performances? I was impressed with German's 1600/3200 double at California State Meet. Didn't he run like 4:00 and 8:39 within like two hours of each other? (Not sure of exact times but I think I'm close?). That to me is the greatest high school only performance of all time...

It was 4:00/8:34. That was impressive for sure, but not nearly the greatest I don’t think. Both Ryun’s 3:55 over Snell and Knighton’s 19.49 (if we’re including it) are on another level.

Ah, “high school only.” My bad.

There are really 5 categories.

HS athletes competing in their state’s sanctioned competitions. German’s double and Ryun’s sub-4 at their state meets meet fall into this category.

Events for high school only competitors that are not NFHS sanctioned, such as the post-season XC and track meets.

Events where athletes still HS eligible compete against pro athletes. Webb’s 3:53, Colin’s 3:58, etc.

Athletes that are still in HS but have signed pro contracts and compete as pros. Knighton, Cain, etc.

A final category would for athletes competing when only amateurs were eligible for Olympic competition. Mathias and Ryun competed against the best in the world as high schoolers but they were not technically competing against pros.

HS runners are relatively better at races <5' duration. The 3000, 5000, 10000 need many more years of conditioning work. A high jumper, vaulter or thrower can be fully developed physically and technically advanced at 17, depending on the genetics, environment and access to proficient coaching.

The way to look at the records is to ask which has been around the longest, then adjust as needed for the shoes and the added numbers of HS participants in HS all star and open competition.

No HS 4x8 team is going to double back to run 7:27 with three of those legs solo.