Cooper Lutkenhaus has a point

1. I agree that they should be high school records because he is in high school.

2. I doubt any high schooler (and most college) runners are getting NIL's worth what his pro contract gives him.

Good point. What are the rules now? Why is he ineligible?

In an NIL world, he absolutely should count.

Of course Cooper's pro contract is on another level from everyone else because of what he has achieved. His point is simply: I still attend high school and other people are getting paid too. Granted, not as much as him, but they're being paid nonetheless.

If I were a future fast high schooler and I ran a 'national record' that wasn't faster than what he's doing, I wouldn't think of it as a high school national record.

I think the only possible difference is that he is accepting prize money and performance incentives and not just a blanket contract regardless of how he performs. NIL money isn't tied to performance.

Does anyone have a link to the rule?

he's a signed pro who will never do another HS or college meet. he gets to do a full schedule of pro meets. how do you get a "HS record" out of that?

it might sound like splitting hairs but IMO he can set U20s all he wants -- a mixed amateur/pro age group honor.

i'd be ok with the record if he maintained HS status. that is the middle position. we will count your record in a meet no other HS kid gets to do -- because you are doing state this year and acting like a HS athlete.

he gave that up.

Not a good link, but in general answer this question. If you don't ever compete will you still get paid? If the answer is no, due to terminology in the contract, then it's a pro contract. If you have an NIL contract it's not tied to any performance, you will still get the money whether you run fast or not. The pro contract has certain requirements of performance, certain meets to compete in, extra incentives for doing well in those races, stuff like that.

we may be talking 2 different things but there's no official "rule" on the records usually. some magazine or body keeps the records. they decide if you're eligible. they may have their own unwritten rules. doesn't count for a college record from a pro meet. doesn't count if you were in school 5 minutes ago but went pro before you set it.

they don't allow NIL in Texas for HS'rs from my knowledge.

What about Quincy Wilson ? New Balance recently released his own signature shoe. How can he be eligible for HS records but not Cooper L?

NFHS is the governing body.

Let's assume that a high school athlete goes pro today but hasn't accepted any prize money. Seems like their times would count until they accepted prize money. Otherwise, they are no different than an NIL athlete at that point.

I’ve never seen a professional sports contract that has performance requirements. If Nike didn’t want to commit to a fixed salary over the term of the contract, some other sponsor would have been willing to do so.

There are so many variations now, it is hard to have a standard for "high school records"

My take, is we should have distinct age group and high school records.

The former is anyone, in any circumstance (training, enrollment, compensation) in that age category.

High school records are for marks achieved by people enrolled in grades 9-12 competing against only other high schoolers.

Exactly. Everyone knows that the real HSRs belong to Lutkenhaus. The fact that he was not running for his HS is basically meaningless.

Agreed. Plus, he is still in high school and he’s training around his high school team, is he not, even if he can’t do high school meets anymore? I mean, is he training with a professional group now with a professional coach? I thought he didn’t change a thing besides being ineligible to do meets w his team.