How fast to be on average high school 4x400 team?

and what about the 4x200?

About 90 seconds approximately.

My two cents worth. An average girls team does not break 4 minutes, so low 60s would get you there. On a fast girls team you would have to be sub 60. An average boys team probably runs around 3:30, so 53 seconds or so. A fast team gets under 3:20 so sub 50.

To be on my schools team you would have to be sub 51

If were talking average based on team/school, 55-56 seconds to make the relay team.

This is because there are many more small schools than large schools, even though a majority of students probably attend large schools based on population distribution. There are lots of small schools out there that only have a handful guys who can break 1 minute. The 4x4 D team from a large school outside of Philadelphia will probably beat the 4x4 A team from somewhere in Vermont.

If the population was evenly distributed that number would be closer to 53.

I remember a couple times in HS when we'd go against some of the not-so-good teams in the county, the coaches would throw me on 4x4 running 57-58 (I'm a distance runner and I was tired from the mile, 800, 2 mile etc.) and we'd win the relay in like 3:50.

Kwuntie Latisha Plop wrote:

About 90 seconds approximately.

Maybe at Vatican City high school. All others, a bit faster...

I'd say 53ish for boys. No clue for girls.

I was a 52ish 400 runner and an alternate on my HS's team and would step in when 1 of the top 4 were hurt or otherwise occupied with other events or needed a rest. This was an above average team but not a state-wide contender.

We had a shot putter on my school 4X400 team after the 2 miler couldn't do it.

people forget how many bad teams there are wrote:

If were talking average based on team/school, 55-56 seconds to make the relay team.

This is because there are many more small schools than large schools, even though a majority of students probably attend large schools based on population distribution. There are lots of small schools out there that only have a handful guys who can break 1 minute. The 4x4 D team from a large school outside of Philadelphia will probably beat the 4x4 A team from somewhere in Vermont.

If the population was evenly distributed that number would be closer to 53.

This. Having been at duals/tris/quads where 3:45 wins. Heck, go look at Penn Relays which runs HOURS of 4x4s, most heats are won above 3:28, with plenty of teams running closer to 3:40+.

For Girls, I'd guess 4:35.

Obviously it depends on the rest of the talent in your school, but a 52.x open time will get you on most around the country, and 53 or 54 will get you on in many places. Anything slower than that and you would likely have to be at a smaller school or one without much talent. Anything is possible, however....I ran against plenty of weak teams in HS who only averaged 55-56 for the entire team.

An average good high school 4x400 is 3:20. (Equal to a 4:20 miler)

A 3:20 4x400 requires some talent but not out of this world talent. 4 dedicated hard working 400m guys should be able to go 3:20.

3_20 wrote:

An average good high school 4x400 is 3:20. (Equal to a 4:20 miler)

A 3:20 4x400 requires some talent but not out of this world talent. 4 dedicated hard working 400m guys should be able to go 3:20.

3:20 4 x400m is NOT the national average. If we were to search high school 4x400m records or converted high school 4x440yds records, the average high school record would be between 3:25 to 3:27.5

51-56 for boys

56-65 for girls

Anything faster/slower is outside the norm

Phillllyyyy wrote:

[quote]people forget how many bad teams there are wrote:

This. Having been at duals/tris/quads where 3:45 wins. Heck, go look at Penn Relays which runs HOURS of 4x4s, most heats are won above 3:28, with plenty of teams running closer to 3:40+.

For Girls, I'd guess 4:35.

Penn relays is a fun sample since it shows just how wildly off-base most of the suggested times in this thread are.

Out of 532 teams which raced a high school boys 4x4 at Penn, exactly 12 teams went 3:20.99 or faster. Just over 2%. 142 teams ran 3:30.99 or faster--just under 27%.

3:20 is really, really good. Good enough for a podium finish in ~90% of the country's state meets. Good enough to comfortably make state finals anywhere other than California and Texas.

For reference, the exact 50th percentile team at this year's Penn relays ran 3:37--i.e., four guys going 54-55. Penn isn't a perfectly representative sample though--many teams that can't field a competitive 4x4 won't attend, small schools without the capacity to travel super far for more than a handful of invites a year won't attend, etc. I'd agree that the true average probably runs closer to 3:45.

You run a 54-55 quarter, you're on a varsity 4x4 at most high schools.

That explains it

JoggyHobber wrote:

To be on my schools team you would have to be sub 51

Same with the high school team that I ran for, but I would say that we were above average.

53-54 seems about right for the slowest leg of an average relay team.

If the school is above 1000 students and is "average" at track I'd say 53-55 for a boy and 66-68 for a girl.

Smaller schools a little slower.

More competitive or larger schools at little faster.

53 for guys

some will be faster where you need sub 50 but those are only the best of the best

even when both lyles brothers were in high school and they were on a ~3:17 team they had a 53 guy. good ol' tom

The high school I went to is one that I would call pretty average. About 1600 students in a relatively rural area, and while we typically sent a handful of athletes to the State Championships (North Carolina - 4A), we were never a team contender.

I was on our 4x400 "A-team". Our fastest guy could go about 51-low on a good day. I was usually a few tenths behind him. Then we had a couple 53/54 dudes. We did alright in our conference/district, but never qualified for State.

I think going under 55 should be enough to get you on an average high school 4x400 team.