The 10 Hardest Records to Break
10. Girls 1600m Sprint Medley
Long Beach Wilson 3:51.17 (2001)
Though the splits are not officially recorded here, to break this record you would need two girls to run sub 25- 200s, a 55.00 and a 2:06.16. There are few teams in the nation that could do any one of those splits and to break it you need all four or a combination of those splits to be run indoors!
9. Boys Sprint Medley
John Muir 3:24.69 (1997)
Also missing officials splits, but we can estimate you would need two 22's, a 46, and 1:54.69. You may be asking why we gave them a estimated 46 split for the 400 when the 800 could have clearly been faster... We will explain that later in our list but what should be known is that the only team to come close to this record was anchored by Edward Cheserek and if they cannot catch this record then it is a monster record. The members of this team were: Myrick, McCullough, Tyron, and Obea Moore.
8. Girls Long Jump
Carol Lewis 21-7.50 (1981)
This, like most of the field event records, were set back when track was at its highest level in our country. The 80s were a big time for Track & Field with some of the biggest athletes of our sport polarizing the entire world. From that stems great athletes competing and sometimes, luck that they hit their mark perfectly. The field events are a difficult thing to gauge because you could hit a mark and never come close to it again. Regardless though, this record is the third oldest national girls record on the books and the oldest of all the field events.
7. Girls High Jump
Lisa Bernhagen 6-03 (1984)
To put this in perspective, in Virginia, a strong high jumping state, we have not had a 6ft+ jumper in exactly 40 years! She (Paula Girven) is the only girl to ever break the 72 inch barrier in the history of Virginia T&F. Also to give this record some comparison, the national meet has only seen one 6-0 clearance and that happened in 2002. So needless to say, this record is here to stay for a little while. This is the second oldest field event record.
6. Boys 4x400m Relay
John Muir 3:13.04 (1996)
So, a grand total of one team has come close to this record ever, just shy of breaking it at 3:13.06 and that was New Bern of North Carolina. Though they were a great quartet, they could not achieve the legendary status that John Muir has. Outdoors the following year, Obea's senior year the would run 3:08 outdoors and split (Tyron) 48, (Sh. McCullough) 49.8, (S. McCullough) 45.8, and (Obea Moore) 45.1. Those splits look fast but cover up the fact that Obea Moore ran 45.14 Outdoors as a sophomore! So when you have that type of legendary talent anchoring your teams, you kinda take on another level of legendary status.
5. Girls 300m Dash
Francena McCorory 36.96 (2006)
Call it bias or whatever but this record is flat out ridiculous. In Virginia, one of the few states that runs this event regularly and that has some strong sprinters, we have never seen a girl get within 1.34 seconds of the record... let alone get near it. In fact, only five girls have ever gotten within two seconds of it in Virginia. Only three girls have ever broken 38 seconds and the second fastest all-time is at 37.54. That should discount any bias because that record is legit.
4. Boys Mile
Alan Webb 3:59.86 (2001)
What can we say about this record that the first number in it already says? It is the only high school mile to ever be run under four minutes and has withstood the test of time for 14 years. Could we see it fall this year? The only type of person to break this record will be a freak of nature born to run the mile. We have seen Verzbicas and King Ches both fall short and those two athletes are once in a generation type. This record also deserves high recognition because of what it stands for, this mark and the four minute mile mark is a standard in our sport that everyone is judged against.
3. Girls Mile
Mary Cain 4:24.11 (2014)
We are now in the final three. So, you thought Webb's mile was the most impressive? Wrong. Guess again, his professional counterpart, Mary Cain is the holder of those records. She ran 4:24.11 indoors to set that standard. That is a whopping 16 seconds faster then any other athlete at nationals... compare that to the two second difference on the boys side of things. Agree with it or not about counting her record as a high school record, you have to admit that running 4:24.11 indoors is crazy.
2. Girls 400m Dash
Francena McCorory 51.93 (2006)
This record, more specifically how she set it, is something that will likely never be reproduced ever. We are talking about legitimately one of the greatest runs in the history of high school track and field and it just so happens that it was done by a Bethel great! Francena annihilated her competition and in just one of her few ever indoor high school 400s, decided to show the world she was legit. She ran this 51.93 national record, breaking Sanya Richards-Ross' mark (which is impressive in its own right), on PG's track! That is right, she ran sub 52 on a flat track. Sanya's record was set at the Armory with competition and on a banked track. There is not much you can say aside from the facts.
1. Boy's Long Jump
Dion Bentley 26-06.50 (1989)
In the MileSplit era, not a single jumper has got within nine inches of his mark. It it the second oldest record on the books and the one also that seems to just be untouchable. What can we say, no one has come close, no one will probably ever come close? The only thing we do know is that you are going to need the perfect athlete, with a flawless combination of speed of technique to even have a shot at taking down this record. Someone with Noah Lyles' speed and John Warren's jumping abilities but all in one. Next time we see someone like that, which could be another 25 years, then and only then could this record become vulnerable.