Holt Field, home of the Tigers and our amazing eight-million dollar Track and Field facility. Photo courtesy of editor Trey Walter.
At San Luis Obispo High School, track and field is a popular sport where everyone has their own records for their events. The average track athlete at SLOHS personal records are becoming increasingly outran, jumped, and thrown by freak athletes from Texas, Georgia, and Florida. With all of these high school athletes running so fast it begs a question: is SLOHS slow?
“Athletes are getting better because, you know, better research leads to better training and better weight lifting, which makes for better athletes,” said senior Track and Field sprinter and thrower Abel Ritter.
Teenagers are running so fast they are beginning to qualify for the Olympics. 16-year-old WHAT HS? high school junior Quincy Wilson recently competed in the American 4×400 meter dash team at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
High school track athletes across the country are constantly raising the bar for what is possible for a teenager to achieve. However, the average track athlete is just there to have some fun and improve themselves, not to compare with others.
“I do feel like our track athletes are becoming more athletic. Coach Steele has us on a very strict workout schedule. And you know, he has the sprinters always running. I never see those guys stop and the throwers, you know, you might think they’re some big fatties, but actually, they’re some pretty athletic people, you know, always lifting them weights,” said sophomore thrower Silo Villani.
On March 7 at the 2025 Texas A&M Bluebonnet Invitational, not only did the senior Brayden Williams from Duncanville High School run a 9.99 second 100m dash, but in that same race the freshman Dillon Mitchell from C.E. King High School ran a 10.29 second 100 meter dash. What makes this even crazier is that the week after that Mitchell ran a 10.07 second 100 meter dash. That’s only 0.49 seconds off of Usain Bolt’s 100 meter dash world record as a freshman!
“Track athletes have definitely gotten faster. Track inflation is real,” said sophomore sprinter and jumper Jackson Sullivan.
The fastest time that SLOHS High has had since 2015 for the men’s 100-meter dash was broken last year by transfer student from Mission Prep Wyatt Maulhardt. Not only did he break that record, but he broke the men’s 200-meter dash record for SLOHS which was also last set in 2015.
Despite our previous records, we are still a competitive team in our league. But compared to the rest of the country, SLOHS athletes just can’t compete. Support our Tiger track and field athletes at our next home meet on April 2, and don’t let this get to your head, tigers.
There’s always room for improvement, and when in doubt, just run faster!
Source: Athletic.net,Olympics.com
