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This spring’s high school 110-meter hurdles have turned into a national showcase: multiple prep athletes are producing times that once would have been extraordinary, and a handful are now orbiting the long-standing national benchmark. For fans and college recruiters alike, the race to run a legal sub-13.1 has become the season’s defining storyline.
Across state meets and early invitationals, a new performance floor has emerged — runs in the mid-13s are no longer exceptional, they’re expected. That shift has tightened competition and raised the stakes for anyone hoping to sniff national honors.
Texas at the center of the surge
Some of the fastest marks this season have come out of Texas. Avonte Earl of Worthing High School (Houston) has posted a wind-legal 13.32, while Klein Collins senior Andrew Jones has delivered a string of performances that have grabbed headlines.
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Jones recorded a 12.97 with a +2.8 m/s tailwind — the quickest time ever logged by a U.S. high-schooler under any conditions, but over the allowable wind limit for official records. His best under legal wind is 13.15, which currently ranks among the fastest certified high-school times on record. Earlier in the spring he also set a national high-school mark in the 300 hurdles, clocking 34.72 in mid-April, a sign of his range over barriers.
How close is the national mark?
The official U.S. high-school record stands at 13.08, set by Wayne Davis in 2009. That benchmark is within reach for the handful of athletes running low-13s this season, but any attempt at the record must meet strict wind and timing rules to be ratified.
Immediate challengers
Several athletes look positioned to push Jones at a national championship: Rylan Hainje of Franklin Central (Indianapolis) has posted a 13.29, and Gar-Field’s Joshua-Kai Smith — a University of Florida recruit — has a 13.17 that was heavily affected by wind. The depth extends beyond the usual hotbeds.
- Andrew Jones (Klein Collins, TX) — 12.97 (+2.8 m/s, wind-aided); official best 13.15 (legal)
- Avonte Earl (Worthing, TX) — 13.32 (legal)
- Rylan Hainje (Franklin Central, IN) — 13.29 (legal)
- Joshua‑Kai Smith (Gar‑Field, VA) — 13.17 (wind-aided)
- Jackson Conroy (Loveland, CO) — 13.40 (+2.1 m/s, wind-aided)
- Spencer Van Orden (Highland, ID) — 13.44 (legal)
- Kellan Krueger (Big Sky, MT) — 13.66 (legal)
- Chase Young (De La Salle, CA) — 13.67 (1.7 m/s, legal)
- Niyer Claiborne (Wisconsin Lutheran, WI) — 13.67 (legal)
Depth in unexpected places
Beyond traditional sprint hubs, strong times are emerging from the Mountain West and other regions often overlooked for sprint hurdling. That geographic spread increases the likelihood of surprising developments at national-level meets and gives college coaches more candidates to follow.
Recruiting implications are immediate: low-13 performances — especially those achieved in wind-legal conditions — draw Division I interest and shape late-season invitational lineups.
How to read the times
Not all fast marks are equal. Races run with a tailwind above +2.0 m/s are labeled wind-aided and cannot be used for official record purposes. Timing method matters too: modern records require fully automatic timing; older hand-timed marks can’t be compared directly without adjustment.
For historical perspective, Renaldo Nehemiah ran a hand-timed 12.9 in 1977 over 120 yards — a celebrated performance in its era — but differences in distance and timing methods mean today’s electronically timed 110-meter marks are compared on different terms.
Coaches and meet officials will be watching conditions closely over the next month: legal wind readings and automatic timing are the gatekeepers for any attempt at rewriting the record books.
With the regular season still unfolding, the 110 hurdles have become a must-watch event. Expect continued headlines as athletes chase legal low-13 runs and the first certified sub-13 in decades becomes a real possibility.
