Fastest High School Sprinters of All Time

The fastest high school sprinters in history went on to do great things.

Best High School Sprinters of All Time

There is something breathtaking about watching a truly great sprinter. It's the reason that track and field events at the Summer Olympics are among the most watched in the world.

And those truly great sprinters don't just pop up at the Olympics out of nowhere — they spend years honing their speed. The time when they begin to separate themselves from the pack is usually in high school when elite sprinters quite literally jump on the radars of coaches from top colleges.

Here's a look at the greatest high school sprinters of all time, based on their fastest prep times in the 100-meter dash.

28. Rod Richardson (Tie)

High school: Fair Park High School (Shreveport, Louisiana)

100-meter dash time: 10.20

Year: 1980

For these rankings, we used data from the National Federation of State High School Association record book, the Track and Field News career record book and record books from states' official high school sports governing bodies.

Bottom Line: Rod Richardson

We start this list off with a truly great sprinter in "Rocket" Rod Richardson of Fair Park High, who happens to be part of a five-way tie in the 28th spot.

Richardson led now-shuttered Fair Park High to a state championship in 1980, the year he reeled off his 10.20-second 100-meter dash, making them the last Shreveport-area school to pull off that feat competing in Louisiana's largest high school division.

Richardson played football and ran track and field at Texas A&M where he won three NCAA indoor national championships in the 60-meter dash and was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 1994.

28. Tim Thompson (Tie)

High school: Boys Town High School (Boys Town, Nebraska)

100-meter dash time: 10.20

Year: 2010

Bottom Line: Tim Thompson

The fastest 100-meter dash time in Nebraska history — and one of the fastest high school times ever — belongs to an improbable story in Tim Thompson.

Thompson never won a state championship in the 100 meters in high school but did in the 400-meter relay, and he reeled off his blazing, record time at the Platteview Invitational on April Fool's Day.

To show how remarkable Thompson's record run was, he was a three-time All-American at the University of Nebraska, where the fastest 100-meter dash time he registered was 10.37 seconds.

28. L'eron George (Tie)

High school: Carter High School (Dallas, Texas)

100-meter dash time: 10.20

Year: 1999

Bottom Line: L'eron George

L'eron George had big-time success at Dallas Carter High — yes, the school from Friday Night Lights — running a 10.20-second 100-meter dash in 1999 then parlaying that into a spot on the U.S. 400-meter relay team for the Junior Pan American Games that summer.

George won a gold medal at the Junior Pan American Games, helping lift a team that clocked in at a blazing, 39.78 seconds. George also finished fourth in the 200-meter dash.

George ran in college for the University of Oklahoma, at the same time he also participated for the U.S. in the World Junior Championships.

28. John Lampert (Tie)

High school: Wylie High School (Abilene, Texas)

100-meter dash time: 10.20

Year: 2002

Bottom Line: John Lampert

Few athletes in Texas history have been as big, as fast and as talented as Wylie High's John Lampert.

Lampert was 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds as a senior when he reeled off a 10.20-second time in the 100-meter dash. He was also the state long-jump champion as a junior and senior when he recorded the top long jump mark for a high schooler in the country.

Lampert's future wasn't on the track — he ended up playing college football in the Big Ten for Purdue, where he converted from safety to linebacker.

28. Antonio Freeman (Tie)

High school: Wauwatosa West High School (Wauwatosa, Wisconsin)

100-meter dash time: 10.20

Year: 2003

Bottom Line: Antonio Freeman

Antonio Freeman won six Wisconsin state championships in track and field during his final two years at Wauwatosa West High, sweeping the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash along with relay wins both years.

Freeman, like so many players on this list, saw his future on the football field and went to play for the University of Wisconsin.

Freeman was inducted into the Wisconsin Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2017.

26. Mike Martin (Tie)

High school: Ball High School (Galveston, Texas)

100-meter dash time: 10.19

Year: 1997

Bottom Line: Mike Martin

Ball High's Mike Martin had track fans buzzing in Texas when he was a senior in 1997. That's because he didn't lose a single 100-meter dash race that year on the way to winning the Class 5A state championship.

That same year, Ball also took third in the 200-meter dash and anchored the 400-meter relay team to a fourth-place finish. In all, Martin scored 18 of Ball High's 24 total points for a sixth-place finish in the team standings.

26. Tyreek Hill (Tie)

High school: Coffee County High School (Douglas, Georgia)

100-meter dash time: 10.19

Year: 2012

Bottom Line: Tyreek Hill

If you've watched any NFL games in recent years, you know Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill as one of the most exciting players in the game and one of the fastest players in NFL history.

Hill's speed was built at Coffee County High School in Douglas, Georgia, where he ran the fastest 100-meter and 200-meter dash times for a high school sprinter in the nation in 2012.

Hill's time in the 200 meters that year of 20.14 seconds would've placed him fifth in the 2016 Summer Olympics.

23. Lubeech Graves (Tie)

High school: Cairo High School (Cairo, Illinois)

100-meter dash time: 10.18

Year: 1990

Bottom Line: Lubeech Graves

Cairo High's Lubeech Graves was at his best in the Illinois Class A state tournament, winning both the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash state titles for three consecutive years, along with anchoring the 400-meter relay to two state titles and the 800-meter state title as a senior.

There's not much known about Graves' collegiate career other than that he went and ran for Blinn College in Brenham, Texas, for at least one season.

23. Ryan Clark (Tie)

High school: Banneker High School (Atlanta, Georgia)

100-meter dash time: 10.18

Year: 2015

Bottom Line: Ryan Clark

Ryan Clark broke Tyreek Hill's state record with a 10.18-second 100-meter dash in 2015, then won the 100-meter, 200-meter and 1600-meter relay titles at the Class 5A state championships that year.

Clark was named the Georgia Gatorade Track and Field Athlete of the Year for his efforts and signed with the University of Florida.

Clark was a 13-time All-American for the Gators and anchored the national championship-winning 400-meter relay team as a senior in 2019. That relay team set the NCAA record with a time of 37.97 seconds.

23. Roy Martin (Tie)

High school: Roosevelt High School (Dallas, Texas)

100-meter dash time: 10.18

Year: 1985

Bottom Line: Roy Martin

As a senior in 1985, Roy Martin's 10.18-second 100-meter dash was a secondary story to his national record, 20.13-second time in the 200-meter dash, which also ranked him No. 3 in the world.

Martin's record in the 200 stood for 31 years, and he was the first two-time winner of the Track and Field News High School Athlete of the Year award. Martin ran briefly in college for SMU, where he anchored the 400-meter relay team as a freshman and ran the 200 in the 1988 Summer Olympics.

21. Aaron Ernest (Tie)

High school: Homewood High School (Homewood, Alabama)

100-meter dash time: 10.17

Year: 2011

Bottom Line: Aaron Ernest

Aaron Ernest was a star football player at Homewood High School but picked track at LSU over football scholarship offers from Alabama and Kentucky.

At LSU, he was an 11-time All-American, which was fourth in school history. He also won three SEC championships.

Ernest ran track professionally for three years before returning to play football — he ran a 4.31-second 40-yard dash at LSU's Pro Day and received a minicamp invite from the Seattle Seahawks in 2018.

21. Emmanuel Brown (Tie)

High school: Wilmer-Hutchins High School (Dallas, Texas)

100-meter dash time: 10.17

Year: 1991

Bottom Line: Emmanuel Brown

The fickle nature of track and field success shows itself here once again with former Wilmer-Hutchins star sprinter Emmanuel Brown.

Aside from recording a blazing, 10.17-second time in the 100-meter dash in 1991, there isn't much record of how Brown's career played out beyond high school.

We do know that 1990-91 was a big year for Brown — he won a Class 4A state championship in football that fall.

19. Ivory Williams (Tie)

High school: Central High School (Beaumont, Texas)

100-meter dash time: 10.16

Year: 2003

Bottom Line: Ivory Williams

Ivory Williams was one of the most dominant sprinters in Texas high school track and field history and didn't lose a single race as a senior in 2003. Then, he ran collegiately at the University of Houston.

Williams narrowly missed out on making the U.S. Olympic team in 2008 and 2012 and was the U.S. Indoor champion in the 60-meter dash in 2010. He was the favorite to win the 2010 Indoor World Championships in the 60 meters but was banned from the competition when he failed a drug test for marijuana.

19. Houston McTear (Tie)

High school: Baker High School (Baker, Florida)

100-meter dash time: 10.16

Year: 1976

Bottom Line: Houston McTear

Houston McTear went from abject poverty in the Florida panhandle to international track stardom in the late 1970s.

McTear qualified for the 1976 Summer Olympics but had to miss the games because of an achilles tendon injury. He was coming into his prime in 1980 when the U.S. made the decision to boycott that year's Summer Olympics.

McTear fell into drug addiction and homelessness in the years after his Olympic window shut. He stayed overseas, where most of his pro career played out and died in Sweden in 2015 at 58 years old.

15. Brendan Christian (Tie)

High school: Reagan High School (Austin, Texas)

100-meter dash time: 10.15

Year: 2002

Bottom Line: Brendan Christian

Brendan Christian starred for Reagan High — now Northeast High — and was named the Gatorade National Track and Field Athlete of the Year in 2002.

The son of Antiguan cycling star and former Olympian Donald Christian, Brendan Christian ran the fastest 100-meter and 200-meter times in the country and set the national indoor record in the 200 meters as a senior.

Brendan was a multiple time All-American at the University of Texas and ran sprints for Antigua Barbuda in the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics.

15. James Reese (Tie)

High school: Mansfield High School (Mansfield, Texas)

100-meter dash time: 10.15

Year: 1990

Bottom Line: James Reese

James Reese's first love was football, but a knee injury just weeks before his senior season forced him to turn his total focus to track and field.

The extra focus helped Reese drop his time in the 200-meter dash from 22.9 seconds as a junior to 20.9 seconds as a senior in 1990 when he also reeled off his 10.15-second 100-meter mark.

Reese's emergence in track earned him a scholarship from national power University of Arkansas, but shortly after he signed, he severely injured his knee at the Texas state track meet.

15. Jaylon Hicks (Tie)

High school: North Shore High School (Houston, Texas)

100-meter dash time: 10.15

Year: 2011

Bottom Line: Jaylon Hicks

Jaylon Hicks grabbed the individual spotlight at the 2011 Texas state championships by winning the 100-meter dash title in a blazing, 10.15 seconds.

Hicks also had plenty of team success — he also ran relays on three consecutive Class 5A state championship teams for North Shore High.

Hicks set the school record in the 100 meters at NCAA Division II Academy of Art University in 2013 but missed the NCAA Division II finals by .01 seconds in the preliminary heats.

15. Henry Neal (Tie)

High school: Greenville High School (Greenville, Texas)

100-meter dash time: 10.15

Year: 1990

Bottom Line: Henry Neal

Henry Neal had a flair for the dramatic at Greenville High when he ran a speedy 10.15 seconds in the 100-meter dash finals at the 1990 Texas state championships in front of 32,000 fans. Neal had to beat future NCAA 100-meter champion Samuel Jefferson and future Notre Dame football star Mike Miller in the finals that year.

Neal, 5-foot-8 and 175 pounds, also won state titles in the 200 and triple jump before winning seven NJCAA national championships at Blinn College and setting the national record in the 100.

In 1995, Neal missed the world indoor record in the 55-meter dash by .02 seconds.

14. Derrick Florence

High school: Ball High School (Galveston, Texas)

100-meter dash time: 10.13

Year: 1986

Bottom Line: Derrick Florence

Few high school sprinters have shined as bright as Derrick Florence, who was celebrated as the future of track and field during a standout career at Galveston's Ball High in the mid-1980s when he consistently beat future Olympic legend Michael Johnson.

Florence won a gold medal in the 100-meter dash at the World Junior Championships in 1986 and was named Track and Field News High School Athlete of the Year before he signed with Texas A&M.

Florence had a standout college career in relays, where he was part of 400-meter and 1600-meter relay teams that set school records.

13. Anthony Jones

High school: Danville High School (Danville, Illinois)

100-meter dash time: 10.10

Year: 1990

Bottom Line: Anthony Jones

Anthony Jones has kept his spot among the fastest high school sprinters of all time for over 30 years after a standout career at Danville High, where he was named Illinois Gatorade Track and Field Athlete of the Year in 1990 despite not winning a state title.

Jones starred at the University of Illinois as well, where he was named 1991 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and led the Illini to the 1994 Big Ten Outdoor Championship by winning the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.10 seconds.

Jones eventually became a high school track coach at Science Hill High School in Johnson City, Tennessee.

9. Anthony Schwartz (Tie)

High school: American Heritage High School (Plantation, Florida)

100-meter dash times: 10.07 (2018), 10.09 (2018), 10.13 (2018), 10.15 (2017)

Bottom Line: Anthony Schwartz

If you've watched college football the last few seasons, you probably know Anthony Schwartz as a blazing-fast wide receiver for Auburn University.

Before that, Schwartz recorded more Top 25 times in the 100-meter dash than any other high school sprinter in history, with four times 10.15 seconds or under in 2017 and 2018, led by his 10.07 time in 2018.

Schwartz racked up 117 catches for 1,433 yards in three seasons at Auburn before declaring early for the 2021 NFL Draft after he ran a 4.26-second 40-yard dash at Pro Day. Schwartz was selected in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns.

9. Joseph Sheffield (Tie)

High school: Rowlett High School (Rowlett, Texas)

100-meter dash time: 10.07

Year: 2017

Bottom Line: Joseph Sheffield

Showing what a fickle sport track can be, Joseph Sheffield owns one of the best 100-meter dash times for any high school sprinter ever but never won a state championship.

Sheffield finished as the runner-up at the Texas state championships in the 100 in 2016 and was also a two-time state runner-up in the 400-meter relay.

At the University of Oklahoma, Sheffield was an All-American in the 400 relay in 2019. He was having a breakout year in indoor track in 2020, especially in the 60-meter dash, before the season was canceled.

9. Noah Lyles (Tie)

High school: T.C. Williams High School (Alexandria, Virginia)

100-meter dash times: 10.07, 10.14

Year: 2015

Bottom Line: Noah Lyles

The son of former Seton Hall track stars Keisha Cane and Kevin Lyles, Noah Lyles was also a star high jumper at T.C. Williams High School.

Lyles recorded two of the best 100-meter dash times, 10.07 seconds and 10.14 seconds, in history in 2015 and was a two-time Track and Field News High School Athlete of the Year in 2015 and 2016. Lyles signed with the University of Florida but opted to turn pro instead of running in college.

If Lyles' high school sounds familiar, that's because it was the school whose football team was portrayed in the 2000 film "Remember the Titans," starring Denzel Washington.

9. Cameron Burrell (Tie)

High school: Ridge Point High School (Missouri City, Texas)

100-meter dash time: 10.07

Year: 2013

Bottom Line: Cameron Burrell

Cameron Burrell was born into track royalty as the son of two Olympic gold medalists — former 100-meter world record holder Leroy Burrell and Michelle Finn-Burrell.

At Ridge Point High, Cameron Burrell won the Texas Class 4A state title in the 100 before he went on to a record-setting career at the University of Houston. He won three national championships for the Cougars, in the 100 in 2018 and the 400-meter relay in 2017 and 2018. He was also an eight-time All-American.

Burrell committed suicide in Aug. 2021. He was only 26 years old.

7. Marvin Bracy (Tie)

High school: William R. Boone High School (Orlando, Florid)

100-meter dash times: 10.05 (2011), 10.06 (2012), 10.19 (2010), 10.19 (2011)

Bottom Line: Marvin Bracy

Even at 5-foot-9, Marvin Bracy was still one of the top wide receiver recruits in Florida in high school, where he also swept Florida's Class 4A state titles in the 100-meter and 200-meter dash in 2010.

Bracy was named to the USA Today All-USA Track and Field Team in 2010 and 2011, won the 100 at the 2011 USA Track and Field Junior Championships and signed with Florida State to play football and run track.

Bracy left FSU before the 2013 season to go pro in track and qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics in the 100.

7. J-Mee Samuels (Tie)

High school: Mount Tabor High School (Winson-Salem, North Carolina)

100-meter dash times: 10.05 (2005), 10.07 (2004), 10.07 (2005)

Bottom Line: J-Mee Samuels

J-Mee Samuels became known for his blazing speed during his final two years at Mount Tabor High, where he also ran one of the fastest 200-meter dash times in the nation for a high school athlete.

Samuels was named to the USA Today All-USA Track and Field Team in 2005 and the Track and Field News High School Athlete of the Year.

Samuels participated for the U.S. in the 2007 World Championships and ran in college for the University of Arkansas.

6. Kalon Barnes

High school: Silsbee High School (Silsbee, Texas)

100-meter dash time: 10.04

Year: 2018

Bottom Line: Kalon Barnes

Kalon Barnes was actually much more well-known as a big-time football recruit when he ran a 10.04-second 100-meter dash at the Texas state championships in 2018 — he swept the 100 and 200 at the state meet in 2017 and 2018.

Barnes played football and ran track at Baylor, then was selected in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers after he ran a 4.23-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine.

5. Jeff Demps

High school: South Lake High School (Groveland, Florida)

100-meter dash times: 10.01, 10.03, 10.12

Year: 2008

Bottom Line: Jeff Demps

Jeff Demps won a state championship in the 100-meter dash at South Lake High School in 2008, then set the national high school record with a 10.01-second 100 at the Olympic Trials.

Demps also starred in football and is the only athlete in University of Florida history to win national titles in multiple sports — football in 2009 and multiple titles in track and field. He won a silver medal in the 2012 Olympics in the 400-meter relay but was eventually stripped of the medal after teammate Tyson Gay failed a drug test.

Demps played three seasons in the NFL from 2012-14.

3. Ray Rocuchea (Tie)

High school: Thornridge High School (Dolton, Illinois)

100-meter dash time: 10.00

Year: 1994

Bottom Line: Ray Rocuchea

There aren't many records of Ray Rocuchea's track career aside from the spot he holds atop the official Illinois High School Association record books with a blazing, 10-second-flat 100-meter dash in 1994.

There's actually no record of Rocuchea's track career beyond Thornridge High School — even for someone who participated in high school sports over 25 years ago, that's pretty unusual.

3. Trentavis Friday (Tie)

High school: Cherryville High School (Cherryville, North Carolina)

100-meter dash time: 10.00

Year: 2014

Bottom Line: Trentavis Friday

Trentavis Friday grabbed the track world's attention when he set the national record with a 10-second 100-meter dash in 2014 and was named Gatorade National Track & Field Athlete of the Year.

Friday's time in the spotlight wouldn't last long. He signed with Florida State, securing the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation for the Seminoles, then was an All-American in the 200-meter dash as a freshman.

Friday left FSU after one year to turn pro but failed to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics by finishing fifth in his preliminary heat at the 2016 Olympic Trials.

2. Trayvon Bromell

High school: Gibbs High School (St. Petersburg, Florida)

100-meter dash time: 9.99

Year: 2013

Bottom Line: Trayvon Bromell

Trayvon Bromell won a Florida Class 3A state championship in the 100-meter dash in 2013 for Gibbs High — one month before he ran a 9.99-second 100 at the Great Southwest Classic in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Bromell also won the USA Junior Outdoor Track & Field Championship in the 100 in 2013 and was named Gatorade National Track & Field Athlete of the Year.

Bromell was a five-time All-American at Baylor, where he won national titles in the 100 (outdoor) and 200 (indoor).

Bromell won the world indoor championship in the 60-meter dash in 2016 and ran for the U.S. in the Olympics the same year.

1. Matthew Boling

High school: Strake Jesuit College Prep (Houston, Texas)

100-meter dash times: 9.98, 10.11, 10.13, 10.15

Year: 2019

Bottom Line: Matthew Boling

Matthew Boling grabbed the national spotlight when he ran the fastest 100-meter dash recorded by a high school sprinter at the Texas Region 6A-3 meet on April 27, 2019, clocking in at a blazing, 9.98 seconds.

Boling ran four of the fastest 100-meter dash times in high school history in 2019 on the way to being named Gatorade National Track & Field Athlete of the Year.

Boling is currently a sophomore at the University of Georgia and won a national title in the 200-meter dash at the NCAA Indoor Championships in 2021.