Are California's Prep Athletes the Best in the Nation? Well, Yes, Absolutely

Copyright © 2009 Ed Bagley

There is a reason why California is continually the top-producing state in the nation for track and field talent. That reason would be a population of 36+ million people, the highest in the nation.

When you know that the second most populous state in the nation is Texas with 24 million, and then New York with 19 million, well, you get the point.

So just how big is California’s 39 million population? Well, you could take the total population of Wyoming, Vermont, North Dakota, Alaska, South Dakota, Delaware, Montana, Rhode Island, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Maine, Idaho, Nebraska, West Virginia, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Kansas, Arkansas, Mississippi and Iowa and the result will still be a combined state smaller than California’s 36+ million people.

In other words, the combined population of 21 states would not exceed the population of California.

All of which makes the California talent pool the best of the best if not ahead of the rest in every event. Among the 49 boys and girls events shown below, California has the current national leader in 12 (24%) as well as 2 new American high school record holders this season.

Among the 25 California individual boy leaders, Reggie Wyatt is on top in 3 events, the 400, the 300 hurdles and the 400 hurdles. Randall Carroll doubled in the 100 and 200, Mac Fleet doubled in the 800 and 1600, and Mason Finley doubled in the shot put and discus.

Among the 24 California individual girl leaders, Jordan Hasay is on top in 3 events, the 1500, 1600 and 3200. Ashton Purvis doubled in the 100 and 200, Kori Carter doubled in the 100 and 300 hurdles, and Anna Jelmini doubled in the shot put and discus.

All of the athletes in the individual events are seniors except where noted after their name. There are 6 juniors, 1 sophomore and no freshmen.

Among the boys and girls relay teams, Dana Hills High School is tops in 5 events, the boys 4x800, 4X1600 and the 4000 distance medley relay, and the girls 4000 distance medley relay and 4x100 shuttle hurdle relay. Serra High School leads in 4 events and Rancho Verde High School in 3. Here is the complete run-down:

State of California Only – High School Boys:

100 – 10.30 by Randall Carroll of Cathedral – Current National Leader.

200 - 21.06 by Randall Carroll of Cathedral.

400 – 46.13 by Reggie Wyatt of La Sierra.

800 – 1:50.31 by Mac Fleet of University City.

1600 – 4:01.49 by Mac Fleet of University City.

3200 – 8:51.60 – Chris Schwartz of Foothill.

110 Hurdles – 13.76 by Dale Morgan of Taft – Junior.

300 Hurdles – 35.02 – Reggie Wyatt of La Sierra – Current National Leader and a New American High School Record.

400 Hurdles – 49.78 by Reggie Wyatt – Current National Leader.

4x100 Relay – 40.67 by Serra High School.

4x200 Relay – 1:27.32 by Rancho Cucamonga High School.

4x400 Relay – 3:13.75 by Rancho Verde High School.

4x800 Relay – 7:40.30 by Dana Hills High School.

4x1600 Relay – 17:21.67 by Dana Hills High School.

800 Sprint Medley Relay – 1:31.18 by Serra High School.

1600 Sprint Medley Relay – 3:27.49 by Rancho Verde High School.

4000 Distance Medley Relay – 10:01.50 by Dana Hills High School.

4x110 Shuttle Hurdle Relay – 61:11 by Valhalla High School.

High Jump – 7-03 by Nick Ross of Vista Mountain.

Pole Vault – 16-09 by Michael Woepse of Mater Dai Catholic – Junior.

Long Jump – 25-02.25 by Chase Wheeler of De La Salle.

Triple Jump – 50-04 by Hammed Suleman of Deer Valley.

Shot Put – 69-06.25 – Mason Finley of Buena .

Discus – 207-02 by Mason Finley of Buena.

Hammer – 256-09 by Conor McCullough of California – Current National Leader.

State of California Only – High School Girls:

100 – 11.48 by Ashton Purvis of St. Elizabeth – Junior.

200 – 23.46 by Ashlton Purvis of St. Elizabeth – Junior.

400 – 53.10 by Turquoise Thompson of Serra.

800 – 2:07.45 by Aly Drake of Valencia in Ventura.

1500 – 4:16.80 by Jordan Hasay of Mission Prep – Current National Leader.

1600 – 4:42.63 by Jordan Hasay of Mission Prep – Current National Leader.

3200 – 10:05.29 by Jordan Hasay of Mission Prep – Current National Leader.

100 Hurdles – 13.59 by Kori Carter of Claremont – Junior, and Monisha Davis of Etiwanda – Both are in a 3-Way Tie as Current National Leader.

300 Hurdles – Kori Carter of Claremont – Junior – Current National Leader.

4x100 Relay – 45.50 by St. Mary’s Academy.

4x200 Relay – 1:37.30 by Serra High School.

4x400 Relay – 3:42.91 by Serra High School.

4x800 Relay – 9:01.89 by Poly High School in Long Beach.

4x1600 Relay – 20:31.56 by Sagus High School.

800 Sprint Medley Relay – 1:45.08 by Rancho Verde High School.

1600 Sprint Medley Relay – 4:01.37 by Poly High School in Long Beach.

4000 Distance Medley Relay – 11:47.39 by Dana Hills High School.

4x100 Shuttle Hurdle Relay – 1:02.09 by Dana Hills High School.

High Jump – 5-11 by Tara Richmond of Poly High School in Long Beach – Junior.

Pole Vault – 13-04 by Kortney Ross of Westview – Junior.

Long Jump – 20-02 by Alitta Boyd of Moreau Catholic.

Triple Jump – 42-11.50 by Ciarra Brewer of Logan James – Sophomore – Current National Leader.

Shot Put – 54-04.75 by Anna Jelmini of Shafter – Current National Leader.

Discus – 190-03 by Anna Jelmini of Shafter – Current National Leader and New American High School Record.