Let’s talk about national records!
If you have been around youth track and field very long, you are probably figuring out that there are a variety of “national records” out there.
The criteria for each record depends on who is keeping that record.
At the high school level, we have two sets of “high school records”, plus USATF U20 (junior) records.
The first set of high school records is the more obscure set, from the NFHS.
These only include marks set at HS-only meets of at least three teams during that athlete’s actual high school season, ending at their state championships.
They appear to only have official records for outdoor marks.
NFHS Boys PV Records: https://www.nfhs.org/RecordBook/Record-book-result.aspx?CategoryId=1388
NFHS Girls PV Records: https://www.nfhs.org/RecordBook/Record-book-result.aspx?CategoryId=1714
The next set of high school records are from Track & Field News.
These tend to be the records that people are referring to when they talk about _the_ high school record. These include any marks set during a high school athlete’s career, in any legitimate meet, through August 31st of their senior year.
T&FN follows the lead of World Athletics and has one set of “absolute” records (indoors and outdoors combined) and then a separate list of indoor records.
T&FN Records: https://trackandfieldnews.com/records/
And then there are the USA Track & Field U20 (aka junior) records.
These are based on what age you turn that year, so athletes who are 19 but turn 20 at the end of that year are not eligible.
USATF U20 records have to be made in an event that is either sanctioned by USATF, or by one of their member organizations (so for example, NCAA meets are ok). Drug testing is not required, but you need three USATF certified officials, short pegs, runway survey, etc.
USATF U20 Records: https://www.flipsnack.com/USATF/american-u20-records/full-view.html
Clear as mud?