Texas Represents 13% of High School Outdoor Track Participation in the United States

Outdoor track & field, on the high school level, is a monstrous sport. In 2013, 1,053,611 boys and girls competed in high school track and field. From the smallest towns to the biggest cities in North America, one can see the plethora of track facilities across the continent. 

Ajee Wilson, World Youth, 2011, photo by PhotoRun.net

Some schools still do not have tracks. My first high school, DeSmet, did not have a track in 1972-74. Yet, we had the 400 meter state champ, and the two mile state champ. Doing repeats up driveways was our way of working out. To learn the pole vault and the high jump, Mr. Burns, our football coach/art teacher/track coach, had the pits on the back of the parking lot. If we missed the pits, we rolled down a grassy hill. My best high jump was four feet, two inches, and I believe I cleared seven feet in the pole vault. Hence, in later years, I moved to the mile and two mile. 

Track & Field has over 25,000 head coaches and nearly 80,000 assistant coaches at the high school level. That does not even touch the number of officials and parents who provide help, from hosting food booths to driving the teams back and forth to events. Track & Field is also, one of the most diverse sports in the high school firmament. White kids, black kids, latino kids, Chinese kids, high schoolers learn that their world is diverse, and that just because the kid looks different than they do, that means nothing. What is important is how you run as a relay, or how that third in the shot put keeps your team in the hunt for a dual meet or conference win. Track & Field shows boys and girls how to focus on a goal, be part of something bigger than themselves and know that whats brings us together is stronger than what sets us apart. Track & Field teaches life skills. 

Special thanks to Kevin Mangan, AT&F intern and Breanne Ward, AT&F publicist, for their hard work on the three releases we have done on high school sports; cross country, indoor track and field, and now, outdoor track & field. 

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Texas Represents 13% of High School Outdoor Track Participation in the United States

MADISON – American Track and Field magazine would like to honor Texas for ranking first among all states in 2013 outdoor track participation with 135,413 participants for both boys and girls.

According to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) records, 1,053,611 athletes competed in running, jumping and throwing during the 2013 outdoor season. Texas, California, Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York represented 35% of the country’s participants. The top 10 in its entirety is as follows:

1. Texas – 135,413 (13%)
2. California – 99,421 (9%)
3. Pennsylvania – 48,360 (5%)
4. Ohio – 45,340 (4%)
5. New York – 45,003 (4%)
6. Illinois – 44,730 (4%)
7. Michigan – 40,171 (4%)
8. New Jersey – 35,302 (3%)
9. Minnesota – 31,577 (3%)
10. Florida – 27,806 (3%)


* Percentage in parenthesis indicates rounded percentage of total United States participants that the respective state represents.

“Outdoor track and field gives high school athletes of all shapes and sizes a chance to run, jump and throw! It is great to see the sports continued growth,” noted Larry Eder, AT&F publisher.

American Track & Field is a professional publication dedicated to improving the image and performances of American track and field, cross country and race walking athletes. ATF has 37, 553 subscribers, and is in its 20th year. By becoming a go to source for training information, ATF takes a grassroots approach to improving the coaching quality of the 1.51 million serious athletes across these disciplines by providing coaches with professional and accurate coaching and training content. For more information, visit www.american-trackandfield.com.

Participation data for the last several years can be found at http://www.nfhs.org/content.aspx?id=3282.

2013 High School Outdoor Track & Field Participation Figures

Stats compiled by Kevin Mangan, AT&F intern. Special thanks to Breanne Ward, AT&F publicist.