If you have ever won a 100 meter dash in high school, you’ve dreamed about becoming an Olympian. Because the moment that you get a taste of winning, you get hooked on it. If you are really good, you’re much less concerned about whoever is in the other lane than you are about whatever the clock has to say when you cross the line. But what really happens to the fastest girls sprinters in high school? Yet only one sprinter every years runs the fastest time in the nation, and the truth is, high school is really only the start of their career.

To make this list as the best sprinter in high school, you had to have the number 1 recorded time on either MileSplit or Athletic.net that is both FAT and wind legal. So here is a breakdown of what happened to the fastest high school girl in the 100 meter dash, every single year, for the past 10 years. There are some names that you might recognize, and some others you likely have forgotten. Yet it doesn’t really matter how good you start, as much as it does how you finish.

2021 - Jasmine Montgomery 

Starting off in 2021 it was Jasmine Montgomery out of Texas who ran 11.27 seconds into a slight minus headwind. Today she started her collegiate career at Oregon where she qualified for the NCAA championships as a freshman, but did not make the final in either the 100 meter dash or the 200 meter dash. But she chose to transfer and today is competing for Florida. She has yet to win a medal at the Pac 12 or SEC championships individually, and perhaps the 2023 outdoor season will be her first.

2020 - Kenondra Davis

Even though 2020 was a short track season for everyone the fastest 100 meter time went to Kenondra Davis out of Texas as well. She ran 11.64 wind legal as a junior and improved upon that PR as a Senior. Today she runs for Georgia where she had a shortened Freshman season, perhaps due to injury. Though she hasn’t made a final at the SEC championships yet in either the 100 or 200 meter dashes, she has a great shot to qualify for the NCAA championships in the 200 meter dash, already breaking the 23 second barrier mid season in 2023.

2018/2019 - Briana Williams

Yet 2018 and 2019 belonged to Briana Williams out of Florida who broke the girls 100 meter high school national record. She ran 10.94 wind legal while she was still a junior in high school.  She was the World Junior Champion in the 100 meter and 200 meter dashes at just 16 years of age, a competition that is for 20 and under. And at the age of 2017 she chose to turn pro signing Nike. Although she was born in America, she competes for Jamaica, and won an Olympic gold medal in the 4x100 meter relay in 2021. Individually she has run PRs in the 100 meter dash and made the world indoor championship final in the 60 meter dash. But Briana was also one of the most decorated junior athletes in track and field history. So she is likely still waiting for her first true breakthrough performance individually in the outdoor campaign.

2017 - Symone Mason

In 2017 it was Symone Mason another athlete from the state of Florida who led the nation. She ran 11.24 wind legal as a senior in high school. She started her career at the University of Miami in the ACC where she won the outdoor 200 meter dash for the conference as a freshman. With range up to the 400 meter dash, that would be the event she would later compete in at the World Junior championships in 2018. That outdoor title would be her only individual medal in the ACC before transferring after her sophomore year to LSU. After sitting out a year, she placed second and third in the 100 meter dash and 200 meter dash at the SEC championships, and made the NCAAs for the first time in both events. Yet in her final collegiate season she did not end up competing at the SEC conference meet, but did earn a spot at the NCAAs in the 100 meter dash. In 2023 she is back on the track running with the Tiger Olympians track club which is primarily made up of LSU alumni.

2016 - Katia Seymour

2016 was led by another high school junior, Katia Seymour once again out of the state of Florida. She ran 11.26 in the 100 that year and chose to attend Florida State where she would win the indoor 200 meter dash at the ACC championships as a freshman. She then followed that up with an outdoor 100 meter title for the conference qualifying for the NCAAs both times. By her sophomore season she was dominating the ACC in the short sprints and a medal threat at the NCAAs. Interestingly enough it was her senior in college that was the most disappointing where she failed to individually qualify for the NCAAs outdoors. Her highest NCAA finish were actually a bronze medal indoors in the 60, and fourth in the outdoor 200 meter, in a career that concluded when she graduated college.

2015 - Candace Hill

The year 2015 belongs to Candace Hill from the state of Georgia who ran what was a national high school record in the 100 meter dash of 10.98. She was only a sophomore at the time, and chose to skip college entirely to run professionally after her sophomore year, signing with Asics. However she is now 24 years old, and her personal best times are still the same ones that she ran as a sophomore in high school. She has struggled to qualify for USA championship finals both indoors and outdoors, and never represented the USA in a major international competition beyond the Junior level, but she is still on the track in 2023.

2014 - Kaylin Whitney

2014 continued the state of Florida’s dominance with Kaylin Whitney’s 100 meter performance. She was a sophomore at the time who ran 11.10. At the time, her 100 and 200 meter performances were world youth records for any girls sprinter under the age of 18. She signed professionally on her 17th birthday, skipping college entirely, and actually made the United States Olympic team years later in 2021 as a 4x400 meter relay member. But she has never qualified to represent the USA in a major international competition individually. She never improved from her high school Prs in the either the 100 or 200. As a result she seems to have focused on the 400, which is how she made international relay teams. She was last seen on the track in 2022 which means we may have seen the last of Kaylin Whitney.

2013 - Marybeth Sant

Last but not least in the year 2013, it was Marybeth Sant-Price out of Colorado who ran 11.25 as a senior to lead the nation. She started her college career at Oregon where she did not win a medal individually in the Pac 12 or qualify for the NCAA championships. After 2 seasons at Oregon, she transferred to Colorado State in the Mountain West where she would earn a silver medal both indoors and outdoors for the 60 and 100. As a senior she actually qualified for the NCAAs in the 60 meter dash which is her specialty event after turning professional post college. Her only international competition came with a bronze medal in the 60 meter dash at the world championships, and she placed second at the USA indoor meet in 2023, a full decade after her high school times were recorded.

The Bottom Line

Becoming the fastest sprinter in high school is a great accomplishment, but all it really means is that you have great talent and great potential. Which does not mean a whole lot if that potential is never realized. The states of Florida and Texas have dominated the girls 100 meter dash for 10 years now, but no matter where you are from, a great deal of talent alone is not enough to make anyone an Olympian. For those who turned professional early, the odds did not see to turn out in their favor. However, what is for certain is that the United States has no short of talent in the girls 100 meter dash.

KNOW THE GAME. WIN THE GAME.

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