With the upcoming spring season, a good group of Oratory Prep students including myself, will partake in the track season. I wanted to explain the Top 5 best high school track runners. The people on this list are inspirational to me, especially with the track season starting up this week. 

#5: Coming in from the IMG school in Bradenton, Florida, Jaylen Slade is the top 5 100-meter runner of all time. In 2021, Slade went on to run 10.09s in a 100-meter dash. After doing this, at only age 17, he signed a deal with Adidas before even graduating high school. Sadly, Slade hasn’t been seen in the present day. In his last season in 2023, he didn’t seem to break 10.30s in a 100m or 21s in a 200m. Although he isn’t beating his previous record, he is still very inspirational for 2 reasons. The first is the obvious fact that he broke a big record and is in the top 5 of all time. That is a big accomplishment that I hope to beat someday in the future. The other reason why he is so inspirational is that he isn’t giving up, despite not being able to break his record again. This is a big thing for me, not giving up because he knows that later in life he can do better. He keeps striving to be better and that is the motivation I need in my life.

#4: Anthony Schwartz came in 4th in the 100m dash during his time at American Heritage in Plantation, Florida. He went on to become a well-known football player, being drafted in 2021 to the Clevland Browns. Recently in 2023, he was traded into the Miami Dolphins after being injured, where he plays as a wide receiver. He decided to stop running track when he got to college after being on the record in his previous senior year. What I am inspired by in Shwartz is the fact that he doesn’t let anything stop him from succeeding in life. He told the people in high school that he would break a record and he did. He was told that he wouldn’t do anything with his life and he became a football player. Even after being injured and released from the Browns, he still managed to get onto the Miami Dolphins. No matter what is said to him or what happens, he seems to still be successful in both record and overall fame. I hope to be like him one day.

#3: From Creekside High School in St. Johns, Florida, the University of Geroge Commit, Christian Miller, ran a 10.06s 100-meter dash in 2023. His story is an interesting one because a lot of people don’t know him very well, yet he is so inspiring. While studying at St. Johns Strider Middle School, he tore his right knee patella tendon. Instead of just giving up there, he came back stronger in sophomore year, beating his predicted PR of 11 seconds by .5 seconds. He overcame the awful injury and went on to be a famous football star. It inspires me that someone who went through so much strife can still be successful in life because he made his dreams a reality.

#2: Known for his “World Class Speed”, former Florida football starter Jeff Damps, ran a 10.01s 100-meter dash back in high school. He attended South Lake High School in Groveland, Florida while giving time to both high school football and track. He was very successful in both fields and ended up quitting track to follow his football career with full intent. He went on to play for 3 NFL teams in his football career: New England Patriots(2012), Tampa Buccaneers (2013-2014), and the Indianapolis Colts(2014-2015). He ended up, not surprisingly, becoming a running back due to his fast speed in both track and football. He was also on the 2012 Olympic men’s track and field team which is very inspirational. It seems that he just kept building on his success and became a well-known athlete across the globe. Good for him!

#1: Finally a superstar athlete from Cherryville, North Carolina, Trentavis Friday, ran a 10.00s 100m dash. Trentavis fully pursued his career in Track and Field, signing a 4-year contract with Xtep starting in the 2016 track season. He ended up going to the Florida State Seminoles track and field team in his Freshman year of college. Also being named the “Highschool Athlete of The Year” and “Gatorade National Track and Field Athlete” after beating this record in 2014. He still holds this record to this day. Not many know what happened to Trentavis after signing with Xtep in 2015, going into the 2016 season. He hasn’t beaten any records that are notable now. He still holds the 100m record and runs frequently, but he isn’t as good now. He isn’t breaking records like he used to. But he is still a big inspiration for a lot of athletes around the world. For him to beat the record a decade ago and still hold it just shows how much ahead of the curve he was in his high school career.