Something is happening among Utah high school athletes, something that can be measured objectively. They’re getting faster. Much faster.
Roger Buhrley has been around the Utah track scene for five decades and is pretty much the unofficial commissioner/overseer of the sport. Thirty years ago, he dug through old records, interviewed coaches and started a top 100 list for every event in Utah high school track and field. At the end of every track season, he sits at his computer and goes through the painstaking process of updating each event. Recently, he has noticed a dramatic shift in performances.
“Starting about 15 years ago, I was having to make more and more updates to the top 100 list for the distance races,” says Buhrley. “The sprints and hurdles remained pretty much the same. But in the last five years that’s changed a lot. So far this spring I’ve made 26 changes to the top 100 of the boys 100-meter dash this year. The last time on the list is 10.81.”
Utah has been a powerhouse in the distance races for more than a decade, mass producing national- and world-class distance runners, some of whom have gone on to make world championship and Olympic teams and set American records. That’s old news. What’s new is that suddenly Utah is making a name for itself in other ways. As Buhrley put it, “When was the last time we had sprinters and hurdlers in the national rankings?”
Sprinters and hurdlers are stealing the headlines this spring. Davis DeGroot, a lanky senior from Bonneville High who has signed with Kentucky, covered the 400-meter dash in 45.46 seconds earlier his season — easily the fastest outdoor time in the nation this year. He also clocked 20.68 in the 200-meter dash, a time that ranks ninth nationally.
Josh Hamblin, a BYU-bound senior from Weber High, has been equally sensational this season. His time of 13.31 in the 110-meter high hurdles ranks third nationally, and his time of 35.35 in the 300 hurdles ranks second in the nation this year and makes him the seventh fastest high school hurdler ever, just ahead of Olympic medalists Bershawn Jackson and Kerron Clement and just barely behind Robert Griffin, the Heisman Trophy winner. Only Texas’s Andrew Jones has run faster this year than Hambln, setting a national record of 34.72.
Amelia Nadauld, a BYU-bound senior from Snow Canyon High, recorded a stunning time of 40.31 in the 300-meter hurdles early this month at the BYU Invitational, making her the second fastest in the nation. That time narrowly falls short of putting her among the 10 fastest high school hurdlers ever.
Skylee Guyman, a junior from Emery High, is ranked ninth nationally at 41.74.
It stands to reason that freak athletes such as DeGroot, Hamblin or Nadauld might come along every couple of decades, but all three of them at once? And in the speed events in Utah? What are the odds?
All of the above will be on stage this weekend when the state high school track and field championships are held at BYU, running Thursday through Saturday. The weather forecast predicts warm, mild but windy conditions, the only thing that could prevent some next-level performances.
It’s not just a few freak athletes who are changing things in Utah. Everyone is faster across the board. In 2010, just four Utah prep sprinters broke 11 seconds in the 100-meter dash, with a best of 10.83; this year 50 sprinters have broken 11 seconds, five of them 10.57 or better. Hamblin and DeGroot went head to head in the 100-meter dash a few weeks ago and finished with times of 10.40 and 10.47, respectively, the second and third fastest times ever by a Utah prep.
As usual, Utahns are still making waves in the longer races. Jackson Spencer, a senior at Herriman High, ranks third nationally in the 800 (1:49.38), No. 1 in the mile (3:58.17 — second fastest ever against high school competition), No. 1 in the two-mile (8:34.77 — sixth fastest ever by a high schooler), No. 1 in the 1,600 (3:56.73) and No. 1 in the 3,200. He is one of three Utah preps who have run sub-1:50 for 800 meters this season.
Lily Alder, a senior at Timpview, ranks among the top 10 in the nation in the mile with a time of 4:38.71.
In the field events, Pine View High’s Kiera Sam Fong ranks third nationally in both the shot put and discus. Lone Peak’s Matthew Bryant ranks eighth nationally in the discus.
Notwithstanding, the biggest change has occurred in the sprint and hurdle performances. The carbon fiber-plated shoes have transformed the sport, but everyone in the country is wearing those shoes and Utah is gaining on them. What’s going on?
“My personal feeling is that coaches are getting more football players out for track,” says Buhrley.
Eric Kjar was one of the pioneers of that trend in Utah. While leading Corner Canyon High to six state championships in eight years (from 2018-2025), he made track a big part of the school’s football culture. One way or another, he convinced his players to participate in track and field. While football players at other schools were doing 7-on-7 in the spring, the vast majority of Kjar’s players were doing repeat 150s and flying 30s on the track and competing in weekend competitions.
Corner Canyon’s all–football player 4 x 100 relay teams ran the two fastest times in state history, 40.68 and 40.71, in 2021 and 2024, respectively. BYU wide receiver Cody Hagen was the state 100- and 200-meter champion, recording bests of 10.52 and 20.97. Jerome Myles, who signed with Texas A&M, set all-classification records in the 100 and 200 in 2024, with times of 10.36 and 20.84. The day he set the state record of 10.36, he posted it online and was immediately offered a scholarship by Michigan.
Kjar, who was hired as the Weber State head football coach last winter, was asked why he pushed track so hard with his football players.
“It was speed development first, but then also for them to get verified times for college (football) coaches,” he explained. “The work ethic was super important and getting them to compete in something that wasn’t football. Keep them fresh but competing in something that was beneficial for them also.”
Whatever the reason there has been a tectonic shift in athletic performances in the state.
