Trackbeast Research · College development
Do college track athletes get faster?
We matched 15,812 college track athletes’ high-school bests to their college results and measured the change in the same event, year by year. This is what the first two college years actually look like, by division, for boys and girls.
Key findings
- Most Division I freshmen finish year one about where they finished high school. The median change from high-school best to best college mark: distance boys +0.7% (1,652 athletes), distance girls −0.1% (1,985), sprint girls −0.5% (1,753), jump girls −1.2% (1,151).
- Year two is where the gains show. Division I distance boys go from +0.7% after year one to +1.8% by year two (810 athletes); jump boys from +0.5% to +2.6% (398).
- Throwers improve the most. Division I girls' throws: +2.7% in year one (644 athletes) and +5.4% by year two (326).
- Below Division I, freshmen gain a little more in year one. Girls' jumps: −1.2% at Division I against +0.3% at Division III (371 athletes).
- 79% of Division I freshmen who competed in year one were still competing for the same school in year two (6,066 athletes). The typical program kept 80%; 22 of 383 program-and-gender groups kept half or fewer.
Year one: high-school best to best college mark
A positive number means better than in high school: faster on the track, higher or farther in the field. The big number is the median (the middle athlete); the range under it is where the middle half of athletes landed; n is how many athletes the cell is built from.
Distance
800m, 1600m and 3200m. College 1500m and mile marks are read as 1600m equivalents; 3000m as 3200m.
| Level | Boys | Girls |
|---|---|---|
| D1Division I | Median change+0.7%Middle half −1.0% to +2.3%n = 1,652 | Median change−0.1%Middle half −2.2% to +2.1%n = 1,985 |
| D2Division II | Median change+0.6%Middle half −1.0% to +2.4%n = 567 | Median change0.0%Middle half −2.3% to +2.7%n = 453 |
| D3Division III | Median change+0.7%Middle half −1.4% to +2.7%n = 692 | Median change+0.4%Middle half −2.0% to +2.8%n = 570 |
| NAIANAIA | Median change+0.7%Middle half −1.8% to +3.4%n = 281 | Median change+0.4%Middle half −2.6% to +3.1%n = 211 |
Sprints
100m, 200m and 400m. Wind-aided college marks (over +2.0 m/s) are excluded.
| Level | Boys | Girls |
|---|---|---|
| D1Division I | Median change−0.2%Middle half −1.9% to +1.4%n = 1,383 | Median change−0.5%Middle half −2.5% to +1.4%n = 1,753 |
| D2Division II | Median change+0.1%Middle half −1.6% to +2.0%n = 522 | Median change+0.1%Middle half −2.1% to +2.2%n = 441 |
| D3Division III | Median change+0.2%Middle half −1.8% to +2.3%n = 676 | Median change+0.2%Middle half −2.2% to +2.5%n = 527 |
| NAIANAIA | Median change+0.5%Middle half −1.5% to +2.3%n = 341 | Median change+0.5%Middle half −2.0% to +3.2%n = 221 |
Hurdles
Girls' 100m hurdles (same height in high school and college). Boys' hurdles change height, so they appear only in the year-two table.
| Level | Boys | Girls |
|---|---|---|
| D1Division I | not enough data | Median change−0.1%Middle half −2.1% to +2.0%n = 415 |
| D3Division III | not enough data | Median change+1.2%Middle half −1.5% to +3.3%n = 114 |
Jumps
High jump, pole vault, long jump and triple jump. Wind-aided college marks are excluded.
| Level | Boys | Girls |
|---|---|---|
| D1Division I | Median change+0.5%Middle half −2.1% to +3.3%n = 874 | Median change−1.2%Middle half −4.2% to +1.6%n = 1,151 |
| D2Division II | Median change+0.7%Middle half −2.8% to +4.8%n = 290 | Median change−0.6%Middle half −3.7% to +2.5%n = 292 |
| D3Division III | Median change+1.4%Middle half −1.9% to +4.7%n = 337 | Median change+0.3%Middle half −3.5% to +4.3%n = 371 |
| NAIANAIA | Median change+1.1%Middle half −2.1% to +4.3%n = 155 | Median change+0.1%Middle half −3.4% to +3.0%n = 125 |
Throws
Girls' shot, discus and javelin, boys' javelin (same implement in high school and college). Boys' shot and discus change weight, so they appear only in year two.
| Level | Boys | Girls |
|---|---|---|
| D1Division I | Median change+4.7%Middle half −1.2% to +11.3%n = 164 | Median change+2.7%Middle half −2.2% to +7.9%n = 644 |
| D2Division II | not enough data | Median change+2.0%Middle half −2.7% to +6.7%n = 174 |
| D3Division III | not enough data | Median change+2.6%Middle half −3.0% to +8.3%n = 217 |
Year two (Division I)
Division I athletes who entered college in fall 2024, high-school best to best college mark in their second year. Boys’ hurdles and boys’ shot and discus compare year one to year two in college, because the hurdle height and implement weight change after high school.
Distance
800m, 1600m and 3200m. College 1500m and mile marks are read as 1600m equivalents; 3000m as 3200m.
| Level | Boys | Girls |
|---|---|---|
| D1Division I | Median change+1.8%Middle half 0.0% to +3.6%n = 810 | Median change+1.4%Middle half −1.2% to +3.5%n = 914 |
Sprints
100m, 200m and 400m. Wind-aided college marks (over +2.0 m/s) are excluded.
| Level | Boys | Girls |
|---|---|---|
| D1Division I | Median change+0.9%Middle half −0.9% to +2.7%n = 596 | Median change+0.3%Middle half −1.6% to +2.8%n = 762 |
Hurdles
Girls' 100m hurdles (same height in high school and college). Boys' hurdles change height, so they appear only in the year-two table.
| Level | Boys | Girls |
|---|---|---|
| D1Division I | Median change+1.4%Middle half +0.2% to +2.6%n = 167 | Median change+1.8%Middle half −1.2% to +3.8%n = 259 |
Jumps
High jump, pole vault, long jump and triple jump. Wind-aided college marks are excluded.
| Level | Boys | Girls |
|---|---|---|
| D1Division I | Median change+2.6%Middle half −0.6% to +6.6%n = 398 | Median change+0.4%Middle half −2.6% to +4.0%n = 561 |
Throws
Girls' shot, discus and javelin, boys' javelin (same implement in high school and college). Boys' shot and discus change weight, so they appear only in year two.
| Level | Boys | Girls |
|---|---|---|
| D1Division I | Median change+4.6%Middle half +0.5% to +10.0%n = 267 | Median change+5.4%Middle half −0.9% to +11.8%n = 326 |
How many freshmen are still competing a year later?
Of 6,066 Division I athletes who competed as freshmen in 2024-25, 79% were still competing for the same school in 2025-26. The typical program kept 80% of its freshmen; 22 of 383 program-and-gender groups kept half or fewer.
Not competing can mean a transfer, an injury, a redshirt year, a mission or leaving the sport. This number does not say which.
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How these numbers were built
- Who is counted: D1 athletes who entered college in fall 2024 and fall 2025; D2, D3 and NAIA athletes who entered in fall 2025, with a verified high-school mark and at least one college mark in the same event.
- Same event only. We never predict one event from another. College 1500m and mile marks are read as 1600m equivalents with one fixed conversion, the same one used across Trackbeast; 3000m as 3200m.
- The change is the athlete’s best legal college mark in that year compared with their high-school best, in percent. Wind-aided marks over +2.0 m/s are excluded in the sprints, hurdles and horizontal jumps.
- An athlete counts once per event group, in the event they competed in most.
- Removed before counting: 438 athletes whose college results began well before their listed first year (usually transfers), and 1,015 high-school-to-college changes too large to be real (usually a high-school mark that was not the athlete’s best).
- A cell is published only with at least 100 athletes. Medians and middle halves only; no averages, no extremes.
- High-school sprint and jump bests often carry no wind reading, so some were wind-aided. That makes sprint and jump improvement read slightly low for everyone.
What these numbers are not
They are not a ranking of programs. With one or two freshman classes per school, the differences between programs are no bigger than chance produces, so we do not publish them. They are not a prediction for any one athlete. Use the free Reality Report to see where your own marks fit, and what college signees actually ran for the marks programs sign.
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Run my free Reality ReportSource: official college meet results and Trackbeast’s recruit database. n = 15,812 athletes, 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons. Updated 2026-10-08.