Sub-13 Barrier Under Siege as Andrew Jones Leads Historic 110 Hurdles Surge

Let’s talk 110 high hurdles for a moment. It is track season. And there are some prep track standouts around the nation attacking the barriers like a belligerent storming the embassy gate.

Sifting through each state’s top hurdle performances so far this season, I realized this has to be the most competitive event in boys track.

Speed Standard Reaches New Heights

Supporting this claim is the fact that if you’re not sprinting through the 10 hurdles under 13.7, then you’re not in the conversation. That’s how they roll.

Texas Producing Historic Times

Two of the fastest times come from the Lone Star State. Avonte Earl of Worthing High School (Houston) has clocked an impressive 13.32, but the times of Klein Collins High School (Spring) senior Andrew Jones are rewriting the record books.

Andrew Jones Rewrites the Record Book

Jones has run the remarkable time of 12.97. The only high school time ever under 13 seconds. However, a 2.8 wind reading rendered it ineligible for an official record. It stands as the fastest time recorded under any conditions.

His insane national high school record of 34.72 in the 300 hurdles, set April 17, makes the 12.97 accomplishment believable.

Jones' official 110 hurdle best is 13.15, the second fastest high school time ever recorded.

Context: The National Record

For context, the national record is 13.08, established by Wayne Davis of Southeast (Raleigh, North Carolina) in 2009 in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.

Jones Reflects on Breakthrough

“I mean, I could say it’s my plan, but now I’m still really amazed,” Jones told Track & Field News in a recent story. “These were always like the ‘reach’ goals, ‘Hopefully I can do this,’ and now I’m doing it. It’s pretty crazy.”

Hurdles’ Unique Appeal

The hurdles have appealed to many American high school athletes. And even those who have pursued other endeavors. How about astronaut Ed White, the first man to walk in space? And Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee?

Lee said in a 2004 Rolling Stone interview that, “I’ve got a new TV show coming out on NBC, and it is so bananas. (Lee enrolled at the University of Nebraska at 41 years of age for a 2004 reality TV show.) Like, at one point, I tried out for the track team. And I’m thinking I’m pretty fast, I ran some track in school, did the hurdles and the high jump and the long jump. Then I’m watching these college kids run, and I’m like, ‘Uh-oh, these guys are fast as hell! I’m gonna get chewed up.’”

Top Challengers Emerging

Two competitors who would push Jones at a national high school track and field championship meet are Rylan Hainje of Franklin Central High School in Indianapolis and University of Florida commit Joshua-Kai Smith of Gar-Field High School in Manassas, Virginia.

Hainje has logged a 13.29 this year, and Smith a heavily wind-aided 13.17.

Depth Across the Nation

And hurdlers from states few think of when considering elite athletes — the Mountain states — are producing strong times in the 110 hurdles. (Colorado, the exception).

Jackson Conroy of Loveland High School (Loveland, Colorado) has run 13.40 (2.1 wind-aided), Spencer Van Orden of Highland High School (Pocatello, Idaho) 13.44 and Kellan Krueger of Big Sky High School (Missoula, Montana) 13.66.

More Names to Watch

Chase Young of De La Salle High School (Concord, California), a DI-recruited cornerback, burned a 13.67 (1.7 legal wind) earlier this season, and Wisconsin Lutheran High School (Milwaukee) hurdler Niyer Claiborne has matched Young’s time.

A Historical Comparison

Lastly, circling back to the sub-13 clocking of Jones, the revered Renaldo Nehemiah (Scotch Plains-Fanwood, New Jersey) also eclipsed the mark (120-yard hurdles) in May of 1977 at St. John's University.

Nehemiah recorded a 12.9, too. The New York Times reported that “Two clocks caught him in 12.9 seconds and one in 13 seconds.”

But the hand isn’t a sensor or infrared beam.

By all accounts, Jones will set the official record by June.

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