American high school records{{NoteTag|References [[List of United States high school national records in track and field]]|name=Note 1}}
The current male
high school record holder in the 1600 m is Drew Griffith, who ran 3:57.08 against other high schoolers at the PIAA Class 3A Championships. Drew Griffith pushed himself to his limits against the best high school 1600-meter runners. Even Drew Griffiths, now a teammate in college, Ryan Pajak claimed the silver medal in this competitive 1600 m race. Opening up in a 58.04, Drew never lost the lead, going through the
800 m in 1:58.92. Eventually closing out his historic run with his last two laps in a time of 60.75 seconds and 57.98 seconds. Running through the finish line knowing he just ran a time that would go down in the history books. Griffith took the record from
Alan Webb, who ran for
South Lakes High School in
Reston, Virginia. Webb ran 3:59.51 at the
Arcadia Invitational against high school athletes on April 14, 2001. Six weeks later, Webb ran a mile against seasoned international runners at the
Prefontaine Classic, including world record holder
Hicham El Guerrouj of
Morocco and the
2000 Summer Olympics' 1500 metres bronze medalist
Bernard Lagat. Webb was timed in 3:51.83 for 1600 m (en route to the high school mile record in 3:53.43). Webb was technically still in high school at the time, but the NFHS only recognizes the race against other high school competitors. Several other high schoolers have run faster than Griffith's 3:57.08 1600 m, including
Gary Martin (3:57.98 mile, 3:56.60 1600 m) in 2022 and
Jim Ryun (3:58.3 mile, 3:56.92 1600 m) in 1965.
All-time outdoor top high school boys' times The female record is less disputed, as
Alexa Efraimson of
Camas High School in
Camas, Washington ran her 4:33.29 at the
Washington State 4A Championships, exclusively against other high school girls, in 2014. In 2022,
Sadie Engelhardt tied Efraimson's record. However, some high school girls have run faster than Efraimson, though this is not recognized by the NFHS, who only recognizes times in a 1600 m race against other high schoolers. First, on April 6, 2024, Engelhardt broke Efraimson's record by running 4:32.48, though this has not yet been ratified by the
NFHS. Furthermore,
Katelyn Tuohy ran a 4:32.28 1600 m en route to her 2018 outdoor high school mile record of 4:33.87. Tuohy's record has since been broken three times, which have not yet been ratified by the NFHS. First, on April 19, 2024, Sadie Engelhardt ran a 4:31.72 mile at the
Mt. SAC Relays, which converts to a 4:30.14 1600 m. Next, on May 30, 2024, at the
HOKA Festival of Miles,
Allie Zealand ran a 4:30.38 mile which converts to a 4:28.81 1600 m against other high schoolers. Lastly, in the race after Zealand, against professionals, Engelhardt ran a 4:28.26 mile, which converts to a 4:26.70 1600 m. Moving forward,
Mary Cain's 2013 indoor high school mile record of 4:28.25 converts to a 4:26.69 1600 m, though the NFHS does not recognize this as the high school girls' 1600 m record. Finally, in 2022,
Addy Wiley ran a 4:26.16 1600 m, which has not yet been ratified by NFHS.
All-time outdoor top 20 high school girls' times == Equivalent world bests ==