The 2017 American Family Insurance ALL-USA Girls Track and Field teams are coordinated by Fred Baer, the founder of Track and Field Writers of America. Girls selections are made by Mike Kennedy, high school editor of Track and Field News.
Criteria included ranking on USA TODAY Sports and Track and Field News national lists and the number of top performances along with head-to-head competition during the regular season and in major postseason meets.
Athletes are listed alphabetically in each general event area. Races in meters unless noted. Field events in feet and inches.
MORE: ALL-USA Girls Track & Field Teams
Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year: Sydney McLaughlin, Union Catholic
Girls Track & Field Coach of the Year: Joe Lee, Bullis School
Long Sprints and Middle Distance
Here are the athletes selected in the hurdles (110, 300 and 400 meters). Returning ALL-USA selections are denoted with asterisks (*).
HSR = all-time U.S. high school record mark.
w = wind-aided (more than 2.0 meters a second).
i = performed indoors.
* = repeat ALL-USA performer.
FIRST TEAM
*Tara Davis
School: Agoura (Agoura Hills, Calif.)
Year: Senior
Times, events: 12:95 (12.83w) in 100 hurdles; 22-1 (22-3 3/4w) in long jump; 43-4 in triple jump
Markalah Hart
School: Northwestern (Miami, Fla.)
Year: Freshman
Times, events: 40.28 in 300 hurdles
*Tia Jones
School: Walton (Marietta, Ga.)
Year: Sophomore
Times, events: 13.02 in 100 hurdles, (set HSR of 12.84 in 2016)
*Sydney McLaughlin
School: Union Catholic (Scotch Plains, N.J.)
Year: Senior
Times, events: 38.90 in 300 hurdles (HSR); 53.85 in 400 hurdles (HSR, WJR); 22.96 in 200; 51.61i in 400.
NOTEWORTHY: Although the 300 hurdles are not a regular high school event in New Jersey, McLaughlin tackled that race in April at the Arcadia Invitational in California (a state where the 300 is the standard distance) and ran 38.90 to take more than a second off the 16-year-old high school record. The previous record of 39.98 was set by current American 400 hurdles record holder and 2012 Olympic silver medalist Lashinda Demus while at Wilson (Long Beach, Calif.).
After setting the national record in the 100 hurdles as a freshman, Jones was a bit in the shadow of Davis and McLaughlin in 2017, despite having another fine season. Davis (13.01) and Jones (13.02) finished 1-2 at the USATF Junior Championships to make the USA team for this month’s Pan American Junior Championships in Peru.
Hart’s 40.28 in the 300 hurdles was a freshman class record and moved her to No. 6 on the all-time high school list.
SECOND TEAM
Shae Anderson
School: Norco, Calif.
Year: Senior
Times, events: 40.31 in 300 hurdles; 51.99 in 400
Chanel Brissett
School: Cheltenham (Wyncote, Pa.)
Year: Senior
Times, events: 13.12 in 100 hurdles