* Colin Sahlman is one of the fastest returning athletes in the country in cross country
Photo Credit: DeAnna Turner/California MileSplit
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Distance running is trending up at the elite levels in high school.
And we have the numbers to prove it.
We decided to look at overall successes in the United States over the high school outdoor season between the 3,200 meter race -- a distance that is widely used in high school state associations for championship meets -- and the 5,000 meter race in cross country.
We analyzed numbers over the last decade within our MileSplit database.
We did not convert 2-mile times over the outdoor season, nor did we convert 3-mile performances into 5K results.
We also focused specifically on boys races, since performance indicators like 'sub-9' and sub-15' were widely recognizable.
For this breakdown, we looked at how the numbers have scaled up.
The results are interesting, to say the least.
While the number of sub-9-minute performances in the 3,200m has risen...
