# Track and field progression by age

> Project a time, jump or throw from 14 to 18 and beyond: WMA age factors for the running events, a USATF-record curve for jumps, throws and hurdles.

**A boys' 12.50 100m at 14 projects to 11.88 at 18; a girls' 62.0 400m at 14 projects to 58.15; a boys' 16' 4.75" (5.00m) long jump at 14 projects to 18' 7.75" (5.69m). Enter yours to see every age to 30.**

The question behind "is my mark good for my age" is really "what will it be by the time a
coach is looking". This tool answers it with two curves, never mixed: the World Masters
Athletics age factors, the only published youth curve the sport has, for eight running events
from the 100m to the 5000m; and for seven jumps and throws and three hurdle races, a curve
TrackReels derives from the championship records USA Track & Field publishes for every age
division, labeled as such wherever it appears.

Enter your age and your best mark (fully automatic timing for a race), and the table shows the same level on the curve at every age up to 30.

## Running events (WMA factors)

Each event has its own page with worked ladders for boys and girls, the factor table, and where
the age-18 projection sits against the college recruiting standards.

- [100m progression by age](https://trackreels.io/progression/100m): a boys' 12.50 at 14 projects to 11.88 at 18, a girls' 13.50 at 14 projects to 13.00 at 18.
- [200m progression by age](https://trackreels.io/progression/200m): a boys' 25.50 at 14 projects to 23.84 at 18, a girls' 28.00 at 14 projects to 26.66 at 18.
- [400m progression by age](https://trackreels.io/progression/400m): a boys' 58.00 at 14 projects to 54.28 at 18, a girls' 1:06.00 at 14 projects to 1:01.90 at 18.
- [800m progression by age](https://trackreels.io/progression/800m): a boys' 2:25.00 at 14 projects to 2:15.42 at 18, a girls' 2:45.00 at 14 projects to 2:36.41 at 18.
- [1500m progression by age](https://trackreels.io/progression/1500m): a boys' 5:00.00 at 14 projects to 4:42.04 at 18, a girls' 5:40.00 at 14 projects to 5:23.71 at 18.
- [Mile progression by age](https://trackreels.io/progression/mile): a boys' 5:20.00 at 14 projects to 5:00.84 at 18, a girls' 6:05.00 at 14 projects to 5:47.51 at 18.
- [3200m progression by age](https://trackreels.io/progression/3200m): a boys' 11:30.00 at 14 projects to 10:48.69 at 18, a girls' 13:30.00 at 14 projects to 12:51.19 at 18.
- [5000m progression by age](https://trackreels.io/progression/5000m): a boys' 18:30.00 at 14 projects to 17:23.54 at 18, a girls' 22:00.00 at 14 projects to 20:56.76 at 18.

## Jumps, throws and hurdles (TrackReels curve)

Each page prints the USATF records the curve is anchored on, the implement or hurdle height each
division competes with, and the factor at every age, so the derivation can be checked by hand.

- [Long Jump progression by age](https://trackreels.io/progression/long-jump): a boys' 16' 4.75" (5.00m) at 14 projects to 18' 7.75" (5.69m) at 18, a girls' 13' 9.25" (4.20m) at 14 projects to 15' 0" (4.57m) at 18.
- [Triple Jump progression by age](https://trackreels.io/progression/triple-jump): a boys' 34' 5.25" (10.50m) at 14 projects to 43' 7.75" (13.31m) at 18, a girls' 29' 6.25" (9.00m) at 14 projects to 31' 4.75" (9.57m) at 18.
- [High Jump progression by age](https://trackreels.io/progression/high-jump): a boys' 5' 2.75" (1.60m) at 14 projects to 6' 0.25" (1.84m) at 18, a girls' 4' 7" (1.40m) at 14 projects to 4' 11.5" (1.51m) at 18.
- [Pole Vault progression by age](https://trackreels.io/progression/pole-vault): a boys' 10' 0" (3.05m) at 14 projects to 12' 4.75" (3.78m) at 18, a girls' 8' 0.25" (2.45m) at 14 projects to 9' 8" (2.95m) at 18.
- [Shot Put progression by age](https://trackreels.io/progression/shot-put): a boys' 36' 1" (11.00m) at 14 projects to 38' 2.5" (11.65m) at 18, a girls' 29' 6.25" (9.00m) at 14 projects to 30' 6" (9.30m) at 18.
- [Discus progression by age](https://trackreels.io/progression/discus): a boys' 98' 5" (30.00m) at 14 projects to 106' 7.75" (32.51m) at 18, a girls' 82' 0.25" (25.00m) at 14 projects to 98' 6.25" (30.03m) at 18.
- [Javelin progression by age](https://trackreels.io/progression/javelin): a boys' 118' 1.25" (36.00m) at 14 projects to 139' 7.5" (42.56m) at 18, a girls' 88' 6.75" (27.00m) at 14 projects to 88' 6.75" (27.00m) at 18.
- [110m Hurdles progression by age](https://trackreels.io/progression/110m-hurdles): a boys' 16.50 at 16 projects to 16.10 at 18.
- [100m Hurdles progression by age](https://trackreels.io/progression/100m-hurdles): a girls' 17.00 at 14 projects to 16.39 at 18.
- [400m Hurdles progression by age](https://trackreels.io/progression/400m-hurdles): a boys' 1:00.00 at 16 projects to 57.92 at 18, a girls' 1:11.00 at 16 projects to 1:10.28 at 18.

## How the projection works

World Masters Athletics publishes an age factor for every age and event: the fraction of the
open-class standard that a world-best performer of that age reaches. Divide the open standard by
the factor and you have the age standard. Your age-graded level is your time against that
standard, and it is the one number on this page that stays fixed: the tool assumes you hold the
same level and asks what time that level is worth at each later age.

In one line: time at age B equals time at age A, times factor(A), divided by factor(B). The
factors rise through the teens and reach 1.0 in the early twenties, so times fall and then
flatten. That shape is the sport's published record of how much of the improvement between 13
and 20 is simply getting older.

## What it cannot know

It knows nothing about you. A growth spurt, a new coach, a switch from hand timing to FAT,
an injury, or a season of doing the work will all move you off the curve, up or down, and the
athletes coaches remember are exactly the ones who moved off it. Read the projection as the
finish line you are already on pace for, not as a result you have earned. Enter fully automatic
times only; a hand time is a different number, and the
[hand time to FAT converter](https://trackreels.io/convert/hand-time-to-fat) fixes that first.

## How jumps, throws and hurdles are projected

No governing body publishes youth age factors for them, so TrackReels derives its own curve
from published records: the USATF championship meet record for every Junior Olympic age division,
for the U20 championships and for the open championships. Each division record, as a fraction of
the open record, is the factor for the top age of that division; the factor is a straight line
between divisions and is held at 1.0 from 25. Where the implement or hurdle height changes with
age, the curve carries the same relative standing across the change and says so on the page. The
records, the equipment and the one adjustment the derivation makes are all printed on each event
page.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is this a prediction of how fast I will be?

No. It is where the same age-graded level lands at a later age, using the World Masters Athletics factors for running events and a curve derived from USATF age-division records for jumps, throws and hurdles. Training, growth and coaching move real athletes off the curve in both directions. Treat it as the target you are on pace for.

### Why does it want a FAT time?

The factors and the college standards are written against fully automatic timing. A hand time is usually 0.24 seconds fast in the sprints, so projecting one produces a target that was never real. Convert it first with the hand time to FAT converter.

### How are jumps, throws and hurdles projected?

No governing body publishes youth age factors for them, so TrackReels derives its own curve from the championship records USA Track and Field publishes for every Junior Olympic age division, its U20 championships and its open championships. Each division record as a fraction of the open record is the factor for the top age of that division. It is labeled as a TrackReels derivation on every page that uses it, the records are printed, and it is not an official standard.

### Why can a throw project to a shorter distance a year later?

Because the implement gets heavier. A boys' discus goes from 1 kg at 14 to 1.6 kg at 15 and 16, and the published records fall across that step. The curve carries the same relative standing across the change, so the projection falls too, which is what happens to a real athlete.

### Why do the times stop improving in the early twenties?

Because the published factors reach 1.0 there: the open-class standard is the ceiling of the curve. Beyond that age the model has nothing to add, which is honest about what it is.

### Where do the numbers come from?

Running events: World Masters Athletics age-grading factors (2015 tables; youth factors 2006/2010), transcribed from Howard Grubb's WMA age-grading calculator data and retrieved 2026-09-05. Jumps, throws and hurdles: USATF championship meet records by age division, retrieved 2026-09-09, with the derivation described on each page. TrackReels does not estimate, smooth or extend the published factors.

Factors: World Masters Athletics age-grading factors (2015 tables; youth factors 2006/2010), transcribed from [Howard Grubb's WMA age-grading calculator data](https://howardgrubb.co.uk/athletics/wmalookup15.html), retrieved 2026-09-05. Nothing on this page is estimated, smoothed or extended by this site.

Curve: TrackReels curve derived from USATF championship meet records by age division. Records transcribed as published from [USATF National Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships records](https://www.usatf.org/resources/statistics/records/championship-meet-records/usatf-national-junior-olympic-track-field-champion), [USATF U20 Outdoor Championships records](https://www.usatf.org/resources/statistics/records/championship-meet-records/usatf-u20-outdoor-championships-records), [USATF Outdoor Championships records](https://www.usatf.org/resources/statistics/records/championship-meet-records/usatf-outdoor-championships-records), retrieved 2026-09-09. This is TrackReels' own derivation, not a World Masters Athletics table and not an official standard of any body. Nothing on this page is estimated beyond the derivation described above.

## What is still not here

The 300m hurdles, a high school race with no U20 or open championship record to anchor a
curve on; the hammer and weight throws, which have no Junior Olympic division records; and the
combined events. The site would rather leave those out than invent a curve for them. The
[published college standards](https://trackreels.io/standards) cover every event the site ranks, and the
[hurdle specifications by level](https://trackreels.io/blog/hurdle-heights-and-spacing) explain what changes
with age for the hurdle races.

**A projection is a target. A profile is proof.**

Put the marks you have already made on a free TrackReels profile: every mark shows its date and, where they apply, wind and timing, you rank on the boards the day you post, and college coaches browse by event, class year and state.

[Create your free profile](https://trackreels.io/signup)

[College recruiting standards](https://trackreels.io/standards) · [Mark converters](https://trackreels.io/convert) · [Live leaderboards](https://trackreels.io/leaderboard) · [Good 100m times by age and grade](https://trackreels.io/blog/good-100m-times-by-age-and-grade) · [Good long jump distances](https://trackreels.io/blog/good-long-jump-distances)

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Canonical page: https://trackreels.io/progression
Site guide for agents: https://trackreels.io/llms.txt