Posted: January 30, 2004

Athletics: Texas Leads All States in Outdoor High School Track & Field Participation

California, Ohio, Michigan and Illinois Round Out Top Five

(Madison, WI) -American Track and Field Magazine would like to honor Texas for their first-place ranking among all states in 2003 high school outdoor track and field participation with 144,482 participants.

Based on a study conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), Texas was followed by California, Ohio, Michigan and Illinois. The entire top 10 is as follows:

1. Texas - 144, 482 (16%)
2. California - 75,727 (8%)
3. Ohio - 42,186 (5%)
4. Michigan - 40,984 (4%)
5. Illinois - 40, 854 (4%)
6. New York - 35,233 (4%)
7. Pennsylvania - 33,408 (4%)
8. Minnesota - 27,525 (3%)
9. Wisconsin - 24,322 (3%)
10. New Jersey - 23,865 (3%)

* Percentage in parenthesis indicates percentage of total United States participants that the respective state represents.

"The participant totals are a very exciting indicator of our sport's growth," said Larry Eder, ATF Publisher. "These athletes not only represent our sports current growth but are also a great sample of track and field's future."

For a complete state listing of 2003 high school outdoor track and field participant figures visit www.nfhs.org/.

American Track & Field is a professional publication dedicated to the improvement of both the image and the performance of American athletes in the disciplines of track and field, cross country, and race walking. ATF takes a grassroots approach to improving the quality of coaching to the 1.51 million serious athletes in these disciplines by becoming the source of training information. For more information, please visit www.american-trackandfield.com.

2003 Outdoor Track and Field Participation Figures

State / Participant Total
Alabama 10,523
Alaska 1,923
Arizona 11,875
Arkansas 6,100
California 75,727
Colorado 14,682
Connecticut 11,443
Delaware 1,973
District of Columbia 517
Florida 23,313
Georgia 17,500
Hawaii 3,097
Idaho 6,194
Illinois 40,854
Indiana 19,983
Iowa 20,243
Kansas 15,059
Kentucky 9,818
Louisiana 12,653
Maine 4,896
Maryland 9,823
Massachusetts 21,551
Michigan 40,894
Minnesota 27,525
Mississippi 11,427
Missouri 23,660
Montana 7,209
Nebraska 14,539
Nevada 4,919
New Hampshire 4,207
New Jersey 23,865
New Mexico 7,857
New York 35,233
North Carolina 18,808
North Dakota 4,081
Ohio 42,186
Oklahoma 8,043
Oregon 13,494
Pennsylvania 33,408
Rhode Island 2,606
South Carolina 11,522
South Dakota 6,129
Tennessee 10,365
Texas 144,482
Utah 6,874
Vermont 1,915
Virginia 16,321
Washington 20,405
West Virginia 4,725
Wisconsin 24,322
Wyoming 2,861

TOTAL 913,629