When we start looking ahead at who may be participating in the Olympics, our thoughts usually turn to proven commodities like Usain Bolt, Allyson Felix, Dayron Robles and Sally Pearson – athletes that have already put down excellent marks, and won medals in big time competition. What we often forget is that before they were household names (at least in households with track fans) they were “nobodies”, just some young kids hoping to someday be in the spotlight.

Of course those kids were very talented and gave indication at an early age that big time success just might be in their destinies. And when we watch the Games in August, odds are that we will see some new prodigies out there. Some will have difficulty making it out of the rounds. Some may find their way to the finals. And some, like Kirani James and Isiah Koech may find their way to the podium!

So in the game of trying to figure out who will be in the Games, how do we factor in these young prodigies? Well today I’m going to take a look back four years to 2008 and the U.S. High School Leaders lists. Because in the U.S. system, many of those young people will have continued their careers into college, and should have two or three years of collegiate seasoning behind them at this point – which means that many should be getting “ripe” right about now.

As a matter of fact our two best triple jumpers in Daegu – gold medalist Christian Taylor and bronze medalist Will Claye – were #1 & #2 on the ‘08 high school leaders list! They were joined in Daegu by Erik Kynard and Marquis Goodwin – #1 in the high jump and #2 in the long jump in 2008. Hurdler Turquoise Thompson – #1 in ‘08 – just missed making the 400 hurdle team by one place at last year’s National Championships. While heptathlete Ryann Krais – #1 in ‘08 – finished a qualifying 2nd at last year’s Nationals.

So it is highly probable that we could see several of 2008’s high school leaders make the team for London. One definition of success is when talent meets opportunity. Well, these are some of the most talented young people around, and the Trials will be their opportunity. So following is a list of the top 3 high schoolers in each event from 2008. I’ll be keeping an eye on them as the season progresses because I do expect to see many fighting for tickets to London.

Boys 2008 High School Leaders

Girls 2008 High School Leaders