When J-Mee Samuels set a national record in the 100, his time was 3% better than the next-fastest runner in state history.
In the introduction to this idea, I noted that the number 3% kept coming up when comparing Trentavis Friday and J-Mee Samuels, the state's best sprinters of all time, to the rest of the elite 100 and 200 runners in state history. Even though that percentage seems small, it represents the difference between "all-time great" and "transcending the limits of what we thought possible for a high school athlete." In this article, I will apply that general rule to some other events to see if it holds up, and hopefully identify those athletes that were so much better than everyone else that they qualify for the term "transcendent." Some candidates came to mind immediately, and a quick search of the All-Time Top 25 List suggested a few others. Click through to check them out!