Preferred Recruit · Track StandardsUnderstanding track and field PRs for recruiting
College coaches trust fully automatic (FAT) times and wind-legal marks from sanctioned meets with public results. A hand time is usually treated as about 0.24 seconds slower in the 100m and 200m, and sprint and horizontal jump marks with a tailwind over 2.0 m/s are wind-aided.
Updated 2026-10-16 · Preferred Recruit · built from 1,143 college programs' standards
FAT vs hand timing
FAT timing uses a camera at the finish and reads to the hundredth. Hand timing reads faster because of the timer's reaction time, so the standard conversion adds 0.24 seconds in the 100m and 200m and 0.14 seconds in the 400m and longer.
Wind
In the 100m, 200m, sprint hurdles, long jump and triple jump, a tailwind over 2.0 m/s makes the mark wind-aided. List your best legal mark first and the wind-aided mark second.
Indoor vs outdoor
Indoor tracks are usually 200m with tighter turns, so 200m and 400m times are slower indoors. Coaches compare indoor marks with indoor lists.
High school to college events
The 1600m, 3200m, 300m hurdles and 39-inch 110m hurdles convert to college events. See every conversion table.
Common questions
What does FAT mean?
Fully automatic timing, a camera system that reads to the hundredth of a second.
Do coaches accept wind-aided marks?
They see them, but they compare legal marks with their standards.
Does a relay split count as a PR?
No. Relay splits show racing ability, but your open marks are what coaches compare.