The short answer
The average long jump for a 15-year-old is about 17 feet (5.18 m) for boys and 15 feet (4.57 m) for girls, among athletes who compete. A good sophomore jump is over 18 feet for boys and 16 feet for girls. Strong 15-year-olds jump 20 feet 6 inches to 22 feet and 18 to 19 feet; the national class is near 23 feet and 20 feet.
Key takeaways
- Typical competing 15-year-olds: 16 to 18 feet for boys, 14 to 16 feet for girls
- A sophomore over 20 feet or a sophomore girl over 17 feet 6 inches is usually scoring at varsity invitationals
- Over 22 feet for a boy or 19 feet for a girl is a state-meet trajectory in most states
- At 15 the jump starts to follow the 100m time: a 12.0 sprinter should be near 19 feet
- A first jump for an untrained 15-year-old is still 13 feet 6 inches to 16 feet
What is the average long jump for a 15-year-old?
Sophomore year is when the long jump becomes a sprinter's event. Most 15-year-olds who jump also run the 100 or the 4x100, the approach has stretched to 14 or 16 strides, and the distance has started to track speed. Among 15-year-olds who compete, the typical boy jumps about 17 feet (5.18 m) and the typical girl about 15 feet (4.57 m).
The spread inside the age is wide because the approach is now long enough to go wrong. A sophomore with a measured, repeatable run-up will out-jump a faster kid who fouls or jumps from a foot behind the board, and that difference is worth more than a year of growth.
Long jump benchmarks at age 15, feet and meters
| Tier at age 15 | Boys | Girls |
|---|---|---|
| First measured jump, no approach practice | 13'6" - 16'0" (4.11 - 4.88 m) | 11'6" - 14'0" (3.51 - 4.27 m) |
| Typical (JV or developmental varsity) | 16'0" - 18'0" (4.88 - 5.49 m) | 14'0" - 16'0" (4.27 - 4.88 m) |
| Good (sophomore scoring at varsity meets) | 18'0" - 20'0" (5.49 - 6.10 m) | 16'0" - 17'6" (4.88 - 5.33 m) |
| Strong (state-level sophomore, JO regional) | 20'6" - 22'0" (6.25 - 6.71 m) | 18'0" - 19'0" (5.49 - 5.79 m) |
| National class for the age | 22'6" - 23'6" (6.86 - 7.16 m) | 19'6" - 20'6" (5.94 - 6.25 m) |
Ages 14, 15 and 16 side by side
The typical boy adds about a foot a year through this stretch and the typical girl about six inches. The top end moves faster than that for boys, because the strongest 15-year-olds are on varsity 4x100 teams and getting real sprint training.
The long jump at 14, 15 and 16
| Level | Age 14 (B / G) | Age 15 (B / G) | Age 16 (B / G) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical | 16'0" / 14'0" | 17'0" / 15'0" | 17'6" / 15'6" |
| Good for the age | 18'6" / 16'3" | 19'3" / 16'9" | 20'0" / 17'3" |
| National class | 21'0" / 18'6" | 23'0" / 20'0" | 23'9" / 20'6" |
Speed sets the ceiling
A rule of thumb that holds well from 15 onward: a jumper's distance in feet is roughly 33 minus 1.2 times their 100m time in seconds. A 12.0 sprinter lands near 18 feet 6 inches, an 11.5 sprinter near 19 feet 3 inches. Jumpers well below that line have a technique problem, not a speed problem.
Source: Coaching heuristic from published sprint-jump correlation data
What is a good long jump for a 15-year-old boy?
Over 18 feet is good and scores at varsity dual meets. Over 20 feet 6 inches is strong, and in most states it is within a foot or so of a state qualifying mark by junior year. The national class is 22 feet 6 inches to 23 feet 6 inches. A sophomore in the typical 16 to 18 foot band who runs the 100 in the mid 12s is under-jumping his speed and will usually find two feet in a season of approach work.
What is a good long jump for a 15-year-old girl?
Over 16 feet is good for a 15-year-old girl and over 18 feet is strong. The national class is 19 feet 6 inches to 20 feet 6 inches. Girls' distances flatten earlier than boys', so a sophomore girl who wants to go from 15 to 17 feet is looking at approach consistency and takeoff mechanics, not at getting faster on her own.
How these numbers were built
- Population. Athletes with a measured long jump at a school, club or USATF meet, from Athletic.net, MileSplit and USATF Junior Olympic results. A child who has only jumped in PE is usually below the first row.
- Typical band. The middle 50 percent of that population for the age, rounded to six inches.
- Good, strong, national class. Roughly the top 25 percent, top 5 percent and top 0.5 percent of the age. National class is anchored to USATF Junior Olympic final results for the division containing the age.
- Wind. Marks are all-conditions. At youth level almost no results are wind-checked, so a legal-wind table would be smaller and not more useful.
- Feet and meters. Both are given because US school meets measure in feet and inches and USATF and every other country measure in meters.
What separates 17 feet from 20 at 15
- A measured approach. Sixteen strides, marked, checked every session. The 20-foot sophomores hit the board within four inches most jumps; the 17-foot ones foul or jump from a foot back.
- The penultimate step. A slightly longer second-to-last step that lowers the hips is where the vertical comes from. It is the single most common thing missing at this age.
- Speed on the runway. The last four strides should be the fastest of the approach. Sophomores who steady themselves before the board give away a foot.
- Film from the side at the board. Foot placement, the penultimate step and the takeoff angle are all visible in one clip, and they are the difference between the typical row and the good one.