One of Gilbert High’s best athletes won the Arizona State Championship, won the Junior Olympics 2 years in a row, and set a country record in track and field for 300-meter hurdles.

Vance Nilsson⁽¹²⁾ joined track and field during his freshman year despite him having played baseball, soccer, and other sports stating, “I wasn’t good at the actual sport, I was just good at the running part” which had made him join track.

When he first joined track, he described himself as a “non-compliant” athlete but his coaches still were sure to keep him going and committed to track. Because of his coaches, he was able to win the state championships his junior year, win at the Junior Olympics the same year, and repeat his victories his senior year.

Vance Nilsson⁽¹²⁾ has set a country record for high school 300-meter hurdles at 34.83 seconds and plans to try out for our Olympic track team and possibly compete this year in Paris while all of Gilbert High is cheering him on, as he will go down in their school's history along with our country’s.

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