<p>The article doesn’t mention what other posters here have - that the high school students are juggling intense sports, music and other e.c.s in their quest to land a spot at the competitive college. Many students will not continue the dedicated pursuit of these e.c.s in college, instead opting to do club sports, musical e.c.s that require less time, etc. It’s a natural progression - the student who makes All State musician in high school but doesn’t intend to major in music can participate in college but has nothing to ‘prove’ musically. Other factors come into it - the public high schools in our area do not have indoor tracks. All of them use the local community college’s nice facilities, but it means that meets are scheduled until 10 on school nights and all day Sunday. College athletes (with the exception of those appearing on national t.v. in very competitive sports) don’t usually have to deal with that and have to be in the classroom at 7:45 a.m. the next morning.</p>