The OP doesn’t want to be recruited (and I assume doesn’t want to participate in college), so to the admissions office, it is an EC. If it is ‘just another’ is up to the OP. Is he going to list “Varsity track” as his activity or is he going to list the many hours and meets he’s been in? Is someone going to list that he was a Boy Scout or is he going to list that he was an Eagle Scout and what his project was?
All EC’s are not equal, but the applicant needs to point that out to the admin office. If the applicant is lucky, the admin was also a track athlete and knows what it takes, or a boy scout, or the winner of the robotics prize.
I was on two varsity teams, co captain of one. Spent hours during the season on it, especially as our competitions were sometimes 1.5 hours away in each direction. Our team was awful and no one was good enough to be recruited but we loved playing. As for helping me get into to college I do not feel anyone cared. I could have done WIC or Debate it would have been the same. It is an EC that is all. I think it made me look more well rounded. I was even discouraged from writing about it because it often results in the sports essay they have seen 1000 times or more.
However, the difference between a regular varsity player and a recruit is night and day. I have a friend who is a girls basketball player and had actively trained in another sport. She was trying to get recruited for that sport and ended up getting recruited for basketball instead (but she did not love the school so just went to her non sport EA school). Two very top schools but that have weak teams.
Men’s tennis will recruit a two star (girls tennis is more selective for some reason and being in the state finals is not enough). I would explore your options in terms of recruitment, you have nothing to lose