MEN WENT WILD in the indoor record department in the post-Olympic year, particularly on the track. For a history of our undercover AOYs through the years, go here: https://trackandfieldnews.com/compilations/.
Our 2025 awards:
World Men: Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Norway)
The battle between Scandinavian stars Ingebrigtsen and Mondo Duplantis was a fierce one, the miler getting the narrow nod. Ingebrigtsen set 1500 and mile WRs in the same race and won 1500/3000 doubles at both the Euro Indoor and World Indoor. Undefeated, he was 3 for 3 in 1500/mile races and 2 for 2 in 3000s.
Mondo was also undefeated, going 4/4. His chart was topped by an Absolute WR. He had the year’s top 3 meets plus a share of the fourth. In addition to the WR, he produced the =No 8 performance ever. Had he been given No. 1, his 4 career leaderships would have tied Renaud Lavillenie for most men’s AOYs ever.
The 5 most recent winners: ’24 — Grant Holloway (US); ’23 — Mondo Duplantis (Sweden) ’22 — Duplantis; ’21 — Ryan Crouser (US); ’20 — Duplantis.
U.S. Men: Josh Hoey (adidas F8)
Another tight one, with a trio of recordsetters vying for the top spot. The busy Hoey was undefeated in his 6 races, in the process twice breaking the AR in the 800 and adding another new standard in the 1000. He topped off his notable season with WC gold.
Neither Grant Fisher nor Yared Nuguse had a WC credit on his chart, but both entered the recordbooks to earn HM status. Fisher’s high points consisted of not 1, but 2 WRs (that were obviously also ARs).
Nuguse had just 2 races, but at Millrose he claimed a WR (later broken by Ingebrigtsen) in the mile and an AR in the 1500.
The 5 most recent winners: ’24 — Grant Holloway (adidas); ’23 — Ryan Crouser (Nike); ’22 — Holloway; ’21 — Crouser; ’20 — Crouser.
Collegiate Men: Ethan Strand (North Carolina)
Strand had quite the different season, racing in only 4 different meets between early-December and mid-March, but claiming 3 Collegiate Records and an NCAA title in the process.
He started with the 3000 record on December 07, then added on new 1500 & mile bests on February 01 before finishing up with the ACC 5000 crown (March 01) and the NCAA 3K (March 15). Oh yeah, he also anchored a pair of American Record distance medleys with sub-3:50 clockings.
HM status to Ja’kobe Tharp (Auburn) and Daniel Reynolds (Wyoming). Each climbed high on the all-time collegiate list in winning the NCAA title: Tharp to =No. 5 in the 60H, Reynolds to No. 2 in the weight.
The 5 most recent winners: ’24 — Christopher Morales Williams (Georgia); ’23 — Kyle Garland (Georgia); ’22 — Trey Cunningham (Florida State); ’21 — KC Lightfoot (Baylor); ’20 — Chris Nilsen (South Dakota).
HS Boys: Owen Powell (Mercer Island, Washington)
Sub-4:00 miles, while appearing with increased frequency at the prep level, are certainly still anything but common. Decidedly not common are 3:56 performances, and Powell’s national record 3:56.66 (to say nothing of his oversized 3:57.74) was enough to earn him the AOY position. He also claimed the 1500 record en route.
Still, the decision in Powell’s favor was a tight one with ’24 winner Quincy Wilson (Bullis, Potomac, Maryland) breaking his own national standard in the 400.
Four more recordsetters joined Wilson in the HM department: Cole Boone (Pulaski, Dublin, Virginia) in the 1000, Cooper Lutkenhaus (Northwest, Justin, Texas) in the 800, Andrew Salvodon (Bayside, Virginia Beach) in the 500 & Tate Taylor (Harlan, San Antonio) in the 200.
The 5 most recent winners: ’24 — Quincy Wilson (Bullis, Potomac, Maryland); ’23 — Connor Burns (Southern Boone, Ashland, Missouri); ’22 — Will Sumner (Woodstock, Georgia); ’21 — Jaylen Slade (IMG, Bradenton, Florida); ’20 — Nico Young (Newbury Park, California).
