WITH ONLY A PAIR of athletes etching their names atop the all-time charts things may have seemed slow, but that’s relative, as ’25 had no WR setters at all. For a history of past Indoor AOY voting, go here.
Our 2026 awards:
World Women: Keely Hodgkinson (Great Britain)
The 23/24-year old had a brilliant campaign in the 800. The only woman ever to break 1:55 indoors, she also had another sub-1:56 clocking and ended up with all-time marks 1, 2 & 5. She’s the first pure 800 runner to win our AOY honor since Maria Mutola in ’98.
Leading the Honorable Mention group is the other WR claimant, Bahamian Devynne Charlton, who equaled her own 60H standard in winning WC gold. An HM nod too, to undefeated high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Ukraine, with the year’s 3 highest jumps.
The 5 most recent winners: ’25 — Gudaf Tsegay (Ethiopia); ’24 — Femke Bol (Netherlands); ’23 — Bol; ’22 — Yulimar Rojas (Venezuela); ’21 — Tsegay.
U.S. Women: Chase Jackson (Nike)
Last year Jackson became the first shot putter ever to earn the U.S. indoor AOY title. Again undefeated by her fellow Americans, she raised her American Record and was the only winner of gold at the World Indoor.
HMs to the 3 WC silver medalists: Jacious Sears (60), Emily Mackay (3000) and Anna Hall (pentathlon).
We should also point out Toruń bronze medalists Addy Wiley (800) and Nikki Hiltz (1500). And finally, AR setters Roisin Willis (800) and Elle St. Pierre (1500).
The 5 most recent winners: ’25 — Jackson; ’24 — Elle St. Pierre (New Balance); ’23 — Jasmine Moore (Florida); ’22 — Ajee’ Wilson (adidas); ’21 — Athing Mu (Texas A&M).
Collegiate Women: Jane Hedengren (BYU)
Last year’s AOY feature called Hedengren a “record machine” after she dominated the high school scene. Though she wasn’t as prolific in her frosh season as a BYU Cougar, she took down the American CR in the 3000. And she remained a dominant figure, scoring double NCAA wins in the 3000 and 5000.
Lots of HMs by CR setters: Sanu Jallow-Lockhart (Arkansas) in the 600, Hayley Kitching (Penn State) & Sophia Gorriaran (Harvard) in the 1000, Wilma Nielsen (Oregon) 1500, Riley Chamberlain (BYU) mile, Doris Lemngole (Alabama) in the 3000 — beating Hedengren — and Axelina Johansson (Nebraska) in the shot.
Heads-up too for the year’s highest vaulter, Hana Moll, who became just the ninth member of the world’s 16-foot club.
The 5 most recent winners: ’25 — Amanda Moll (Washington); ’24 — Parker Valby (Florida); ’23 — Moore; ’22 — Moore; ’21 — Tyra Gittens (Texas A&M).
HS Girls: Mia Maxwell (Atascocita, Humble, Texas)
Sorting out a pair of high-end twins turned out to be a solomonic task and no easy decision. The Maxwell Twins proved exceedingly hard to separate.
Mia had the 60 HSR and Mariah the 300 HSR. Over the 60 and 200 Mia beat Mariah in 4 of 6 head-to-heads: Mia 3-1 at 60 and 1-1 at 200. What breaks it open for Mia is the triple jump, where she moved to No. 2 all-time and won the NIN title.
Close behind the twins was breakout performer Katy Zang (Teays Valley, Ashville, Ohio). Little exposed with only 3 races, she came close to being AOY for taking down Mary Cain’s national 2M record (with 2000 and 3000 HSRs en route).
Honorable mention also to Sophie Rambo (Grassfield, Chesapeake, Virginia) after setting a new HSR in the 500.
The 5 most recent winners: ’25 — Jane Hedengren (Timpview, Provo, Utah); ’24 — Beth Leachman (Champion, Boerne, Texas); ’23 — Shawnti Jackson (South Granville, Creedmoor, North Carolina); ’22 — Roisin Willis (Stevens Point, Wisconsin); ’21 — Sophia Gorriaran (Brown, Providence, Rhode Island).
