Editor’s Note: For two-plus decades this writer attended the USATF National Meeting. There I met with USATF delegates, coaches, association management and athletes. It was an old home week, to use an old time expression. Then, around 2010, it started getting hard to be every year. The last year I went was 2014-15, I think. I have to find a way to get to meetings again.
The National Assembly, offered this year as remote as well as in-person, was lost in the news for the first two weeks of December.
I apologize for the delays. Sometimes things get lost in the craziness. I’ll make sure to look better next year. These awards are very important. In our sport, recognition comes many years later, in most cases.
The truth is that USATF honors the best athletes and coaches, and Max Siegel, USATF’s executive director, ensures the state of the sport. I am very happy for the athletes who have traveled and fought for many years to reach this level.
USATF is honoring outstanding performers with the 2025 annual awards
ORLANDO — USA Track & Field has announced its 2025 year-end honorees, honoring an array of champions, record holders and rising talent in the sport. Melissa Jefferson-Wooden was named this year’s Jackie Joyner Kersey Athlete of the Year and Rye Benjamin was selected as the Jesse Owens Athlete of the Year. Honorees also include Nike Coach of the Year Dennis Mitchell, Young Athlete of the Year Cooper Lutkenhaus and Toyota Para Athletics Athlete of the Year Jadyn Blackwell and Annie Carey.
2025 Jackie Joyner Kersey Female Athlete of the Year: Melissa Jefferson-Wooden
Jefferson-Wooden capped a dominant season with a historic triple crown effort, making her the first American woman ever to win the 100m, 200m, and then lead Team USA to gold in the 4x100m relay at the same world championships. Her time of 10.61 in the 100 m makes her the second fastest American woman of all time in the event and is a championship record. In the 200m, she ran a world-leading 21.68, taking the gold by nearly half a second.
“I am very pleased to be this year’s recipient of the Jackie Joyner Kersey Award,” said Jefferson-Wooden. “It means so much to me with the year I’ve had. And it’s just a testament to all the hard work I’ve put in this year. And to know it didn’t go unnoticed means the world to me.”
Jefferson-Wooden was undefeated in the 100m in 2025, recording three sub 10.7 performances.
2025 Jesse Owens Athlete of the Year: Rye Benjamin
The reigning Olympic champion won her first individual World title with the second-fastest 400m hurdles of the season. Just six-hundredths of a second shy of his own American record, Benjamin commanded the early race and crossed the finish line in 46.52 to complete an undefeated season in the discipline. The world champion then anchored the 4x400m relay, representing Team USA in a dramatic photo finish that earned the group a silver medal in 2:57.83.
Prior to her world championship appearances, Benjamin won her sixth consecutive US national title in the 400m hurdles.
2025 Nike Coach of the Year: Dennis Mitchell
Olympian Dennis Mitchell led six Team USA athletes to a combined 10 medals at the 2025 World Championships. Jefferson-Wooden led the pack with her historic sweep of the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relays, arriving in Tokyo after winning two titles at the US national championships. In fact, Mitchell’s athletes made up the entire team, which also included Sha’Kari Richardson, TiT Terry and Kayla Dee.
Kenny Bednarek earned silver in the 200m with a season-best 19.58 after finishing fourth in the 100m. Bednarek joined training partners Christian Coleman and Courtney Lindsay to help the US team win the men’s 4x100m by completing the sprint relay. Lindsey also made her first World Championships team by qualifying in the 100m semi-finals. Hurdler Tonea Marshall became the fifth-fastest American woman ever in the 100m hurdles with her 12.26 in Poland.
“As coaches, you know, we don’t get a lot of credit for the things we do. And to be able to even just be eligible to receive an award like that … I’m honored,” Mitchell said. “This is my second time receiving this award in three years, and I am very happy to be the Nike Coach of the Year.”
Mitchell’s leadership and commitment to excellence in the sprints and hurdles elevated Team USA’s presence on the world stage throughout 2025.
2025 Young Athlete of the Year: Cooper Lutkenhaus
At 16, Lutkenhaus became the youngest American ever to compete in a world championship. To earn his spot in Tokyo, the high school senior broke his own US high school 800m record, set the under-18 world record and the US under-20 record with an unforgettable second-place time of 1:42.27 at the US national championships, making him the fourth-fastest American of all time.
“I want to say how honored I am to receive the 2025 USATF Young Athlete of the Year award,” Lutkenhaus said. “This award means more to me than words can express. Track and field has shaped who I am not only as an athlete, but as a person. I am grateful for every step, step and occasional stumble that has brought me here.”
Now a junior, Lutkenhaus rewrote high school history in both the indoor and outdoor seasons with highlights at the Millrose Games, Nike Outdoor Nationals and the Texas High School State Championships.
2025 Toyota Para Athletics Female Athlete of the Year: Annie Carey
In her first World Dance Championships, Carey left New Delhi with a world record, two American records and two medals. The Paralympian won gold in the T44 200m in a new American record time of 27.31 and took silver in the T44 100m in 13.45. He also set a new T44 world record of 5.20m in the T64 long jump, finishing fourth.
“I am extremely grateful to accept the 2025 Toyota Para Sportsman of the Year Award,” said Carey. “Thank you for reminding me to be strong and to be the foundation that keeps me going. To Toyota and USATF, thank you for your commitment to the Paralympic movement and opportunities for athletes to find their purpose and strength.
Carey set the tone at the USA Para National Championships by leaping 5.19m to break her own T44 long jump world record.
2025 Toyota Para Athletics Male Athlete of the Year: Jaydin Blackwell
Blackwell completed a historic double in the T38 100m and 400m at the 2025 World Para Championships. The reigning Paralympic champion won his third straight world title in the T38 100m in a US and championship record time of 10.70. He followed that up with a dominant victory in the T38 400m, setting his own T38 world record in 48.00, over a second ahead of the field.
“Twelve years ago, I put on my first pair of spikes with the mindset that I would compete against anyone, anywhere, anytime,” Blackwell shared. “And that same (thinking) is still true today. And for years to come, I want to elevate what it means to be a top athlete.”
Earlier in the season, Blackwell lowered his world record of 48.26 at the World Para Athletics Grand Prix in Cali, Colombia. She left New Delhi a six-time world champion after winning her first title in 2023.
