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USATF Announces 2022 End of Year AwardsPublished by
USATF ANNOUNCES 2022 END OF YEAR AWARDSMcLaughlin-Levrone, Lyles take Jackie Joyner-Kersee Award and Jesse Owens Award as USATF Athletes of the Year; Walker named Nike Coach of the Year; Willis is Youth Athlete of the Year, Hitchings and Meiler are Masters Athletes of the Year. 2022 Jackie Joyner Kersee Female Athlete of the Year Award: Sydney McLaughlin-LevroneUndefeated at all distances in 2022, and in the 400m hurdles since finishing second to Dalilah Muhammad’s world record in Doha in 2019, McLaughlin-Levrone’s season was nothing short of dominant. On a sweltering afternoon in June, McLaughlin-Levrone broke the 400m hurdles world record for the third time in her career with a 51.41 win at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships, besting the field by more than a second and a half. Less than a month later, she shattered the world record by the largest margin since 1977, bettering her mark by .73 seconds with a mind-blowing 50.68. McLaughlin-Levrone ran sub-52 in four races this season, a barrier that had never been broken until she did it at the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2021. Anchoring the women’s winning 4x400m relay with a 47.9 split, McLaughlin-Levrone and Team USATF ran away with world-leading gold in 3:17.79 over Jamaica’s 3:20.74. 2022 Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year Award: Noah LylesAn undefeated season and an American record in the 200m highlighted one of the best seasons ever for Lyles, who captured the World Championships gold in a stunning 19.31 to break the national record that was set in 1996 by Michael Johnson. In his 12 races over the half-lap in 2022, Lyles had 11 wind-legal sub-20 second clockings and he capped off the year with a convincing win in the Diamond League final. He won his eight finals by an average of .29 seconds, including a massive .46 margin to take the world title. Running the backstretch on Team USATF's 4x100m relay at the World Championships, Lyles helped his quartet to a silver medal. Brad Walker named 2022 USATF Nike Coach of the YearWhen athletes you coach take the top two spots in a single event at the year's two global championships, something is definitely going right. Walker guided Katie Nageotte and Sandi Morris to women's pole vault gold and silver at the World Championships in Eugene, reversing the order of finish from the World Indoor Championships in Serbia in March. Nageotte and Morris waged an epic battle for gold in Eugene, with Nageotte taking the top spot on the podium by virtue of her first-attempt clearance at 4.85m/15-11, a height Morris needed two tries to negotiate. At Belgrade, Morris sailed over 4.80m/15-9 on her final attempt to grab the gold over Nageotte, who ended up with a best of 4.75m/15-7. Over the course of the season the duo met nine times, with Morris holding an 8-1 edge over Nageotte, the reigning Olympic champion. Roisin Willis named 2022 USATF Youth Athlete of the YearA double gold medalist at the World U20 Championships in Colombia, Willis won the 800m by .4 seconds in 1:59.13, the second-fastest time ever by a U.S. high school woman, and anchored Team USATF to gold in the 4x400m relay. During the indoor season, Willis set a national high school record in the 800m with a 2:00.06 at Boston on Feb. 11, the fastest indoor time in the world by a U20 athlete in 2022, and she followed that with a win at the NBIN in New York City. Her 2:43.34 1,000m at Virginia Beach in January was also the world's fastest by a U20 runner, and she topped the global U20 list at 500m with a 1:10.90 at that same meet. Demonstrating her excellent range, Willis won the 400m at the Nike Outdoor Nationals in 52.64. Hitchings, Meiler named 2022 USATF Masters Long Distance Running and Track & Field Athletes of the YearExcellent performances early in the year earned Jenny Hitchings Masters Long Distance Running Athlete of the Year recognition. Hitchings, 59, ran an impressive 1:23:41 at the Austin Half Marathon in February before going on to win the women’s 55-59 division at the USATF Masters 10 Mile Championships. Her time of 1:00:40 bested the field by more than three minutes, earning her a pending American and world age group record at the distance. |