Our 2026 COROS MileSplit50 Boys Indoor Athlete of the Year is.....
Quincy Wilson of Maryland.
A lot of consideration went into the decision on who the best High School Athlete of the Year is in 2026. One major discussion was around the inclusion of Cooper Lutkenhaus, who was competing on the professional circuit for much of the year. He was originally invited and slated to run at Nike Indoor Nationals, but after qualifying for the World's team, he focused on the much bigger target. That focus proved prudent, as he became the youngest athlete ever to win an Indoor World Title. If we were considering Cooper for these end-of-season rankings, he would have won them.
But there is something to be said about lining up against both Pro's and HSer's alike. Quincy did both, taking on a pro field at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, while also mixing it up with HS competition at the VA Showcase and NB Nationals. It was there that he had a defining race of his career, racing his final Indoor 400m, and holding off top-level HS Competition. He ended his individual campaign with a new National Record, running 45.37, a time that was only 0.01 seconds behind the 2nd place mark at USA Indoors. His 500m National Record is a nice bonus, an event rarely run until recently. But his willingness to drop down to the relay, both the 4x400m and 4x200m, pushes Quincy over the edge of one of the most competitive fields of male athletes in a single year ever. We can almost guarantee we'll be seeing these names at the Senior level for the next decade to come.
The strength of any list can be measured by those who didn't make it on. Below, we wanted to make note of a few honorable mentions, whom just missed the cutoff
HM1 - Cooper Lutkenhaus (Nike) - For reasons stated above.
HM2 - Steffon Lyon (St. James Academy, VA) - Freshman National Records in both the 200m and 300m.
HM3 - Abdinasir Hassan (Rangeview, CO) - Sophomore National Record in the Mile at 4:01.45.
HM4 - Quenton Lanese (Olympia, WA) Freshman National Record in the Mile at 4:13.95.
HM5 - Avonte Earl (Houston Worthing, TX) - Sophomore National Record in the 60H at 7.59.
MH6 - Ruel Newberry (Denton Guyer, TX) - Sophomore National Record for the 5K at 14:04.33.
