2020 Indoor Track End of Season Awards (D1)

The indoor track season has come to an end...sooner than expected. That, however, just leaves us with plenty to recap. Earlier in the week, we released our newest episode of the Blue Oval Podcast which went through five different awards (one for the men and one for the women) for the 2020 indoor track season.

Here were Garrett and Ben's candidates as well as their D1 award winners...

Best Freshman Award

*Redshirt freshmen are not included in this award

Men

Candidates: Luis Peralta (Oregon), Sam Tanner (Washington), Cole Hocker (Oregon)

Ben's Selection: Cole Hocker (Oregon)

Garrett's Selection: Cole Hocker (Oregon)

Analysis:

Although both Ben and myself chose Hocker, this was a much harder decision than some may realize. Sam Tanner was phenomenal to start the season, running 2:21 in the 1000 meters to beat out a strong field before going on to run 3:59 for the mile and then 3:39 for 1500 meters towards the end of the season. Then there was Peralta who ran 1:48 twice and qualified for Nationals.

However, we ultimately chose Hocker for his ability to thrive in two championship-relevant events. He ran a 3:58 mile to qualify for NCAA's and also posted a 7:57 mark in the 3000 meters. There was simply a lot of value in Hocker, but the other two candidates were extremely hard to pick against.

Women

Candidates: Grace Forbes (Rice), Carley Thomas (Washington), Kelsey Chmiel (NC State), Melany Smart (Washington)

Ben's Selection: Carley Thomas (Washington)

Garrett's Selection: Carley Thomas (Washington)

Analysis:

This one wasn't as difficult as the men's award. Carley Thomas was clearly the best freshman of the season. She beat Nia Akins (convincingly) at the Dr. Sanders Columbia Challenge, ran a time of 2:02 and was just simply really good. Thomas could have won a national title this year and I'm not sure it would have surprised anyone.

That, however, doesn't mean that the other candidates didn't have great seasons.

Chmiel was quietly outstanding, earning national qualifying times in both the 5000 meters and 3000 meters - something incredibly hard to do as just a freshman. Washington's Melany Smart also earned a national qualifying time in the 3000 meters.

Then there was Grace Forbes who consistently improved throughout the season, but really had her breakout performance at Boston University when she dropped an 8:56 3k seemingly out of nowhere.

All of those women had outstanding winter seasons, but Thomas was simply more dominant.

Most Improved Award

*Focuses on athletes who were in the national picture, does not include freshmen

Men

Candidates: Luis Grijalva (Northern Arizona), Alex Masai (Hofstra), Ryan Adams (Furman), Kierna Tuntivate (Harvard), Peter Seufer (Virginia Tech)

Ben's Selection: Luis Grijalva (Northern Arizona)

Garrett's Selection: Alex Masai (Hofstra)

Analysis:

This was extremely difficult, mainly because it depends on how you classify improvement. Is it by quantity of time? National impact? Should those who improved during cross country also be put into this award? Maybe a little bit of everything should be considered?

For me, I went with Alex Masai.

Yes, he had a great cross country season, but he struggled at the NCAA XC Championships, wasn't expected to make the national meet this winter, and certainly wasn't expected to run 13:28 for 5000 meters. Add on a 7:53 result for 3000 meters, and the Hofstra ace has a compelling argument.

As for Ben, he opted to choose Luis Grijalva for reasons that were a bit different from mine.

Coming into this season, Grijalva had a handful of great times under his belt, but it's clear that 2020 was the year where he elevated his fitness. The NAU star went from being a fringe All-American contender to a national title favorite. His range between the mile, 3k and 5k was wildly impressive and he headlined the national leaderboard in everything he ran.

We knew he was going to be good, but I'm not sure anyone (other than NAU) could have predicted that he would be this good.

Women

Candidates: Whittni Orton (BYU), Katie Izzo (Arkansas), Michaela Meyer (Delaware), Julia Heymach (Stanford), Kathryn Gillespie (Texas)

Ben's Selection: Julia Heymach (Stanford)

Garrett's Selection: Julia Heymach (Stanford)

Analysis:

Julia Heymach was an absolute star this season. She held her own this past fall and already owned a few respectable marks, but the leap that she made this winter was unprecedented.

She ran 4:33 for the mile, 2:04 for the 800 meters, 2:45 for the 1000 meters, and was part of one of the most dominant DMR's in the country. She never had a bad race and in a Dani Jones-less world, Heymach could have been considered a national title favorite for the mile.

As for other women, both Katie Izzo and Whittni Orton both had compelling arguments to win this award, but their cross country seasons were so dominant that it was hard to be surprised about what they did on the track.

Meanwhile, Michaela Meyer's 2:03 came out of nowhere, but other than that, we didn't really see a whole lot else from her. Kathryn Gillespie also had a solid season where she became one of the better middle distance runners in the NCAA, but there were others who we felt were simply better.

Best Performance Award

*Must have run attached

Men

Candidates: Joe Klecker's 4:01 mile in Boulder, Oregon's 9:24 DMR national record, Tyler Day's 13:16 5k (American Collegiate Record), NAU's 3k in Boston

Ben's Selection: Tyler Day's 13:16 5k

Garrett's Selection: Tyler Day's 13:16 5k

Analysis:

This was another extremely difficult decision which really had no wrong answer. Klecker's performance was great and it gave him the top mile time in the country, but a converted time is hard to gauge...plus a handful of other men also ran 3:55 this season.

Oregon's DMR national record was incredible, but Notre Dame and Wisconsin also ran all-time DMR marks which admittedly take away from some of the flare (at least in comparison to all of these other jaw-dropping performances).

The trio of Northern Arizona performances where Grijalva, Beamish, and Day ran 7:43, 7:44, and 7:45 (respectively) was other-worldly and I wouldn't be surprised if someone opted to say that they should have won this award.

Still, Ben and I both went with Tyler Day's 5k. An American Collegiate Record in a historically loaded event like the 5000 meters is incredible, especially when Galen Rupp is the guy whose record you're breaking. Not only that, but the other performances that we saw from Day this season validate just how great that performance was.

In other words, it wasn't a fluke. Tyler Day really is that fit.

Women

Candidates: Whittni Orton's 8:49 3k at the Husky Classic, Dani Jones runs a 4:27 mile at the Millrose Games, Nia Akins runs 2:00.71 for 800 meters, Katie Izzo run 15:13 5k in Boston

Ben's Selection: Katie Izzo's 15:13 5k

Garrett's Selection: Katie Izzo's 15:13 5k

Analysis:

Saying Nia Akins isn't a wrong answer, but choosing Katie Izzo is the more correct answer.

All of these women had spectacular performances, but Katie Izzo's race was simply incredible. Her 15:13 5k validated a breakout cross country season and it set the tone for the rest of the season. In that race, Izzo beat Weini Kelati (in what was a significant upset at the time) and vaulted herself into the national title conversation. She also scared the national record.

Nia Akins was only .02 seconds from tying the national record in the 800 meters, so it's fair to argue that she should have won this award. Dani Jones and Whittni Orton were also great, but I'm not sure those marks were super surprising. It feels fair to say that we knew they were capable of running that fast.

Best Distance Coach/Team Award

Men

Candidates: Mike Smith (Northern Arizona), Ben Thomas (Oregon), Andy Powell (Washington), Martin Smith (Iowa State)

Ben's Selection: Ben Thomas (Oregon)

Garrett's Selection: Mike Smith (Northern Arizona)

Analysis:

This was an award that essentially came down to Smith/NAU and Thomas/Oregon.

Both coaches had phenomenal seasons, constructing legendary distance rosters that dominated their competition and even put their entire program in the team title conversation for the Indoor National Championships.

NAU was better in the 3k while Oregon was better in the mile.

Abdi Nur and Theo Quax were outstanding redshirt freshmen for Northern Arizona, but Oregon's freshmen duo of Cole Hocker and Luis Peralta were arguably just as good.

NAU had Ryan Raff, Oregon had Jackson Mestler.

NAU had monster 5k performances, Oregon had a DMR national record.

There was no wrong answer when choosing between these two groups.

Women

Candidates: Diljeet Taylor (BYU), JJ Clark (Stanford), Maurica Powell (Washington), Lance Harter (Arkansas)

Ben's Selection: JJ Clark (Stanford)

Garrett's Selection: JJ Clark (Stanford)

Analysis:

All of these programs did incredibly well this winter, but Stanford was just better. They didn't even have their 3k/5k specialist in Fiona O'Keeffe which makes their combined depth and firepower so unbelievably impressive.

Daonghu and Lawson both recorded elite mile marks and also dipped under 9:00 for the 3000 meters. Julia Heymach came out of nowhere to establish herself as one of the best middle distance runners in the country. Christina Aragon, after struggling with injuries, rebounded this past winter with a 4:37 and qualified for Nationals. Teammate Jordan Oakes wasn't far behind with a 4:37 mile of her own. Tack on an NCAA #2 DMR time of 10:55, and Stanford looked like an unstoppable powerhouse.

BYU had a fun combo of 800 meter specialists plus Whittni Orton, Washington was extremely well-rounded and Arkansas developed plenty of high-level firepower of their own.

Still, no other team had the depth and top-tier marks that the Cardinal women did.

Most Valuable Runner Award

*Must have run attached this season

Men

Candidates: Cooper Teare (Oregon), Yared Nuguse (Notre Dame), Oliver Hoare (Wisconsin), Edwin Kurgat (Iowa State), Joe Klecker (Colorado), Geordie Beamish (Northern Arizona), Tyler Day (Northern Arizona), Luis Grijalva (Northern Arizona), James West (Oregon)

Ben's Selection: James West (Oregon)

Garrett's Selection: James West (Oregon)

Analysis:

We just made a lot of people very upset.

West didn't have the top mile time in the country like Teare, Hunter, Nuguse or Klecker did...but his 3:36 for 1500 meters (indoors) is arguably no different. He didn't have a top 3k time that the NAU trio had, but his 7:47 mark was still incredibly impressive and it preceded a 3:57 mile performance the following day.

Instead, his unbelievably consistency, ability to double, and underrated range made him a major threat for the National Championships. He ran a 2:53 (1200 split)/1:49 double at the Razorback Invite, ran a 7:47/3:57 double at the Husky Classic, then ran a 3:36/1:48 double at BU Last Chance meet.

When you look at his resume as a whole, West simply offered the most value out of anyone in the NCAA this season. He may have been the best doubler we have seen since Cheserek.

Of course, "value" is relative and how we interpret MVP awards (or in this case, MVR) are often debated each and every year in major sports leagues like the NBA and NFL.

It was a difficult decision, but Ben and I both opted to choose Oregon's Swiss Army Knife known as James West.

Women

Candidates: Dani Jones (Colorado), Whittni Orton (BYU), Nia Akins (Penn), Katie Izzo (Arkansas)

Ben's Selection: Dani Jones (Colorado)

Garrett's Selection: Dani Jones (Colorado)

Analysis:

Personally, I'm surprised it took as much convincing as it did to get Ben to choose Dani Jones over Whittni Orton. Jones simply had the faster mile and 5k time this season, plus she added a converted 2:03 800 meter time to her resume to start the season.

The argument for Orton is that although she didn't run quite as fast as Jones, she wasn't far behind and still could have been in the national title conversation in either the mile or 5k. Plus, Orton's incredible 8:49 3k along with the top DMR time in the country boosts her resume.

Nia Akins and Katie Izzo were great, but Akins' loss to Carely Thomas earlier in the season didn't quite help her case and Izzo's 3k (while still super impressive) made her seem a little more human after such an unfathomably great 5k performance to start her season.

In the end, Jones was faster and probably the last person anyone wanted to face on the national stage. She gets the nod from both Ben and myself.