In Addition To U.S. Titles, Top Athletes Look To Qualify For World Athletics Indoor Championships Next Month In Poland

By Oliver Hinson of DyeStat

DyeStat Photos

The USATF Indoor Championships return to Staten Island on Saturday and Sunday, and the meet is filled with familiar names and star power. Unlike 2025, there’s no Olympics in the rearview mirror and no World Championships on the horizon. That has increased the emphasis on the World Athletics Indoor Championships in ToruÅ„, Poland, March 20-22. While some notables are skipping it, there is a lot of talent coming to the U.S. meet looking for a national team berth. The top two in every event are considered for selection, but they still must meet th qualification requirements. 

Here’s a breakdown of 10 storylines to watch at these championships.

Cooper Lutkenhaus Seeks First National Title

Nike’s Cooper Lutkenhaus has done so much to impress track fans over the course of the last year, but even as the 17-year-old ran an improbable 1:42.27 in the 800 meter final at the USATF Championships last summer, he came just short of a national title.

Of course, that’s a high bar for a teenager, and that title may not be evading him much longer. It’s not far-fetched to suggest that Lutkenhaus is the favorite this weekend; he’s the fourth fastest man in the world in 2026, and the only American ahead of him — Josh Hoey, who broke the indoor world record in January — is out with an injury. 

Donavan Brazier, Bryce Hoppel and Brandon Miller won’t be making appearances, either. Lutkenhaus’s main competition will be Isaiah Harris and Isaiah Jewett, and neither of those two seem to be able to challenge Lutkenhaus at the moment. 

Harris made his season debut on Valentine’s Day at the ASICS Sound Invite in Winston-Salem, N.C., running 1:45.62 in the 800, while Jewett has run 1:15.48 in the 600 and 1:46.85 in the 800 this winter. Both of them have the experience to be medal contenders, but Lutkenhaus is on another level at the moment. At the Sound Invite, he broke the U20 indoor world record in the 800, running 1:44.03.

Barring a truly unusual race, it looks like the teen phenom is headed for his first national title.

Nikki Hiltz Doubling Up

After pulling off the 1,500-3,000 double at last year’s USATF Indoor Championships, Nikki Hiltz is looking to win two golds again in 2026. 

The 2025 races were tactical, which played perfectly into the hands of Hiltz, who has one of the most fearsome kicks in the sport. After clicking off 34-second laps in the 1,500, they shot into the lead with 400 meters left and closed in 28 seconds. It was a similar story in the 3,000; after sitting behind Shelby Houlihan for most of the race, Hiltz closed in 59 seconds for the last 400 to win in 8:48.28.

Hiltz is up against even better fields this weekend. In the 1,500, Elle St. Pierre, Sinclaire Johnson, Gracie Morris, Emily Mackay and plenty of other top women are racing, while the 3,000 is highlighted by Elise Cranny, Lexy Halladay, Katelyn Tuohy and Elise Stearns, as well as St. Pierre and Mackay, who are also attempting the double. 

If Hiltz wins both they will have to make a decision about Poland. The schedule at Worlds makes the double highly unlikely.

Noah Lyles Returns To The 60

World and Olympic champion Noah Lyles has been quiet in the early going of 2026. He’s only raced three times — a few 32-second performances in the 300 and a 20.56-second performance in the 200 at the Tyson Invitational two weekends ago.

This weekend, he’ll return to the U.S. Indoor meet after skipping the 2025 edition, and for the first time in several years, there isn't a clear picture of his sharpness in the dash. He’s usually made the 60 at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix a regular stop in his indoor campaign, but he opted for the 300 this year. 

He'll need a good performance to come out on top against this field. Bowerman Award winner Jordan Anthony is in the field; while Lyles raced the 200 at the Tyson Invitational, Anthony took on the 60 and won in a personal best time of 6.43 seconds, tying Lyles and a few others for 10th on the world all-time list.

Other top names include Trayvon Bromell, Ronnie Baker and Marcellus Moore.

Maxwell Twins Step Up To Face Pros

Texas twins Mia and Mariah Maxwell have dominated the high school scene so far in 2026, and now they want their shot at the pros. 

Both are entered in the women’s 60-meter dash, in which they’ll compete against the likes of Jacious Sears, Alia Armstrong, Samirah Moody and others. 

Mia Maxwell is ranked US#1 among high schoolers in the 55 and the 200 with season’s bests of 6.69 and 22.89 seconds. She won the high school 60 and triple jump at the Millrose Games on Feb. 1, and she took second to her sister in the 60 at the VA Showcase in January. Almost all of her losses in 2026 have been second-place finishes to Mariah.

Mariah has been on a tear in 2026. At the VA Showcase, she stepped to the line for her first ever 300 meter dash and broke the high school national record, breaking the tape in 36.24 seconds. Two weeks later, she took on the pros in the 60 at the Millrose Games and finished third in a personal best 7.26 seconds, behind Dina Asher-Smith and Sears.

The Maxwells could be the future of American sprinting and many eyes will be on them this weekend.

Stars Aligned In Men's 1,500 and 3,000

Star-studded matchups are shaping up in the races this weekend. Yared Nuguse and Cole Hocker are both attempting the 1,500-3,000 double, and they’ll be accompanied by a long list of elite guys in both events.

Hocker almost certainly has the upper hand in the 1,500. He demolished the American indoor record in the mile at the ASICS Sound Invite two weeks ago, running 3:45.94, and he appeared to have a lot left in the tank in the last few laps of the race. Nuguse, of course, is the American outdoor record holder, but at this moment, Hocker is the best mid-distance runner in the country, if not the world.

The 1,500 field also features Cooper Teare, Vincent Ciattei, Nathan Green, Wes Porter, Sam Prakel and Abel Teffra, among others.

The 3,000, meanwhile, looks like Nico Young’s race. Nuguse and Hocker certainly have range — Hocker is the reigning World Champion in the 5,000, after all — but Young looked dominant in the 3k two weeks ago. He ran 7:33.32 to take down Nuguse and Ethan Strand, as well as Geordie Beamish and Matthew Wilkinson.

Young has proven so far this year that he can compete in mid-distance events. Along with his 7:33 performance, he ran a personal best 3:48.72 in the men’s Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games. He may not have the best kick in this field — aside from Hocker and Nuguse, he’ll be facing off against Strand, Wilkinson, Teare and Prakel — but as long as it doesn’t become a complete kicker’s race, Young looks like the favorite.

Fast Field In Women's 800

Five women are seeded under 2:00 in the women’s 800: Sage Hurta-Klecker, Olivia Baker, Valery Tobias, Heather MacLean and Meghan Hunter. All five of those women could win, and in all likelihood, we’re headed for a tight race.

Hurta-Klecker has continuously improved in 2026, and after her latest win at the ASICS Sound Invite on Valentine’s Day, she looks like the best half-miler in the country. Last year, she took fifth at the World Outdoor Championships, running 1:55.89 to become the third fastest American of all time, and her performance two weeks ago was an indoor personal best.

Baker has been quietly rising in status, too. She’s finished third or better in all of her mid-distance races this year, and her 1:59.18 performance at the Sound Invite was also an indoor personal best. In a stacked women’s mid-distance scene, Baker looks ready to be a contender.

Hunter is another one to watch. She finished fifth at USAs last year, and she’s clearly in better form in her first full season as a professional. The former BYU standout seems to be hitting sub-2 on command at this point.

Of course, don’t count out Tobias or MacLean, or anyone else in this field. Sunday’s final could be one of the best races of the weekend.

Cordell Tinch Returns To Long Jump

The reigning world champion in the 110-meter hurdles is competing in Staten Island this weekend… in the long jump. Heading into this year, Cordell Tinch hadn’t jumped since 2024, but just a few years ago, he was a jumper just as much as a hurdler.

He got back into it this winter at the Tyson Invitational, where he jumped 8.29 meters (27-2.50), a massive personal best and the fourth longest mark of the year globally.

Kennedy Stringfellow, a junior at Oklahoma, has also jumped 8.29m this year, and he’s just as unlikely as Tinch to be a medal contender at this meet. Stringfellow’s PB was 7.77m meters heading into the year, but he broke through at the Owen Hewett Invitational in January, jumping half a meter farther than he ever had. Since that performance, though, he hasn’t cracked eight meters in two subsequent competitions.

Both Tinch and Stringfellow are wild cards heading into this weekend, but on their best days, they’re clearly two of the best jumpers in the country.

Vashti Cunningham Can Win 17th U.S. Title

Every time a U.S. championship rolls around, track and field fans ask a number of questions, and one of the most common has to be, how many national titles has Vashti Cunningham won? The answer is 16, all in the span of a decade. She’s won both the indoor and outdoor titles in six of those years, including 2025. If she wins the indoor title this year, it’ll be her 10th consecutive indoor gold.

At last year’s indoor championships, she and Charity Hufnagel jumped 1.94 meters (6-4.25), but Cunningham won with one less miss. In August, she jumped 1.97m (6-5.50) to beat Sanaa Barnes by three centimeters.

The real question is, can she finally turn her momentum into a world title? Since her win at the IAAF World Championships in Portland in 2016, she hasn’t won a global title. Last year, she only jumped 1.85m (6-0.75) at the World Indoor Championships, finishing 10th, and she didn’t make it out of the qualifying round in Tokyo in September. 

Saturday’s final will be her first competition of 2026. If she opens her season the way she did last year, she’s on track for her 17th title.

World Record Breaker Khaleb McRae In The 400 

Khaleb McRae had one of the best breakout seasons among American sprinters last year, cracking the 44-second barrier in the 400 and finishing third at the USATF Outdoor Championships.

He seems to be in even better shape this year; in just his second race of the year, he broke the official indoor world record with a 44.52-second performance at the Tyson Invitational on Feb. 13. Heading into this weekend, he looks like the clear favorite to win his first national title.  

Christopher Robinson, Elijah Godwin and Jenoah McKiver are all in the field — they should be his closest competition — but McRae’s seed time is nearly half a second faster than anyone else’s.

A New Women's Pole Vault Champion

For the first time since 2022, Katie Moon will not be the U.S. Indoor women's pole vault champion. The three-time World Champion and two-time Olympic medalist is not entered this weekend, which opens the for someone else.

The three favorites, unsurprisingly, are Chloe Timberg, Emily Grove and Gabriela Leon, who rounded out the top four at last year’s championships. 

Leon took second and then earned fifth at the World Indoor Championships in March. She had a few great performances in the outdoor season, earning top-three finishes in two Diamond League meets, but she trailed off towards the end of the season, finishing seventh at the USATF Outdoor Championships. Her best performance so far in 2026 came two weekends ago at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational in New Mexico, where she vaulted 4.60 meters (15-1).

Grove and Timberg have both spent the last few weeks competing in France, and those weeks have been productive. Grove has put up her two best performances of the year across the pond, vaulting 4.63 meters (15-2.25) and 4.60 meters in consecutive competitions, while Timberg has vaulted over 4.60 meters four times. Timberg also won the Millrose Games Pole Vault on Feb. 1.