CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – Four national champions and multiple All-Americans headline the 2024-25 Atlantic Coast Conference Indoor Track and Field season honors, the league announced Friday, March 28.
The honorees were selected via a vote of the league’s head coaches:
ACC Men’s Indoor Track Performer of the Year
Ethan Strand, North Carolina
ACC Women’s Indoor Track Performer of the Year
Makayla Paige, North Carolina
ACC Men’s Indoor Field Performer of the Year
Simen Guttormsen, Duke
ACC Women’s Indoor Field Performer of the Year
Jadin O’Brien, Notre Dame
ACC Men’s Indoor Freshman of the Year
KJ Byrd, Louisville
ACC Women’s Indoor Track & Field Freshman of the Year
Aniyah Kitt, Clemson
ACC Men’s Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year
Ben Thomas, Virginia Tech
ACC Women’s Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year
Mark Elliott, Clemson
Elliott was named the ACC Women’s Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year after leading Clemson to its first ACC Championship since 2015. It marks the second time that Elliott has been named the league’s Women’s Coach of the Year and his first time earning the honor since 2015.
Ben Thomas was named the ACC Men’s Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year for the first time in his career after leading the Hokies to the ninth ACC Championship in program history. After taking over the reins from legendary head coach Dave Cianelli last season, Thomas quickly etched his name into the record books. It marks the fourth time in five seasons in which Virginia Tech’s head coach has earned the honor.
O’Brien claimed her third consecutive ACC Women’s Indoor Field Performer of the Year honor after winning both the ACC and NCAA Championships in the pentathlon. In addition to winning her third consecutive individual national championship, O’Brien broke her own ACC record of 4,580 points, which was set at the 2025 ACC Indoor Track & Field Championships in Louisville, Kentucky, earlier in the same month. O’Brien’s mark is the fifth-best collegiate score ever recorded.
Guttormsen was named the ACC Men’s Indoor Field Performer of the Year after winning the NCAA Division I men’s pole vault title and becoming Duke’s first men’s individual national champion since 2014. The Ski, Norway, product opened the competition clearing the first bar on the initial attempt, passing on the second height before clearing the third and fourth, respectively, on the second attempt. His 5.71-meter mark set a new facility record as Guttormsen became just the second Blue Devil to ever win an indoor track & field national championship. Guttormsen is the first student-athlete from Duke to be named ACC Men’s Indoor Field Performer of the Year since Curtis Beach in 2014.
Strand opened the season by setting two NCAA records in his first two races of the year. He is the only student-athlete to set the NCAA record in the mile (3:48.32) and the 3000m (7:30.15) in the same year. Strand won the ACC title in the men's 5000m, setting the meet record with a time of 13:26.60, while also helping North Carolina to a second-place finish in the men’s distance medley relay at the national meet. Strand was also named the USTFCCCA Men’s Indoor Track National Athlete of the Year.
Paige is the first NCAA Champion for the North Carolina women since 2018. Paige clocked a 2:00.39 to win the 800-meter run national championship while also setting the facility record. The senior from Tewksbury, Massachusetts, never surrendered the lead throughout her record-setting performance. She becomes the first Tar Heel to ever be named the ACC’s Women’s Indoor Track Performer of the Year in program history.
After earning Second-Team All-America honors, Kitt was tabbed as the ACC Women’s Indoor Track & Field Freshman of the Year. The freshman sensation won the 200-meter dash in the ACC, clocking a time of 23.13 seconds. She also finished second in the 60-meter dash to earn her second First-Team All-ACC honor. Kitt is the second consecutive Clemson Tiger to be named ACC Women’s Freshman of the Year, joining Gladys Chepngetich.
Byrd won the heptathlon at the ACC Indoor Track & Field Championships with a total of 5,903 points. He became the first freshman in ACC history to win the gold medal in the heptathlon. At the NCAA Championships, Byrd logged 5,807 points, which earned him a seventh-place finish and First-Team All-America honors. Byrd became the second consecutive Louisville Cardinal to earn ACC Men’s Freshman of the Year honors after Cade DeWitt did so in 2024.