Men's Recap: Jordan Anthony, Cooper Lutkenhaus and Nathan Green All Rise To The Occasion And Beat U.S. Team Veterans At Ocean Breeze

By David Woods for DyeStat

Tavan Smith Photos

NEW YORK – Tough day to be an Olympic gold medalist. Tough to be an Olympic medalist of any kind, for that matter.

Cole Hocker lost. Noah Lyles lost. Joe Kovacs was out of it, as were Yared Nuguse and Shelby McEwen.

So which men won Sunday at the USA Indoor Championships? Three new pros: sprinter Jordan Anthony, half-miler Cooper Lutkenhaus, miler Nathan Green, .

“The new generation is taking over,” said Anthony, who beat Lyles and Trayvon Bromell to win the 60 meters at Staten Island’s Ocean Breeze Complex. “Today was the day I had to give official notice.”

Anthony, 21, of Tylertown, Miss., won the 2025 Bowerman Award while at Arkansas. Now he trains in Florida with the 28-year-old Lyles, the reigning Olympic 100-meter champion. Lyles didn’t pass the torch but did pass a championship belt to Anthony.

Anthony’s 60-meter time was 6.43 seconds, equaling the year’s fastest – which was by him.

Bromell was second in 6.47 and Lyles third in 6.51.

“In my opinion, I was the underdog, even though I ran 6.43 just two weeks ago. I enjoy training with him,” Anthony said of Lyles. “It’s a great mutual relationship between each other.”

Biggest surprise was the 30-year-old Bromell, who is going back to the World Indoor Championships 10 years after he won gold in the 60.

“Keep running and gunning, man. I’ve been doing this since I was 4 years old,” he said. “I love competition.

“As soon as you let somebody diminish you and you think what they say is true, that’s when you’re going to fall or falter. I’m one of the few who’s still in the game since I turned pro at 19 . I’m still here. And I ain’t going anywhere anytime soon.”

Another rising sprinter is Houston high school sophomore Dillon Mitchell.

He set a U18 world record with a time of 6.59 in the first round, or .02 off the national prep record held by Casey Combest of Owensboro, Ky., since 1999. In the final, Mitchell was seventh in 6.60.

The 17-year-old Lutkenhaus, in his first national indoor championship, was tactically sound. In a relatively slow 800, he seized the lead at 400 and won comfortably in 1:46.68 – far off his under-20 world record of 1:44.03.

“I wasn’t worried about being the favorite or the times,” the Texas teen said. “I was just trying to come out here and win.”

Anthony and Lutkenhaus might not have been underdogs, but Green sure was. In the 1,500 meters, he was up against Hocker and Nuguse, gold and bronze medalists from the 2024 Paris Olympics. And Hocker was coming off an American indoor mile record of 3:45.94 two weeks ago.

When former Washington teammate Luke Houser went to the front with 400 meters left, Green followed. 

“I was like, ‘Well, there’s the move. If I don’t follow Luke, I’m dead in the water,’ “ he said.

He moved from third to first in the closing 20 meters, passing Houser and Vincent Ciattei, before diving across the line and sprawling to the track.

Green clocked 3:37.65, Houser 3:37.67 and Cietti 3:37.73, all separated by .08. It was reminiscent of Saturday’s 3,000, in which Hocker, Nuguse and Nico Young finished within .04.

Top two qualify for indoor worlds, although Green lacks the 3:36 standard.

“This is the start of what I hope will be a long time at winning these events,” said Green, a two-time NCAA champion in the 1,500. “It just means a lot.”

Nuguse was fourth in 3:38.06 and Hocker fifth in 3:38.08. Hocker was trying to become the first in the 121-year history of indoor nationals to twice win a 1,500/3,000 double, or a comparable double. He won both in 2022.

Nuguse acknowledged his rhythm was disrupted with about 300 meters left when Davis Bove, running in second place, stumbled in front of him. Hocker said the 3,000 tired him more than expected and that the jostling forced him into lane 3.

“I feel like I ran a lot of that race in lane 2. Which, again, is just not smart,” he said. “But I should have still had it at the end. Those guys ran a great race. It was pretty quick, I think, but well within my wheelhouse. I should have been able to do that, no problem."

Hocker had won seven successive finals since finishing third in the 1,500 at last August’s outdoor nationals. Oddly, he has not won a 1,500 final since Paris.

“No one has my kick, still. Not when I’m fresh,” he said. “No, no one should be able to beat me when I’m on my ‘A’ game. You can’t always be on your ‘A’ game, apparently.”

Hocker said he would turn attention to winning a world indoor gold in the 3,000 March 21 at Torun, Poland.

Elsewhere:

>> Khaleb McRae dominated the 400 to win in 45.01. He had tied the unratified American record of 44.52 on Feb. 13. Christopher Robinson was second in 45.36.

>> World indoor silver medalist Roger Steen and Jordan Geist went 1-2 in the shot put with distances of 71-6.75 (21.81m) and 71-3.25 (21.72m), respectively. Kovacs, silver medalist at three Olympics, was fifth at 66-2.50 (20.18m).

>> Eli Kosiba, who has improved nearly a foot since he was a 6-7 jumper at his Indiana high school, won the high jump with a clearance of 7-4.25 (2.24m).  Kosiba, an NCAA Division II champion for Grand Valley State, finished fourth at last year’s indoor worlds. McEwen, an Olympic silver medalist, went out after clearing 6-11 (2.11m).

Contact David Woods at dwoods1411@gmail.com.