AUBURN, Alabama—Auburn junior hurdler Ja’Kobe Tharp and assistant head coach Ken Harnden have been named the national indoor male track athlete of the year and indoor male assistant coach of the year, the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced Monday.
Tharp becomes just the fourth athlete in Auburn history to win the award from the USTFCCCA and first since Cory Martin in 2008. Harden earned his fourth consecutive men’s national assistant coach of the year award from the association as he previously won outdoors in 2024 and swept both indoors and outdoors last year.
A native of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Tharp won his third NCAA individual title, winning the men’s 60m hurdles in a collegiate and meet record time of 7.32 two weeks ago in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The time made Tharp the second fastest American ever and third fastest in the world ever in the event. The SEC Indoor Champion, Tharp previously won the 2024 NCAA outdoor and 2025 NCAA indoor titles.
Harnden coached Tharp and teammate Kayinsola Ajayi to SEC and NCAA indoor titles this past indoor season as both set collegiate and NCAA indoor meet records last week in their respective events. Ajayi claimed gold in the men’s 60m dash as the Tigers finished tied for fourth in the team standings with all 24 points coming from Harden’s sprint squad.