Breakthrough Performance At Nationals Earned Max Allabaugh Male High School Field Athlete Of The Year Honors

In a famous scene in “Hoosiers,” coach Norman Dale brought in a tape measure to prove that the basket was 10 feet high and the free-throw line 15 feet away. The team had just walked into the fieldhouse for the state championship game and were stunned by the facility’s size. But the court was just the same as the gym back in Hickory.

Max Allabaugh didn’t have a tape measure with him when he participated in the USA Track & Field Para National Championships at Hayward Field last summer in Eugene, Oregon, also known as TrackTown USA. Hayward is the premier facility in the U.S., hosting the Olympic trials and other national championships.

The 18-year-old from Geneva, Illinois, wasn’t intimidated by the surroundings. Instead, he was inspired.

“It was awesome,” Allabaugh said. “I got to compete on pretty much the biggest stage I’ve ever competed on in my life. I definitely felt it. There was pressure. But honestly, after I hit a PR, two PRs or three actually, I was enjoying it. It was pretty awesome.”

Participating in the T46 classification, Allabaugh set personal bests in the men’s high jump at 1.88 meters, in the men’s 200-meter with a time of 54.61 seconds and the men’s long jump at 6.14 meters, winning two silvers and a bronze, respectively. He also won the bronze in the men’s 100 meters at 12.12 seconds after a stumble at the start. 

“It didn’t feel real in the moment,” Allabaugh said. “I was nervous. But sometimes you just have to get over that anxiety and you have to let it fuel you when you’re coming down that track, when you’re jumping over the bar, when you’re running down that runway.”

For his performance at nationals and the rest of his accomplishments during the 2025 season, Allabaugh earned 2025 Male High School Field Athlete of the Year honors from USA Track & Field.

The distinction of winning Male Field Athlete of the Year never entered his thoughts. Allabaugh was simply happy about his performance and what he could improve upon for the upcoming track season. But then his outlook changed.

He came home from school one day and his dad said to make sure to check his email. Allabaugh popped open his account and there was one from USATF congratulating him on the honor.

“And then I saw the Instagram post two days later,” Allabaugh said. “I didn’t expect to get it. It was pretty awesome. It was one of the coolest things I’ve seen.”

Allabaugh, who is a senior at Geneva Community High School and hopes to study biomedical engineering in college, hasn’t traveled much out of the Illinois region for track.

“I kept getting told that it was called TrackTown USA,” Allabaugh said. “I didn’t know that before I got there and then I kept seeing all these posters saying TrackTown USA. And then I saw the stadium and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a track stadium, a track field in general, built like that. It was like a mammoth creation. It was just insane. When I would run on that track, when I was jumping on that track, it felt like it was giving me a little extra spring. It might have been the adrenaline, but it felt awesome.”

That experience showed Allabaugh what he could accomplish in track, but also how much more work he needs to do. Allabaugh said he was able to watch the other track stars — Paralympians and Olympians who were competing at the same time — and talk with some to pick up training techniques.

“Most of the flight home was a lot of self-reflection over my victories, but also — you’re still an athlete,” Allabaugh said. “At the end of the day, you’re still an athlete, so you have to reflect on what could have gone better. My dad recorded me a bunch of times, especially my high jumps. There’s always stuff you can improve on and there’s definitely things I could have, but in general, it was just cool getting to rewatch those moments that I really enjoyed.”

As a senior, Allabaugh is also savoring his final year of high school. He was born with amniotic band syndrome, which left him without much of his left arm from just above the elbow down. Despite that, he decided to go out for the football team. Allabaugh played in two varsity games and often suited up for the junior varsity team and saw action there. He played strong safety and cornerback.

“It was different than track and field,” Allabaugh said. “You really felt more connected with your teammates, and it was really more like a brotherhood, but it was cool and I made friends.”

But track and field is the competitive future for Allabaugh. As he awaits responses from colleges he has applied to, Allabaugh is thinking ahead to the Paralympic Games Los Angeles 2028.

“I’m definitely pushing for something on the world stage, that would be awesome,” he said.

Steve Drumwright is a journalist based in Murrieta, California. He is a freelance contributor to usatf.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.