Colonia, N.J. - St. Thomas Aquinas freshman Darwin Almonte has been selected as a 2026 ECC Indoor Track & Field Championships Most Outstanding Male Athlete, as voted on by the league’s head coaches and announced on Thursday afternoon.

Almonte (Haverstraw, N.Y.) was a double winner for the Spartans, capturing the 200-meter dash at 21.85 and the 60-meter hurdles with a mark of 8.10, which was a new meet record. In the 200, he won the event by .05 of a second. In the hurdles, he ran an 8.28 in his preliminary section before going 8.10 in the finals, which was .19 faster than the second-place finisher. His mark was also a NCAA provisional qualifying mark. For both, he earned first-team All-Conference honors and earned 20 points for his team. His 8.10 is the third fastest time in Division II this season. Darwin also helped his 4x400 meter relay team to a sixth place finish, crossing the timeline at 3:33.98.

The ECC previously announced its All-Conference honorees based on finishing place at the championship meet. Those honorees can be found here (men’s) and here (women’s).

Following the conclusion of the upcoming Last Chance meets, the 2026 ECC Indoor Track and Field Athletes of the Year will be announced in early March.