Written by Alex Seftel
The 2026 NAL Awards see familiar winners Jake Norris and Charlotte Payne retain their top prizes.
The hammer throwers have again been named as Male and Female Field Athlete of the Year respectively, with Norris taking that title for the third season running.
These particular awards are decided by the best performance according to World Athletics point-scoring tables across all track and field events throughout the season.
Norris threw 76.29m on 11 July at Woodford for 1145 points, while Payne threw 71.82m on 22 August at Eton which is worth 1123 points.
Separately, both Norris and Payne are also recipients of the David Jeacock Memorial Bursary Award for those performances.
Jeacock was a longstanding secretary of the former British Athletics League, who died in 2019. He was a solicitor to England Athletics, legal officer of the BAL and a member of Swindon AC who played a crucial role in changing the governance of the sport.
The bursary sees the league award £500 to one male and one female athlete who are members of an NAL club and have competed in at least two fixtures during the season.
Thirdly, as far as Payne is concerned, she is one of two competitors who have broken all-time league records during the season. Such athletes are eligible for a £500 cash prize, so long as the mark remains in place at the end of the season.
She previously threw 72.51m as a guest at Eton in 2023, but her 71.82m was the best ever women’s hammer performance by a point-scoring club athlete in the competition dating back to the old UK Women’s Athletics League starting in 1975.
The other recipient of £500 for breaking a record is the hugely impressive Ted Higgins. The Tonbridge runner clocked a 1500m time of 3:38.75s at Eton, eclipsing the 3:38.9s set by 1990 Commonwealth medallist Ian Hamer on 5 August 1989.
But that was not quite enough to scoop the Male Track Athlete of the Year Award based on World Athletics points. Jake Minshull of Birchfield Harriers claims that prize with 49.97s in the 400m hurdles at Eton, while Hannah Brier is the Female Track Athlete of the Year, courtesy of her 400m win at Woodford in 52.23s for Swansea Harriers.
For the first four awards listed below, Norris, Payne, Minshull and Brier all already won a £125 cash prize. That is because these performances led to them being named as Athletes of the Match for a particular round during the season, and there is no further cash sum given in respect of these same performances at the end of the season.
It does however mean that Payne – who was an Athlete of the Match for two rounds of the season – gets a total prize pot of £1250 (also including the league record and bursary fund) for her 2026 campaign, while Norris gets £625.
NAL Awards 2026
NAL Male Field Athlete of the Year – Jake Norris, WSEH 76.29m Hammer
NAL Female Field Athlete of the Year – Charlotte Payne, Harrow 71.82m Hammer
NAL Male Track Athlete of the Year – Jake Minshull, Birchfield Harriers 49.97 400m Hurdles
NAL Female Track Athlete of the Year – Hannah Brier, Swansea Harriers 52.23 400m
Premiership Champions Trophy 2026 – Thames Valley Harriers
Championship Champions Trophy 2026 – City of Sheffield and Dearne AC
David Jeacock Memorial Bursary – Jake Norris, WSEH 76.29m Hammer and Charlotte Payne, Harrow AC 71.82m Hammer