Villanova’s Reid Returns to Bowerman Women’s Watch as Season Hits Crescendo

NEW ORLEANS – The women’s watch list for The Bowerman has Villanova’s Sheila Reid back in the mix as the distance star qualified for the final rounds of the NCAA Championships in both the 1500- and 5000-meter runs. The Women’s Watch List Committee, in conjunction with the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), announced the latest list of ten standouts on Thursday. This release marks the last watch list for the 2011 year as ten semifinalists will be named on June 20 and three finalists announced on July 13.

The ten women on the watch list will compete next week, June 8-11, at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships’ final rounds in Des Moines, Iowa. Live coverage will be aired on CBS on Saturday, June 11, cable’s CBS Sports Network on Friday, June 10, and streaming online at NCAA.com throughout the weekend.

The Bowerman Advisory Board appointed four of its members to comprise The Bowerman Men’s Watch Committee and another four of its members to make up The Bowerman Women’s Watch Committee. The women’s watch committee will release name ten semifinalists for the award on Monday, June 20. On July 13, The Bowerman Advisory Board will release the names of the three finalists.

THE BOWERMAN OFFICIAL WATCH LIST, 2011 MEN

(updated June 2, 2011, listed in alphabetical order, always ten names)

(P) – Promoted from “receiving mention” list this update
(N) – New to either list this update

Bowmeran Women’s Watch List – NCAA Championships Schedule

* if advanced to next round
^ if chosen as a relay member

Nia Ali, Southern California
Senior, Hurdles/Jumps, Philadephia, Pa. (West Catholic HS)

OUTDOOR: Redshirt senior Nia Ali has focused on the hurdles her final season competing at USC, after beginning her career as a heptathlete and redshirting last season. This season, she has run the top wind-legal 100-meter hurdle outdoor time (12.77) in winning the event at the Pac-10 Championships which ranks second all-time at USC to NCAA record-holder Virginia Powell (Crawford). Ali also ran a wind-aided 12.74 to take runner-up honors at the Texas Relays which is tied for the NCAA-leading seed time. After winning Pac-10 hurdle title, competed in the high jump on the same day for the second time this season and cleared 6-1¼ (1.86m) to take second, move into second place on USC’s all-time list and place her in a tie for second on the national list.

Ali will compete in the NCAA’s high jump final and is the national semifinal of the 100-meter hurdles.

INDOOR: Had the third-fastest 60-meter hurdle indoor time entering the NCAA Indoor Championships, but pulled up in the semifinals.

Brigetta Barrett, Arizona
Sophomore, Jumps, Duncanville, Texas (Duncanville HS)

OUTDOOR: At the Pac-10 Championships, Barrett cleared a career-best 1.93m (6-4) on her third attempt in the high jump to move into a tie for the fourth-best jump in Arizona’s prestigious high jump history with Olympian Erin Aldirch.  The mark currently ranks second in the world in 2011 and is the NCAA-leading mark by nearly three inches.  Barrett has also tallied victories at the Mt. SAC Relays and Texas Relays on the season. Barrett has competed in 10 high jump competitions in 2011, including the indoor and outdoor seasons, losing only one of them – on misses – and has maintained the NCAA-leading mark for the entirety of the current outdoor season. 

Barrett qualified for the NCAA’s high jump final.

INDOOR: NCAA indoor champion with a jump of 1.90m (6-2¾), the first NCAA crown of her career and the third All-American honor in as many chances for the sophomore.  Barrett finished the indoor season as the 11th-ranked individual in the world in the event with a best clearance of 1.92m (6-3½) while defending her title at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships.

Jessica Beard, Texas A&M
Senior, Sprints, Euclid, Ohio (Euclid HS)

OUTDOOR: Opened the season with a win at the LSU Invitational 400-meter dash in a now-tied, collegiate-leading time of 51.55, taking victory by over a second-and-a-half. At the Big 12 Championships, Beard ran the second leg of the Texas A&M’s conference-champion 4×400 relay (3:31.28). Beard finished runner-up in the conference’s 400 (51.68), thwarted of a complete indoor-outdoor, four-year sweep of the event as Kansas frosh Diamond Dixon (51.55) caught Beard in the final few steps.

Beard has been on Texas A&M’s winning 4×100 and 4×400 teams at the Texas Relays and the winning 4×200 and 4×400 teams at the Penn Relays.

In addition for qualifying for the 400-meter dash at the final rounds, Beard is a part of Texas A&M’s 4×100- and 4×400-relay squads.

INDOOR: Beard made the Aggie faithful stand up and cheer for her performances at the NCAA Indoor Championships. In the 400 meters, Beard would twice record the best collegiate-mark of the year with a 51.64 clocking in the preliminaries and would top it with a 50.79 world-leading time in winning the national crown. Beard would win the event by more than 1½ seconds for Texas A&M’s first women’s individual national indoor crown in school history. With the time, Beard moved to third all-time on the American indoor list and second all-time collegiately.

Beard also anchored the 4×400 team to their second national crown in three years with a 51.08 split, leading Texas A&M to a 3:29.72 clocking, the best in the NCAA this year and the eighth-best all-time.

Also during the indoor season, Beard won an unprecedented fourth-straight indoor Big 12 title at 400. Beard was named Big 12 Performer of the Year as she also scored second-place honors in the 200 meters at the conference meet and anchored the Aggies to a fifth-straight crown in the 4×400. Her season’s best 200 time of 22.95 ranked sixth in the NCAA. Beard finished the 2011 indoor season undefeated in the 400 meters.

Emma Coburn, Colorado
Junior, Distance, Crested Butte, Colo. (Crested Butte HS)

OUTDOOR: Coburn leads the nation in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a personal best of 9:40.51, which she ran at the Payton Jordan Stanford Invitational. Coburn became the 11th fastest American all-time in the event with the run. She was honored as the USATF Athlete of the Week as well as the Big 12 Athlete of the Week for the effort. At the time, the 9:40.51 was the fastest in the world and now ranks sixth. This past weekend she won her second Big 12 steeplechase crown with the meet’s second-fastest all-time mark of 9:57.39.

She was also successful in the 1,500 and ran a personal best of 4:14.35 at Mt. SAC. That time ranks sixth in the NCAA and is the eighth fastest time in CU history.

Coburn has qualified for the national semifinal of the steeplechase.

INDOOR: Coburn won the indoor Big 12 3,000-meter run in 9:17.46, the ninth fastest time ever by a Buffalo. She did so in the unseeded heat as she did not have a seed time heading into the meet. Coburn was a part of the CU DMR team that recorded a school record and a fourth-place finish the previous night at the league meet as the anchor leg. The time of 11:22.87 broke a 12-year old record (11:23.34).

Her top event was the mile run. She ranks second on CU’s all-time list and has three of the top four times. Her PR of 4:36.08 was set at the NCAA Championship where she placed eighth overall to earn her first indoor All-American honor.

 
Kimberlyn Duncan, LSU
Sophomore, Sprints, Katy, Texas (Cypress Springs HS)

OUTDOOR: Holds the NCAA’s No. 1 seed in the 200-meter dash with a wind-aided season-best clocking of 22.18 (w: 3.2) set at LSU’s Alumni Gold meet. The time is the best all-conditions time in the collegiate ranks since 1989 and third all-time. Ranks in the NCAA’s top three with wind-aided best from the SEC Championships of 11.02 in the 100 meters. Wind-legal season best of 22.76 in the 200 meters ranks third in the world. Member of LSU’s winning sprint medley relay at the Penn Relays.

At the SEC Championships, Duncan claimed conference titles in the 200 and as part of LSU’s 4×100 relay.

Duncan is entered in both the 100- and 200-meter semifinal is a member of LSU’s 4×100 squad.

INDOOR: The NCAA Indoor 200-meter champion won four-straight 200-meter finals during the season, dating back to her win at the Tyson Invitational during the indoor season on Feb. 12. After setting an indoor personal record of 22.78 in winning her first career Southeastern Conference title at the SEC Indoor Championships, Duncan became the first Lady Tiger since 2004 to take home the NCAA Indoor crown in the event with her run of 22.85 at the national meet. In fact, her indoor PR of 22.78 is the world’s fastest indoor 200-meter time in three years since former Texas star Bianca Knight set the American indoor record of 22.40 at the 2008 NCAA Indoor Championships.

Jordan Hasay, Oregon
Sophomore, Distance, Arroyo Grande, Calif. (Mission College Prep)

OUTDOOR: Hasay won Pac-10 titles in the 1500 (4:19.18) and 5000 (16:24.10). Hasay also leads the nation in the 1500 meters with a 4:10.28 clocking at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational. Currently also sits second in the nation in the 5000 meters with a season best of 15:37.29 set at the Mt. SAC Relays.

Hasay qualified for the 1500 and 5000 rounds in Des Moines.

INDOOR: Hasay would lead Oregon to a national team title with a meet-high 22 points at the NCAA Indoor Championships, scoring individual national crowns in the mile and 3000 meters and as anchor of the Ducks’ runner-up DMR squad. Hasay became the fifth overall and first to win the national mile-3k double since Northern Arizona’s Johanna Nilsson in 2006. Hasay won the mile at the NCAA Championships in a personal-best 4:33.01, a mark that is among the all-time top ten of American collegians. In the 3000, Hasay outlasted Villanova’s Sheila Reid with a 9:13.71 run to avenge a previous head-to-head loss to Reid in the DMR the night before.

Hasay clocked a 9:05.42 season’s best in the 3000 at the UW Invitational in January. Hasay was also the mile champ at the MPSF Championships. Hasay was selected by the nation’s coaches as the USTFCCCA National Women’s Track Athlete of the Year.

Tina Sutej, Arkansas
Junior, Pole Vault, Ljubljana, Slovenia (Gimnazija Bezigrad)

OUTDOOR: Now holds claim to both indoor and outdoor collegiate records in the pole vault after winning the SEC title by over 15 inches with a clearance of 15-1½ (4.61m). Between both indoor and outdoor season, Sutej has been undefeated in 13 tries. In the outdoor season, Sutej has had winning clearances of more than 14-6 (4.42m) four times, making nine total for the entire year. Winner of the Penn Relays vault title with mark of 14-7¼ (4.45m).

Sutej qualified through to Des Moines in the pole vault.

INDOOR: Sutej topped the collegiate record in the pole vault with a clearance of 14-10¾ (4.54m) in winning the SEC title in the event. Sutej broke the 2002 record of Amy Linnen Undoubtedly the most consistent in the vault during the indoor season season, Sutej cleared more than 14-6 (4.42m) five times this season and won seven-straight events. In addition, Sutej won the national crown in the event, becoming the first from Arkansas to win an indoor NCAA pole vault title as the only to clear 14-7¼ (4.45m) at the national meet.

Sheila Reid, Villanova
Junior, Distance, Newmarket, Ontario

OUTDOOR: In a similar fashion to the indoor season, Reid was impressive at the Big East Championships, scoring Golds in the 1500- (4:23.98) and 5000-meter runs (16:13.29). Her season best in the 1500 of 4:11.85 came in finishing second by a hair to pro Shalane Flanagan at the Mt. SAC Relays. The 1500 time is the third-best among collegians this year.

Reid is one of two (Hasay) to qualify for the Des Moines rounds of the 1500 and 5000.

INDOOR: Reid was impressive in leading the Wildcats to their first NCAA distance medley relay title since 1995 in anchoring the team to victory with a 4:29.91, 1600-meter split. The squad’s time of 10:52.52 turned out to be the second-best all-time DMR in history. Only Tennessee’s 2009 run of 10:50.98 has been better. Reid came back from the DMR run to finish runner-up the next evening in the 3000 meters by a slim margin to Hasay (9:13.71 to 9:13.86).

In one of the more impressive showings by anyone at a conference championship this year, Reid won three Big East titles this indoor season. Starting off, she was the winner of the 1000 meters in a very fast 2:43.70, was the third leg of the Wildcats’ winning DMR, and anchor of the squad’s 4×800 team that won a conference crown. Reid claimed the second-best mark among collegians this year in the 3000 meters, having run 8:56.92. At the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston, Reid ran a would-be NCAA-leading mark in the mile with an impressive showing against a bevy of professionals, finishing third in that event with a 4:35.30 clocking.

Jeneba Tarmoh, Texas A&M
Junior, Sprints, San Jose, Calif. (Mt. Pleasant HS/Tennessee)

OUTDOOR: Jeneba Tarmoh repeated her triple victory at the Big 12 Championships, earning high point honors for the second consecutive year with 22½ points off a 100-200 sprint double while also running the second leg of the winning 4 x 100 relay. Tarmoh, who has a season best of 10.94w in winning the Texas Relays 100, recorded a career best of 22.46 for her victory at the Big 12 Outdoor meet. Tarmoh broke a 29-year-old stadium record set by Merlene Ottey (Nebraska) at Oklahoma’s John Jacobs Stadium.

Tarmoh has been the second leg of the Aggies 4 x 100 relay, which claimed victories at San Diego State, Arizona State, LSU, Texas Relays, and Penn Relays prior to winning the conference meet. Texas A&M holds the collegiate leading time of 42.87 from their Texas Relays victory. In the 4 x 200 relay Tarmoh was the lead-off leg for the Aggies when they set a collegiate leading time of 1:29.96 to win the Penn Relays title, recording the third fastest collegiate mark ever.

In the 4×400 Tarmoh also had first leg duties when the Aggies claimed its first-ever Texas Relays title in the event with a school record, and collegiate leading, 3:27.33.

Tarmoh has qualified for the Des Moines rounds of the 100- and 200-meter dash and is a member of Texas A&M’s qualified 4×100 and 4×400.

INDOOR: Tarmoh won the Big 12 200 title in a personal indoor best of 22.88 and matched that time in earning NCAA Indoor silver. Tarmoh set a meet record of 22.98 to win the 200 at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational. Tarmoh ran a personal best of 7.24 in the 60 meters, as runner-up in the New Balance Collegiate Invitational. She placed second in the 60 with a 7.29 at the Big 12 Indoor meet.

Ran opening leg of 4 x 400 as Texas A&M set a Big 12 meet record in winning with a 3:32.85, then was part of the relay effort that set a school record of 3:29.72 in winning the NCAA Indoor championship.

Kim Williams, Florida State
Senior, Jumps, Kingston, Jamaica (Vere Technical HS)

OUTDOOR: Won ACC titles in the long and triple jumps, sweeping both events for the third time at the conference meet. In addition, the triple jump title was won by Williams in each of her four years, indoor and outdoor in the league. Leads the nation in the triple jump with wind-aided triple jump mark of 46-9 (14.25m), set in winning the Texas Relays.

Williams will compete in the national final of the long jump and triple jump in Des Moines.

INDOOR: Williams became the first in NCAA D-I women’s history to win the national title in the triple jump for a third time. Williams in the 2011 version, used a 45-9¾ (13.96m) mark on her final attempt to post the best mark among all collegians for the season. However, it was not easy as Williams posted fouls on her first two attempts in the competition, but notched a 43-1¾ (13.15m) in round three to secure a spot in the event’s finals. In addition, Williams placed second in the long jump at the NCAA Championships.

Williams also netted impressive performances in both long and triple jumps at the ACC Championships. In becoming the first in ACC Championship history to win an event for a fourth time, Williams triple jumped to a collegiate-leading mark of 45-9¾ (13.96m). In addition, the previous day, Williams won the ACC long jump title with a leap of 21-6 (6.55m) – a performance that finished the season ranked No. 2 in the NCAA for the indoor season.

ALSO RECEIVING MENTION (29)

(D) – demoted from the watch list this update
(N) – new to either list this update

For more information on The Bowerman, the award, the magnificent trophy, and Bill Bowerman himself, visit TheBowerman.org. Keep up with Bowerman candidates on the USTFCCCA’s weekly results page (/weekly-results) and by following the organization’s twitter feed twitter.com/TheBowerman and Facebook page facebook.com/TheBowerman.

About The Bowerman

The Bowerman, which debuted in 2009, is presented annually by the USTFCCCA to the top male and female collegiate track & field athletes in the nation. Oregon’s Ashton Eaton and Virginia Tech’s Queen Harrison are the reigning winners of The Bowerman, which is named for legendary Oregon track & field and cross country coach Bill Bowerman.

Bowerman served the sport of track and field in numerous ways. His leadership in the USTFCCCA’s predecessor organization, the National Collegiate Track Coaches Association, and his contributions to NCAA track and field and the running community as a whole are among his many lasting legacies.