Post-Indoor Women’s Watch List for The Bowerman Trophy Announced

NEW ORLEANS – What did it take at indoor nationals to get added to the Post-Indoor Women’s Watch List for collegiate track & field’s highest individual honor, The Bowerman Trophy? A meet record in the middle distances.

Leah O’Connor of Michigan State and Natoya Goule of Clemson joined the Watch List after winning national titles and breaking meet records in the mile and 800 meters, respectively.

Both of them led their races from the gun and were handsomely rewarded. O’Connor covered her mile in 4:27.18, winning by over a second. And Goule ran almost exactly half that distance in 2:01.64, winning by 1.95 seconds–a huge margin in such a short race.

Eight of the other nine Watch List women won NCAA titles in Fayetteville. Emily Sisson of Providence won the 5000, Kendra Harrison of Kentucky won the hurdles, Remona Burchell of Alabam won the 60 meters, Courtney Okolo of Texas won the 400 and anchored the winning 4×400, Jenna Prandini of Oregon won the long jump, Kendell Williams of Georgia won the pentathlon, Kyra Jefferson of Florida won the 200, and Sandi Morris of Arkansas won the pole vault.

Williams was the only woman to break a collegiate record in her event; Sisson and Burchell already hold the CRs in theirs. So does the eleventh woman on the list, Demi Payne of Stephen F. Austin, who no-heighted in the pole vault at nationals.

This edition of the Watch List contains eleven women, as there was a tie for the tenth most votes.

O’Connor (in the steeplechase), Goule, Burchell, Okolo, Prandini, and Williams already had Division I championships in their trophy cases. This weekend saw the first-ever titles for Sisson, Harrison, Jefferson, and Morris.

It’s the first-ever appearance on the Watch List for O’Connor; Goule had been on there earlier this season.

For the first time, Southern Illinois’s Raven Saunders received votes. In a minor upset, the American indoor junior record holder won the shot put and broke her own AJR.

Oregon and the SEC continue to expand their lead on the total appearance lists. The Ducks lead all schools with 65 appearances on the women’s watch list; the SEC leads all conferences with 148. Texas broke a tie with Florida State for the sixth most appearances, and Florida and Georgia joined Dartmouth and Colorado in a four-way tie for ninth.

With indoor finished, the focus turns to outdoors. Some of the women on the list expand their repertoire in the spring and summer: O’Connor adds the steeplechase, Sisson has said that the 10000 is her primary focus, and Harrison will have two hurdle races instead of one. Burchell, Jefferson, Prandini, and Okolo all ran the 4×100 at outdoor NCAAs last June, and with the national meet schedule not released yet, things may break favorably for Williams to add a second event—though as a heptathlete, it would really be an eighth event.

The men’s Watch List was released Wednesday; the next women’s watch list comes out Thursday, April 16.

ABOUT THE BOWERMAN

The Bowerman, which debuted in 2009, is presented annually by the USTFCCCA to the most outstanding male and female collegiate track & field athletes in the nation.

Oregon’s Laura Roesler and Texas A&M’s Deon Lendore are the reigning winners of The Bowerman, which is named for legendary Oregon track & field and cross country coach Bill Bowerman.

Past winners include Olympic gold medalist, World Champion and decathlon world-record holder Ashton Eaton (2010), 10,000-meter Olympic silver medalist Galen Rupp (2009), 2011 IAAF World Champion at 1500 meters Jenny Simpson (2009), 2013 100-meter hurdles World Champion Brianna Rollins (2013) and 2012 Olympic high jump bronze medalist Derek Drouin (2013).

In total, the winners from the award’s first five years have won three Olympic Medals, two World Championships and six World Championships medals. When considering finalists for the award, 13 individuals have earned a combined seven Olympic medals, four World Championships and 17 World Championships medals.

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.

For more information on The Bowerman, the award, the trophy and Bill Bowerman himself, visit TheBowerman.org.