The Bowerman: 2023 Women’s Mid-Indoor Watch List

NEW ORLEANS – It’s not a prerequisite to have set a collegiate record in order to be on The Bowerman Women’s Watch List.

But it sure looks that way, as eight of the ten women on the Mid-Indoor Watch List have set at least one collegiate record in their career. The Watch List was released Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Four of the women on the latest Watch List broke CRs in January as the 2023 season got off to a hot start – Julien Alfred of Texas (60 meters), Masai Russell of Kentucky (60-meter hurdles), Katelyn Tuohy of NC State (1500 meters and mile) and Britton Wilson of Arkansas (600 meters).

Joining that foursome on the Watch List are Adelaide Aquilla of Ohio State, Talitha Diggs of Florida, Lamara Distin of Texas A&M, Jasmine Moore of Florida, Favour Ofili of LSU and Jorinde van Klinken of Oregon. The Bowerman – collegiate track & field’s highest honor – will be awarded in December at the USTFCCCA Convention in Denver, Colorado. Only marks from the 2023 indoor or outdoor collegiate track & field seasons are to be considered for the award.

Alfred, who hails from Castries, St. Lucia, broke her own CR in the 60 meters at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational, torching the Albuquerque Convention Center’s track in 7.02 second to shave 0.02 seconds off the 7.05 CR she ran last year. She gave notice early she was in record shape, clocking 7.05 in the prelims as she now owns three of the four fastest collegiate marks in history. A day before her latest record she was second in the 200 meters in a PR 22.71, which makes her fourth fastest collegian of the year. In December she set a PR of 37.36 at 300 meters in winning the Commonwealth College Opener in Louisville, Kentucky. This is Alfred’s fifth career Watch List appearance.

Aquilla, who hails from Rocky River, Ohio, opened the year as the nation’s No. 2 shot putter in winning the Indiana Relays with a heave of 17.89m (58-8½). She is a three-time NCAA champion with two titles in the outdoor shot put and one in the indoor shot put. She owns the CR outdoors at 19.64m (64-5¼) and rates No. 5 all-time collegiately indoors at 19.09m (62-7¾), with both marks occurring last year.  This is Aquilla’s fourth career Watch List appearance.

Diggs, who hails from Saucon Valley, Pennsylvania, leads the nation in two events – the 400 meters at 51.34 and the 300 meters at 36.12. The latter performance came in winning the Clemson Invitational and makes her =No. 3 all-time collegiately. In the same meet, she won the 60 in a PR 7.14, placing her No. 4 on the seasonal list. Diggs also has clocked 22.65 in the 200 (No. 3 collegian this year) and anchored the Gators’ 4×400 team to a 3:27.58 runner-up finish at the Razorback Invitational with a 50.44 split. Last year she swept the NCAA indoor and outdoor titles in the 400 meters and owns bests of 49.99 outdoors (just the sixth collegian to break the sub-50 barrier) as well as 50.98 indoors. This is Diggs’ second career Watch List appearance.

Distin, who hails from Hanover, Jamaica, leads the nation in the high jump indoors with a best of 1.90m (6-2¾), set in winning the Razorback Invitational. She is known for jumping much higher – last year she became the first athlete with four clearances at 1.95m (6-4¾) or higher in the same outdoor season, topped by a best of 1.97m (6-5½) for a share of No. 4 all-time collegiately. She swept the NCAA indoor and outdoor high jump titles last year. This is Distin’s second career Watch List appearance.

Moore, who hails from Grand Prairie, Texas, added to her incredible indoor triple jumping accomplishments, winning the Clemson Invitational at 14.44m (47-4½) as all six of her efforts were measured at 14.12m (46-4) or longer. Her top mark rates as the No. 4 collegiate performance of all time and she added jumps that are No. 5, =No. 8 and =No. 11 in the same series. She twice broke the CR indoors last year with a best of 14.57m (47-9¾) and owns six of the top-10 jumps all-time indoors. She is also No. 3 all-time on the outdoor collegiate list at 14.39m (47-2½) last year. Moore made history in 2022 in becoming just the second woman to sweep the long jump and triple jump at both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships, joining Sheila Hudson (1990). Her best indoor long jump this year – 6.64m (21-9½) – makes her No. 2 on the seasonal list. This is Moore’s 10^th career Watch List appearance.

Ofili, who hails from Port Harcourt, Nigeria, leads the nation in the 200 meters via a 22.53 clocking to win the Razorback Invitational. That’s not far off her PR of 22.46 from last year that puts her No. 9 all-time collegiately. She’s even higher on the outdoor 200 list after becoming history’s first sub-22 collegian with a then-CR 21.96 last year (now No. 2 all-time). Her other efforts thus far in 2023 have been as part of the Tigers’ 4×400 relay team, registering splits of 51.28 and 51.13. Last year she showed impressive dashing outdoors in the 100 with a PR 10.93 that makes No. 10 all-time collegiately. This is Ofili’s sixth career Watch List appearance.

Russell, who hails from Potomac, Maryland, debuts here in becoming the ninth woman from Kentucky to make the Watch List. She joins a group of Wildcats that includes three past finalists for The Bowerman – Kendra Harrison, Sydney McLaughlin and Abby Steiner, last year’s winner. Russell bolted to prominence at the Red Raider Open, racing to a CR 7.75 victory in the 60-meter hurdles that took 0.03 seconds off the previous record. Last year’s runner-up in the NCAA Indoor 60 hurdles, she has also been impressive outdoors in the 400-meter hurdles (twice an NCAA scorer with a best of 55.36) and ran third leg on last year’s UK 4×100 relay team, which was runner-up at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Tuohy, who hails from Stony Point, New York, claimed two CRs in the same race at the Dr. Sander Invitational. She finished as the top collegian in the mile with a time of 4:24.26, breaking the record of 4:25.91 in 2009, the year she became the inaugural winner of The Bowerman. En route, Tuohy was timed in 4:06.49 at the 1500-meter point, eclipsing another CR. In December, she clocked 15:15.92 at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener’s 5000 to rate No. 9 all-time collegiately in that event. Tuohy has two NCAA titles – last fall’s cross country crown as well as the 5000 meters from last year’s NCAA Outdoor Championships. Outdoors, her PRs in the 1500 (4:06.84) and 5000 (15:14.61) rate her No. 7 and No. 8 collegian, respectively. This is Tuohy’s second career Watch List appearance.

Van Klinken, who hails from Assen, The Netherlands, leads the nation in the shot put indoors at 18.55m (60-10½) in winning the Texas Tech Open. She also has the second-best meet this year at 18.11m (59-5) to win the Washington Preview. The defending NCAA Indoor champion in the shot put, she is No. 6 all-time collegiately at 19.08m (62-7¼) from last year. She is also a two-time NCAA champ in the discus, in which she has the CR of 70.22m (230-5). This van Klinken’s 11^th career Watch List appearance.

Wilson, who hails from Henrico, Virginia, earned her first individual CR with a 1:25.16 clocking in the 600 meters at the Arkansas Invitational. That lowered the previous collegiate best of 1:25.80 set by 2021 The Bowerman winner Athing Mu. Wilson had an impressive season in 2022, winning the 400-meter hurdles at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in a PR 53.75 to become No. 6 collegian all-time at 53.75. She also rates No. 7 all-time in the 400 at 50.05 and has even more accomplishments on the Razorbacks’ 4×400 team – anchoring the CR-setting indoor foursome that won the NCAA title (3:24.09) and outdoors splitting 48.60 at the SEC Championships for the fastest collegiate split ever. This is Wilson’s fourth career Watch List appearance.

Three athletes received votes from The Bowerman Watch List Committee but fell outside the Top 10: Michaela Rose of LSU, Kennedy Simon of Texas and Roisin Willis of Stanford. The next women’s Watch List is scheduled for March 1.