The Bowerman: Men’s Post-NCAA Indoor Championships Watch List

NEW ORLEANS – One down. One to go.

A thrilling indoor season that saw five collegiate records in men’s events is in the books. Four of those collegiate-record setters are on the Post-NCAA Indoor Championships Watch List for The Bowerman, as are three other athletes who won NCAA titles in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Here are those ten men on the Watch List: Mykolas Alekna of California, Drew Bosley of Northern Arizona, Sean Burrell of LSU, Kyle Garland of Georgia, Elija Godwin of Georgia, Sondre Guttormsen of Princeton, Jaydon Hibbert of Arkansas, Dylan Jacobs of Tennessee, Carey McLeod of Arkansas and Ayden Owens-Delerme of Arkansas.

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.

Alekna, who hails from Vilnius, Lithuania, redefined collegiate discus throwing in 2022. Try this on for size: Alekna posted eight of the top-12 marks in collegiate history, including the collegiate record of 68.73m (225-6) that he whirled at the Pac-12 Outdoor Championships. That effort is also the farthest heave by a collegian in any setting (2013 The Bowerman finalist Julian Wruck launched the disc 68.16m (223-8) at a meet nine years ago that was deemed an exhibition by USTFCCCA standards). Alekna also has the Nos. 2, 4, 7-8, 10-12 all-time marks. He finished runner-up at the NCAA DI Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field. This is Alekna’s seventh career appearance on the Watch List.

Bosley, who hails from Thiensville, Wisconsin, capped a record-breaking indoor season by scoring 14 points at the 2023 NCAA DI Indoor Championships. He finished runner-up in the 3000 meters, an event in which he set the collegiate record earlier this season with his 7:36.42 effort, and took third in the 5000 meters. Back in December, Bosley moved up to No. 6 on the all-time collegiate chart in the 5000 when he PR’d in 13:13.26 at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener in Boston.

Burrell, who hails from Zachary, Louisiana, competed five times during the indoor season – three times on a relay team and twice in an open 400. His best mark in the open 400 was his 46.37 clocking at the Razorback Invitational back in late January. Burrell is more known for sprinting 400 meters and clearing ten hurdles in succession, which is an event in which he has won back-to-back NCAA titles and could be one of the first since Danny Harris in 1984 to 1986 to capture three in a row. This is Burrell’s eighth career Watch List appearance.

Garland, who hails from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, made history each time he competed in the heptathlon during the 2023 indoor season. Let’s cut to the chase: Garland destroyed the collegiate record – and fell just six points short of the world record – when he won the combined event at the 2023 NCAA DI Indoor Championships. He finished with 6639 points, 140 more than 2010 The Bowerman winner Ashton Eaton scored to win the NCAA title during his award-winning year. During the regular season, Garland showed other flashes of brilliance when he then moved up to No. 2 in collegiate history with his 6415 total at the Texas Tech Open & Multis. This is Garland’s sixth career Watch List appearance.

Godwin, who hails from Covington, Georgia, captured the NCAA title in the 400 meters two weeks at the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships in 44.75, which matched the mark he used to win the SEC title back in February to become the fifth-best performer in collegiate history. Now, Godwin turns his attention to the outdoor season, where he’ll look to improve upon his third-place effort at the NCAA Outdoor Championships last year where he ran his 44.50 PR.

Guttormsen, who hails from Ski, Norway, vaulted into collegiate history this year. The Princeton standout tied the collegiate record in the pole vault of 6.00m (19-8¼) to win the NCAA title in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Guttormsen steadily climbed the all-time collegiate chart under a roof: first cracking the top-10 at No. 7 back in February; then improving two spots to No. 5 with his 5.90m (19-4¼) performance at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic; and then finally equaling KC Lightfoot’s record mark from 2021. This is Guttormsen’s fourth career Watch List appearance.

Hibbert, who hails from Kingston, Jamaica, made three phases look easy during the 2023 indoor season and annihilated the collegiate record in the triple jump. He won the NCAA title with a majestic 17.54m (57-6½) effort, which dwarfed the previous all-time best of 17.40m (57-1) that stood since 1985. Hibbert’s indoor best also equaled the No. 2 mark on the absolute collegiate list – a chart that counts marks that occurred both indoors and outdoors.

Jacobs, who hails from Orland Park, Illinois, topped the NCAA podium and turned in historic marks in distance events three times during the 2023 indoor season. The first all-time effort came at the Boston University John Thomas Terrier Classic when he went 13:11.01 over 5000 meters to become the third-fastest athlete in collegiate history. Two weeks later, he narrowly missed the collegiate record in the 3000 meters by 0.47 seconds when he stopped the clock at 7:36.89. Ultimately, Jacobs won the 5000-meter title at the 2023 NCAA DI Indoor Championships in 13:37.59, which was the fastest time ever recorded by a collegian indoors at altitude. He later finished sixth in the 3000 at NCAAs in 7:52.25.

McLeod, who hails from Kingston, Jamaica, soared to the top of the long jump podium – and into the collegiate record book – at the 2023 NCAA DI Indoor Championships. The Arkansas jumper flew 8.40m (27-6¾) to win an incredible competition that saw four men eclipse 8.33m (27-4). McLeod notched the second-farthest jump by a collegian indoors since 2002 (If you’re wondering who has the farthest, it’s 2021 The Bowerman winner JuVaughn Harrison).

Owens-Delerme, who hails from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, made his presence felt in the combined events once again. He surpassed the collegiate record in the heptathlon with his runner-up effort at the 2023 NCAA DI Indoor Championships, where he scored 6518 points. Owens-Delerme, a finalist for The Bowerman in 2022, qualified for the NCAA Championships with his 6237-point winner at the SEC Indoor Championships that is now eighth all-time. This is Owens-Delerme’s 11^th career Watch List appearance.

Five athletes received votes from The Bowerman Watch List Committee, but not enough to land on this edition of the Watch List: Matthew Boling of Georgia, Zach Bradford of Texas Tech, Cameron Crump of Mississippi State, Anass Essayi of South Carolina and Jordan Geist of Arizona.

The next Watch List will be released on April 13.