The Bowerman: 2023 Men’s Pre-Outdoor Conference Championships Watch List

NEW ORLEANS – If you want to win The Bowerman, step right up.

It’s still anybody’s guess as to which male athlete has asserted himself to be a favorite to win collegiate track & field’s highest individual honor with six weeks to go until the 2023 NCAA DI Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Austin, Texas. Sixteen different athletes took in at least one vote from The Bowerman Watch List Committee following another big weekend.

Here are the ten men who hauled in enough votes to land on the Men’s Pre-Outdoor Conference Championships Watch List for The Bowerman in 2023: Mykolas Alekna of California, Kyle Garland of Georgia, Jordan Geist of Arizona, Sondre Guttormsen of Princeton, Jaydon Hibbert of Arkansas, Dylan Jacobs of Tennessee, Terrence Jones of Texas Tech, Fouad Messaoudi of Oklahoma State, Ayden Owens-Delerme of Arkansas and Keyshawn Strachan of Auburn.

The Bowerman – collegiate track & field’s highest individual 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, has wasted no time making history this outdoor season. The undefeated California standout hit all-time marks at each of the three meets in which he competed, including a massive collegiate record this past weekend at The 128^th Big Meet. Alekna let the disc fly 71.00m (232-11) to better his own collegiate record – which was previously 68.73m (225-6) from the Pac-12 Outdoor Championships last year – and even smash his own all-dates collegiate best of 69.81m (229-1) from last summer. He has eight of the top-10 marks in collegiate history, including five from this season alone.

Garland, who hails from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has yet to complete a decathlon this outdoor season – a multi in which he owns the collegiate record. The Georgia standout has finished six different individual events, though, which included a PR in the 200 meters at the Spec Towns – Torrin Lawrence Invitational. Don’t forget about what Garland accomplished indoors: obliterating the collegiate record in the heptathlon and nearly equaling the world record in the process with his 6639-point score.

Geist, who hails from Saxonburg, Pennsylvania, is the collegiate leader in the shot put and ranks second among NCAA DI athletes in the hammer. Both of those marks came on back-to-back weekends: Geist launched the hammer 74.14m (243-3) at the Jim Click Shootout & Multi back on April 6 and then sent the shot 21.25m (69-8¾) at the Mt. SAC Relays. Geist won the shot put crown at the NCAA DI Indoor Championships back in March with a 21.15m (69-4¾) heave.  

Guttormsen, who hails from Ski, Norway, continues to raise the bar in the pole vault. The Princeton standout recently cleared 5.90m (19-4¼) at the Texas Invitational to win his seven consecutive meet. Three victories ago, Guttormsen equaled the collegiate record of 6.00m (19-8¼) to win the NCAA title in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Hibbert, who hails from Kingston, Jamaica, made his outdoor debut in the triple jump at the LSU Invitational and bounded a collegiate-leading 17.17m (56-4). The Arkansas standout made three phases look easy indoors 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 – that counts marks that occurred both indoors and outdoors.

Jacobs, who hails from Orland Park, Illinois, hasn’t competed since setting a PR of 28:01.53 to win the 10,000 meters at the Bryan Clay Invitational. Earlier this year, Jacobs capped a brilliant indoor season with an NCAA title-winning effort in the 5000 meters, an event in which he is No. 3 in collegiate history. Jacobs also left his mark on the all-time chart in the 3000 meters, ripping 15 laps of the indoor track in 7:36.89 to narrowly miss the collegiate record.

Jones, who hails from Freeport, Bahamas, continued his breakout season with a pair of PRs outdoors: 9.91 in the 100 and 20.05 in the 200. That mark in the 100 equaled the No. 7 fastest-performer in collegiate history. The Texas Tech standout was even faster indoors, notching three sub-6.50 performances in the 60 meters, including two marks of 6.46 that matched the second-fastest clocking in collegiate history (Jones won the NCAA title with his last).

Messaoudi, who hails from Oujda, Morocco, rode a wave of momentum from a near-undefeated indoor season into the outdoor venue. The Oklahoma State standout recently finished runner-up in the 1500 meters at the Bryan Clay Invitational with a PR 3:35.16 to become the fourth-fastest performer in collegiate history. About one month before that, Messaoudi won the 3000-meter crown at the NCAA Indoor Championships and led off on the Cowboys’ winning DMR squad. Speaking of the DMR, Messaoudi got Oklahoma State off to a fast start at the Arkansas Qualifier in mid-February and watched as the rest of his teammates continued to blister the track en route to a collegiate record of 9:16.40.

Owens-Delerme, who hails from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has found his groove during the outdoor season. The Arkansas standout recently competed in the 400-meter hurdles for the first time in his collegiate career, notching a mark of 50.28 to finish second at the LSU Invitational. The previous week, Owens-Delerme PR’d in both the 200 at 20.88 and discus throw at 46.64m (153-0). Indoors, Owens-Delerme surpassed the collegiate record in the heptathlon with his 6518-point, runner-up effort at the NCAA DI Indoor Championships. He also helped the Razorbacks capture the 4×400 relay crown in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with a 46.55 split.

Strachan, who hails from Nassau, Bahamas, made headlines at the Texas Relays with a winning javelin heave of 84.27m (276-6) to move up to No. 4 in collegiate history. That was also the farthest throw by a collegiate freshman, dwarfing the previous best of 82.64m (271-2) set by Anderson Peters. Strachan also topped the javelin podium at the Tom Jones Memorial.

Here are the athletes who received votes from The Bowerman Watch List Committee, but not enough to land on the Pre-Outdoor Conference Championships Watch List: Drew Bosley of Northern Arizona, Zach Bradford of Texas Tech, Cameron Crump of Mississippi State, Caleb Dean of Texas Tech, Branson Ellis of Stephen F. Austin and Elija Godwin of Georgia.

The next Watch List will be released on May 18.

OF NOTE: Only four men have appeared on every Watch List this season: Alekna, Garland, Guttormsen, and Owens-Delerme … Messaoudi is the fourth Oklahoma State man to be named to a Watch List, joining Chad Noelle (2016), 2016 semifinalist Nick Miller, and 2010 finalist German Fernandez … Geist returns to the watch list for the first time since his career Watch List debut on February 8, 2018.