The Bowerman: 2025 Women’s Post-Outdoor Conference Championships Watch List

NEW ORLEANS – There has never been a year with more variety for a Women’s Watch List for The Bowerman.

With the debut of Alexis Brown of Baylor to the Post-Outdoor Conference Championships Watch List – released Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) – this year has seen 27 different athletes appear at some point this year, making 2025 the leader in that compilation.

The previous high was 26 in 2019.

Brown is joined on this list by Silan Ayyildiz of Oregon, Aaliyah Butler of Georgia, JaMeesia Ford of South Carolina, Pamela Kosgei of New Mexico, Doris Lemngole of Alabama, Indya Mayberry of TCU, Amanda Moll of Washington, Michaela Rose of LSU and Jayden Ulrich of Louisville.

The Bowerman 2025 will be awarded in December at the USTFCCCA Convention in Grapevine, Texas.

Ayyildiz, who hails from Istanbul, Turkey, won the 5000 meters at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships in her seasonal debut of 15:37.11 just under two hours after a runner-up finish in the 1500. Those were her first races since setting a CR in the mile at the Drake Relays at 4:25.50. She has two other CRs from the indoor season, both in the same race at February’s David Hemery Valentine Invitational with a 4:23.46 mile that included an en route time of 4:05.66 in the 1500 meters. She was instrumental in another indoor CR, bringing Oregon from third place to victory in the distance medley relay a week later at the Terrier DMR Challenge with a 4:26.46 anchor for 1600 meters as the Ducks ran 10:42.05. This is her third Watch List appearance.

Brown, who hails from Kennedale, Texas, is the second woman from Baylor to make the Watch List, joining Aaliyah Miller from 2021. Her long jump and sprint talents were on full display at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships. She made her biggest splash in the long jump pit, hitting the sand at 7.03m (23-0¾) to become just the third 7-meter/23-foot jumper in collegiate history. She returned the next day to clock a PR 11.08 for second in the 100 after running the third leg on the Bears’ victorious 4×100 relay, which had the second-fastest time by a collegiate squad this year at 42.73. Undefeated in eight long jump competitions this year, Brown also won the NCAA DI Indoor title at 6.90 (22-7¾). She was sixth in the 60 at the NCAA DI Indoor and had a PR 7.14 earlier in the year.

Butler, who hails from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was dominating at the SEC Outdoor Championships, winning the 400 by 0.90 seconds in 50.36 and then blazing a 48.86 anchor leg – the third-fastest ever by a collegian – to bring the Bulldogs 2.49 seconds down to second place with their fastest time of the year in the 4×400 relay at 3:24.85. Her only other outdoor 400 final was in April’s Tom Jones Memorial Invitational, where she won by 0.81 seconds in 49.44 to move to No. 5 on the all-time collegiate outdoor list. She twice dipped under 50 seconds indoors and has yet to lose a one-lap race head-to-head this year. This is her sixth Watch List appearance.

Ford, who hails from Fayetteville, North Carolina, was a part of four victories at the SEC Outdoor Championships – all on the same day. She opened up by anchoring South Carolina to the 4×100 title in 42.75, just off their seasonal best of 42.74 that has the Gamecocks No. 3 nationally. Next up was the 100, where her 11.06 by less than a millisecond. An hour later she won the 200 in 22.01 to become No. 5 all-time collegiately, then finished off the day with a 49.56 third leg split that gave South Carolina a lead that no one could catch in the 4×400 relay. She is undefeated head-to-head in individual events all year. That includes indoors, where is No. 4 all-time collegiately in the 200 at 22.34. This is her 11^th Watch List appearance.

Kosgei, who hails from Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Kenya, continued her undefeated collegiate season with two wins at the Mountain West Outdoor Championships, sweeping the steeple and 5000 titles. Her outdoor season started with an eye-opening six-day double in late-March/early-April that made her No. 2 collegian all-time in both the steeplechase (9:15.93) and 10,000 (31:02.73). She nailed another No. 2 all-time collegiate performance in winning the 5000 meters at the Bryan Clay Invitational with her 14:52.45 missing the CR by just 0.27 seconds. Then a week later she won 10,000 at the Don Kirby Tailwind Twilight by over five minutes in 31:58.51 – at 5120 feet (1560 meters) of altitude in Albuquerque, New Mexico in registering the fastest time for any woman at high altitude outside of Africa. Indoors she was third in the NCAA DI 5000 before taking 11^th in the 3000. This is her third Watch List appearance.

Lemngole, who hails from West Pokot County, Kenya, is the only woman to appear on every Watch List this year. She was dominant at the SEC Outdoor Championships, winning the steeplechase by over 33 seconds in 9:20.83 – the No. 7 collegiate performance all-time – a day before taking the 5000 by over 17 seconds in 15:11.62, an outdoor PR. In April she lowered her own CR by over five seconds in winning the Wake Forest Invitational by over 17 seconds in 9:10.13. That was a week after a PR in the 1500 at 4:09.28 while winning the Crimson Tide Invitational by over nine seconds. Indoors she had a pair of notable 5000-meter races – the first in a CR 14:52.57 in early December and the other in mid-March to win the NCAA DI Indoor title in 15:05.93, the No. 9 all-time performance collegiately. She was also runner-up in the 3000 at the NCAA DI Indoor after earlier moving to No. 5 on the all-time collegiate list at 8:41.83. This is her seventh Watch List appearance.

Mayberry, who hails from Allen, Texas, set seasonal bests to win the 100 (11.03) and 200 (22.47) at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships in addition to anchoring the runner-up 4×100 relay team. She opened up her outdoor season with a pair of winning performances at the Texas Relays, where her rocket opening leg in the 4×100 relay helped TCU win in 42.87 before returning to take the 100 in a wind-aided 10.91 that remains the fastest among all collegians this year. In the winter she won the 200 at the NCAA DI Indoor Championships in 22.30 to become No. 4 all-time collegiately after earlier placing fourth in the 60 (in which she clocked a PR 7.11 earlier in the season). This is her fourth Watch List appearance.

Moll, who hails from Olympia, Washington, added another CR at Big Ten Outdoor Championships – her sixth CR of the year thanks to a clearance of 4.78m (15-8¼) broke her outdoor record from two weeks earlier at 4.76m (15-7¼) at the Desert Heat Classic. She raised the indoor CR four times, ultimately with first absolute collegiate 16-foot performance at 4.91m (16-1¼). She won the NCAA DI Indoor title with a meet record 4.70m (15-5) and finished the undercover season with six of the top-8 all-time performances collegiately. This is her fifth Watch List appearance.

Rose, who hails from Suffolk, Virginia, earned a three-peat in the 800 at the SEC Outdoor Championships, winning by nearly two seconds in 1:59.75. Two weeks earlier she set a PR 1:58.12 to take the LSU Invitational by over four seconds while improving her standing at No. 2 all-time collegiately, behind only the 1:57.73 CR by 2021 The Bowerman winner Athing Mu. She is undefeated in the 800 outdoors, staring with a 2:00.22 victory at the Bryan Clay Invitational a day before lowering her 1500 PR to 4:10.38. Indoors she was fourth at the NCAA DI Indoor and had a seasonal best of 2:00.25. This is her 13^th Watch List appearance, making her the active career leader.

Ulrich, who hails from East Alton, Illinois, continued an undefeated outdoor season – in two events, winning the shot put (17.56m/57-7½) a day before the discus (a meet-record 62.89m/206-4) at the ACC Outdoor Championships. Earlier this spring she moved to No. 2 on the all-time collegiate discus list at 69.39m (227-8) to win the World Throws Invitational B section; that followed a then-PR victory at the South Florida Alumni Invitational three weeks earlier at 66.63m (218-7). She was NCAA DI runner-up last year before making the U.S. Olympic team for the Paris Olympics. In the shot put she has gone 18.52m (60-9¼) this spring – her outdoor best is 18.66m (61-2¾) from last year – and was fifth in the NCAA DI Indoor in March. This is her third Watch List appearance.

Six more athletes received votes from The Bowerman Watch List Committee but fell outside the Top 10: Temitope Adeshina of Texas Tech, Lianna Davidson of Georgia, Rachel Glenn of Arkansas, Lexy Halladay-Lowry of BYU, Brynn King or Roberts Wesleyan, Mya Lesnar of Colorado State and Jadin O’Brien of Notre Dame.

The next women’s Watch List is scheduled for June 4.