The Bowerman: 2025 Men’s Pre-NCAA Outdoor Championships Watch List

NEW ORLEANS – An athlete is in a great spot if he’s on the Men’s Pre-NCAA Outdoor Championships Watch List for The Bowerman.

First, that means he’s on a short list for collegiate track & field’s highest honor in June. Secondly, since the Watch List first debuted in 2010, 41 of 42 finalists for The Bowerman saw their names on this prestigious chart. Leo Neugebauer was the only finalist to not appear on the penultimate Watch List and then soar to finalist consideration based on what he did at the ensuing NCAA DI Outdoor Track & Field Championships. That was back in 2023 when Neugebauer set the decathlon CR.

Here are the ten men on the Men’s Pre-NCAA Outdoor Championships Watch List in 2025: Mykolas Alekna of California, Jordan Anthony of Arkansas, James Corrigan of BYU, Nathaniel Ezekiel of Baylor, Ishmael Kipkurui of New Mexico, Liam Murphy of Villanova, Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan of Ole Miss, Habtom Samuel of New Mexico, Ethan Strand of North Carolina, and Ja’Kobe Tharp of Auburn.

Alekna, who hails from Vilnius, Lithuania, will compete in the discus at the NCAA DI Outdoor Championships. The Cal standout is the prohibitive favorite to win the NCAA title, which would be his first. Alekna was the top qualifier out of the NCAA DI West First Round with a monstrous 72.12m (236-8) missile that is the third best throw in collegiate history and was the tenth best throw in world history at the time. The Lithuanian has been nothing short of legendary this outdoor season, shattering his own world record twice back in April –ultimately establishing it at 75.56m (247-10) – and notching eight of the top-ten marks in collegiate history. This is Alekna’s 23^rd career Watch List appearance – third most all-time among men.

Anthony, who hails from Tylertown, Mississippi, will compete in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 4×100 relay at the NCAA DI Outdoor Championships. The Arkansas standout hasn’t slowed down since winning the NCAA 60-meter title back in March. Most recently, Anthony blasted a barely – and we mean, barely – wind-aided 9.75 (+2.1) in the 100 meters at the NCAA DI West First Round to equal the second fastest all-conditions performer in collegiate history as well as the ninth fastest all-conditions performer in world history. A literal puff of wind kept Anthony from a collegiate record that has stood since 2017 The Bowerman winner Christian Coleman set it eight years ago. Anthony also isn’t too far removed from setting PR 19.93 (+1.3) over 200 meters to win the event at the SEC Outdoor Championships and complete the 100-200 double.

Corrigan, who hails from Los Angeles, California, will compete in the steeplechase at the NCAA DI Outdoor Championships. The BYU standout put together a strong outdoor season thus far, most notably at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships, where he won both the steeplechase and 5000 meters in an in-season PR 8:22.20 in the former and PR 13:25.46 in the latter.

Ezekiel, who hails from Delta State, Nigeria, will compete in the 400-meter hurdles at the NCAA DI Outdoor Championships. The Baylor standout continues to ride a wave of momentum from the Big 12 Outdoor Championships in May. That’s where he notched a pair of all-time top-ten performances in collegiate history: 47.90 in the prelims for what was the seventh fastest mark in collegiate history and then squeaked under in the final at PR 47.89. Ezekiel is undefeated in final competition this outdoor season in both the 400 and 400H. During the indoor season, Ezekiel finished runner-up in the 400 by 0.01 seconds at the NCAA DI Indoor Championships.

One exciting head-to-head matchup between Watch List members at the upcoming NCAA DI Outdoor Championships is between Kipkurui and Samuel, who also happen to be teammates. They’ve been tied at the hips throughout the year and expect it to be no different next week in Eugene, Oregon. Both qualified through to the final of the 5000 meters and 10,000 meters, where they are either the best or among the best in collegiate history: Kipkurui, who hails from Baringo County, Kenya, holds the 10k CR at 26:50.21 and is ranked fourth all-time in the 5k at 13:09.24; Samuel, who hails from Keren, Eritrea, owns the 5k CR at 13:05.87 and is ranked third all-time in the 10k at 26:53.84. Samuel is the defending NCAA 10k champ.

Speaking of head-to-head competition, Murphy and Strand have been on a collision course since the outdoor season began. Murphy, who hails from Millstone, New Jersey, opened his outdoor season at the Raleigh Relays with a 1500-meter CR of 3:33.02, while Strand, who hails from Vestavia, Alabama, moved up to No. 2 on that same chart with his 3:33.22 PR at the Duke Twilight. Strand beat Murphy the only time they raced this year on the track, which came in the 3000-meter final at the NCAA DI Indoor Championships in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where Strand won his first NCAA title and Murphy finished fourth. Fast forward three months and Strand hopes to cap a historic year. Strand, who owns CRs in the indoor mile and 3000 at 3:48.32 and 7:30.15, respectively, is looking to become the first male athlete in NCAA DI history to win both the 1500 and 5000 at the same NCAA DI Outdoor Championships.

Robinson-O’Hagan, who hails from Woonsocket, Rhode Island, will compete in both the hammer and shot at the NCAA DI Outdoor Championships – the latter of which he is the defending champion outdoors and won the indoor title back in March. The Ole Miss standout is rounding into form at the right time, as he qualified first out of the NCAA DI East First Round with SB 20.85m (68-5) in the shot. Just a few weeks earlier, Robinson-O’Hagan swept both of those events at the SEC Outdoor Championships, which gave him four conference titles this yea (Robinson-O’Hagan also completed the shot-weight double at the indoor meet).

Tharp, who hails from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, will compete in the 110-meter hurdles at the NCAA DI Outdoor Championships. The Auburn standout just clocked PR 13.14 (+1.5) to earn the top qualifying mark out of the NCAA DI East First Round. That came two weeks after Tharp went PR 13.15 (+0.5) to finish runner-up at the SEC Outdoor Championships to collegiate leader Kendrick Smallwood of Texas. During the indoor season, Tharp dropped his 60H PR from 7.85 to 7.60 in his first meet, 7.60 to 7.53 in his second, 7.53 to 7.48 in his third to win the SEC title and then from 7.48 to 7.45 to win the NCAA title in the Old Dominion.

Nine athletes received votes from The Bowerman Advisory Board, but not enough to land on the Watch List: Makanakaishe Charamba of Auburn, Micahi Danzy of Florida State, Geoffrey Kirwa of Louisville, Angelos Mantzouranis of Minnesota, Tinoda Matsatsa of Georgetown, Samuel Orgazi of Alabama, Abdul-Rasheed Saminu of South Florida, Kendrick Smallwood of Texas, and Kostas Zaltos of Minnesota.

Semifinalists for The Bowerman will be announced on June 26.