The Bowerman: 2025 Men’s Semifinalists

NEW ORLEANS – From thousands to ten.

From these ten there will be three.

Here are the ten male semifinalists for The Bowerman in 2025, of which three will be selected as finalists for collegiate track & field’s highest honor: Mykolas Alekna of California, Jordan Anthony of Arkansas, James Corrigan of BYU, Nathaniel Ezekiel of Baylor, Ishmael Kipkurui of New Mexico, Carlie Makarawu of Kentucky, Ralford Mullings of Oklahoma, Brian Musau of Oklahoma State, Ethan Strand of North Carolina, and Ja’Kobe Tharp of Auburn.

Together they combined for 13 NCAA individual titles, one world record, four collegiate records, and a slew of all-time top-10 marks.

Alekna, who hails from Vilnius, Lithuania, whirled the platter record-breaking distances in 2025. The California standout shattered the world record for the second year in a row when he launched the disc 75.56m (247-10) at the Oklahoma Throws Series World Invitational in April. That was the second time he improved his own world record that day: his first throws of the competition sailed 74.89m (245-8). Those efforts also destroyed his own collegiate record of 71.00m (232-11) from 2023 and eclipsed that mark twice in solely collegiate competition. Alekna, who finished runner-up in the discus at the NCAA DI Outdoor Championships, is now a three-time semifinalist for The Bowerman.

Anthony, who hails from Tylertown, Mississippi, earned the title of “Fastest Man in Collegiate Track & Field” after completing the 60-meter/100-meter double at the NCAA Championships in 2025. The Arkansas standout won the 60-meter version back in March and then stormed to victory in the 100 meters at the recently completed NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon. Just a few weeks before winning his second NCAA title of the year, Anthony scorched a barely wind-aided 9.75 (+2.1) to equal the second fastest all-conditions performance in collegiate history and equal to the ninth fastest all-conditions performer in world history. He also finished fourth in the 200 meters and anchored the third place 4×100 relay in Eugene. Anthony gives Arkansas its ninth men’s semifinalist, giving it sole possession of third all-time behind Florida (13) and Oregon (10).

Corrigan, who hails from Los Angeles, California, rose to the occasion at the NCAA DI Outdoor Championships with a resounding victory in the steeplechase. The BYU standout clocked in-season PR 8:16.43 to become the fourth fastest performer in collegiate history along with the sixth fastest performance. He beat Louisville’s Geoffrey Kirwa, who went 8:13.89 earlier in the season for the fastest collegiate time since Henry Rono graced the track in 1978. Corrigan put together a strong outdoor season that included a steeplechase-5k double at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships in which he set a pair of meet records: 8:22.20 and 13:25.46, respectively. He is just the second semifinalist in program history, joining 2023 honoree Kenneth Rooks.

Ezekiel, who hails from Delta State, Nigeria, capped a prolific season in the 400-meter hurdles with an NCAA title in TrackTown USA. The Baylor standout went a blistering 47.49 – just two days after lowering his PR to 47.86 – to take his rightful place atop the podium. Ezekiel ended the season as the only man in collegiate history with multiple all-time top-ten marks in the event. Multiple means two or more: Ezekiel has four. During the indoor season, Ezekiel finished a close runner-up in the 400 at the NCAA DI Championships – by close, we mean 0.01 seconds. This is the fourth time that Baylor has had a men’s semifinalist: two-time honoree Trayvon Bromell and KC Lightfoot are the others.

Kipkurui, who hails from Baringo County, Kenya, proved himself to be the class of the 10,000 meters among collegians in winning the event at the NCAA DI Outdoor Championships. It was almost a coronation since the New Mexico standout took down the event’s CR with his 26:50.21 effort at the Sound Running Ten back in March. Kipkurui also finished the year as the fourth fastest man in collegiate history in the 5000 meters at 13:09.24. He also earned First-Team All-America honors in the 5k at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with a seventh place finish. Kipkurui is the third men’s semifinalist for New Mexico’s program, joining two-time honoree Josh Kerr (2017, 2018) and current teammate Habtom Samuel (2024)

Makarawu, who hails from Harare, Zimbabwe, became just the fourth man since 2007 to sweep both the indoor and outdoor 200-meter titles at the NCAA Championships. The Kentucky standout is in pretty good company when you consider the rest of the list: Ameer Webb of Texas A&M, as well as Christian Coleman of Tennessee and Divine Oduduru of Texas Tech. Coleman won The Bowerman in 2017, while Oduduru was a finalist for the award in 2019. Makarawu is among the top-ten fastest men in collegiate history in both venues: No. 6 indoors at 20.13; No. 8 outdoors at 19.84. He is the third semifinalist in program history, joining Daniel Roberts (2019) and Tim Duckworth (2018).

Mullings, who hails from Kingston, Jamaica, threw the disc farther than anybody in collegiate history not named Alekna – the man he beat for the NCAA title in Eugene, Oregon. It was within the friendly confines of Hayward Field where the Oklahoma standout sent a 69.31m (227-5) PR to cement his status at No. 2 in collegiate history and nuke a 33-year-old meet record. Earlier in the season, Mullings threw the implement 69.13m (226-10) to win the Texas Relays event title. Mullings is the first men’s semifinalist in program history for Oklahoma.

Musau, who hails from Mchakos, Kenya, doubled up on 5k titles in 2025. The Oklahoma State standout won both the indoor and outdoor crowns – the first to do so since Morgan McDonald in 2019. Musau moved up to No. 11 on the all-time collegiate list indoors with his 13:11.29 PR at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener in December. During the indoor season, Musau also finished fifth in the 3000 meters at the NCAA Championships – just a few weeks after winning that event at the Big 12 Championships in PR 7:45.79. Musau is the second semifinalist in program history, joining 2016 honoree Nick Miller.

Strand, who hails from Vestavia, Alabama, finished his senior year with two collegiate records, another all-time top-ten mark and an NCAA title. The North Carolina standout is the only male athlete in collegiate history to hold collegiate records in both the mile and 3000 meters with his 3:48.32 and 7:30.15 PRs, respectively. Then outdoors, Strand climbed to No. 2 in collegiate history in the 1500 meters with his 3:33.22 PR at the Duke Twilight. Strand won the 3k at the NCAA DI Indoor Championships and then fell short in his quest to win the 1500-meter version outdoors when he finished a close runner-up to eventual champion Nathan Green. Strand is the second finalist in program history, joining former teammate Parker Wolfe.

Tharp, who hails from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, ended his outdoor season the same way he did the indoor season – winning an NCAA title and becoming the fifth fastest performer in collegiate history in that event. The Auburn standout most recently hurdled his way to an NCAA title in the 110-meter hurdles in PR 13.05. That came several months after he went PR 7.45 for the indoor 60-meter version. Tharp went 13.15 or faster four times during the outdoor season and avenged his only two losses of the outdoor season with that victory at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. He is the first semifinalist from Auburn in award history.

Finalists for The Bowerman will be announced on Tuesday, July 8.