The Bowerman: Looking Back At The Fan Vote (2009-2019)
Like the athletes it honors, The Bowerman thrives thanks to fan support.
That’s why, since the inception of The Bowerman in 2009, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) opened a portion of the ballot to the fans. How could the fans NOT be involved in selecting which finalists they think should take home the iconic 35-pound award each and every December at the annual USTFCCCA Convention?
CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR THE BOWERMAN
The Bowerman Fan Vote counts for a small portion of the overall tally, which includes ballots cast by previous winners, national and regional media personnel, track & field statisticians, NCAA collegiate administrators and Presidents of affiliated organizations, among others.
So let’s go ahead and take a look back at The Bowerman Fan Vote over the years.
The Bowerman – Men’s Historical Fan Votes Results |
||||
|
Year
|
Name
|
Program
|
Total (%)
|
Margin (%)
|
|
2009
|
German Fernandez
|
Oklahoma State
|
41.7
|
9.1
|
|
2010
|
Ryan Whiting
|
Arizona
|
38.7
|
3.8
|
|
2011
|
Ngoni Makusha*
|
Florida State
|
42.1
|
14.7
|
|
2012
|
Cam Levins*
|
Southern Utah
|
48.0
|
7.4
|
|
2013
|
Julian Wruck
|
UCLA
|
40.6
|
2.0
|
|
2014
|
Deon Lendore*
|
Texas A&M
|
52.7
|
19.7
|
|
2015
|
Shawn Barber
|
Akron
|
45.7
|
11.5
|
|
2016
|
Jarrion Lawson*
|
Arkansas
|
39.9
|
1.2
|
|
2017
|
Fred Kerley
|
Texas A&M
|
40.8
|
2.0
|
|
2018
|
Grant Holloway
|
Florida
|
47.9
|
10.6
|
|
2019
|
Divine Oduduru
|
Texas Tech
|
48.8
|
16.1
|
Since 2009, the men’s winner of The Bowerman Fan Vote has won the award four times: Ngoni Makusha in 2011, Cam Levins in 2012, Deon Lendore in 2014 and Jarrion Lawson in 2016.
Speaking of Lendore, he still holds The Bowerman Fan Vote record for largest percentage of overall ballots with 52.7 percent. No other men have eclipsed the 50-percent threshold in The Bowerman Fan Vote history, but fans of Divine Oduduru (2019, 48.8), Levins (2012, 48.0) and Grant Holloway (2018, 47.9) tried awfully hard to push their favorite athlete over the barrier.
The largest margin of victory in the Men’s Fan Vote belongs to Lendore with a 19.7-percent spread. That topped the previous best of 14.7 established by Makusha three years earlier.
The Bowerman – Women’s Historical Fan Vote Results |
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|
Year
|
Name
|
Program
|
Total (%)
|
Margin (%)
|
|
2009
|
Jenny Barringer*
|
Colorado
|
39.5
|
2.6
|
|
2010
|
Lisa Koll
|
Iowa State
|
53.4
|
10.5
|
|
2011
|
Jessica Beard*
|
Texas A&M
|
49.2
|
7.5
|
|
2012
|
Brianne Theisen
|
Oregon
|
65.7
|
41.5
|
|
2013
|
Kori Carter
|
Stanford
|
53.5
|
26.3
|
|
2014
|
Laura Roesler*
|
Oregon
|
41.7
|
7.6
|
|
2015
|
Demi Payne
|
Stephen F. Austin
|
55.3
|
31.1
|
|
2016
|
Keturah Orji
|
Georgia
|
44.8
|
9.2
|
|
2017
|
Raevyn Rogers*
|
Oregon
|
35.5
|
2.5
|
|
2018
|
Maggie Ewen
|
Arizona State
|
37.8
|
4.4
|
|
2019
|
Sha’Carri Richardson*
|
LSU
|
61.7
|
31.7
|
Since 2009, the women’s winner of The Bowerman Fan Vote has won the award five times: Jenny Barringer in 2009, Jessica Beard in 2011, Laura Roesler in 2014, Raevyn Rogers in 2017 and Sha’Carri Richardson in 2019.
Topping the 50-percent barrier hasn’t been a problem on the women’s side as that metric has been breached five times. Brianne Theisen holds the all-time record of 65.7 percent, while Richardson earned 61.7 percent in 2019 and Demi Payne hauled in 55.3 percent of votes in 2015. Kori Carter and Lisa Koll brought in 53.5 percent and 53.4 percent of the vote in 2013 and 2010, respectively.
Four women won the Fan Vote by more than a 25-percent margin: Theisen in 2012, Richardson in 2019, Payne in 2015 and Carter in 2013. The widest margin of victory in the history of The Bowerman Fan Vote belongs to Theisen, who won by a staggering 41.5 percent nine years ago.
Fan voting for The Bowerman in 2021 is open until next Tuesday, July 20, at 1 pm CT.
Men’s finalists are JuVaughn Harrison of LSU, Cole Hocker of Oregon and Turner Washington of Arizona State. Women’s finalists are Tara Davis of Texas, Tyra Gittens of Texas A&M and Athing Mu of Texas A&M.
