March Bowerman Men's Watch List Released

February 27, 2013

NEW ORLEANS – As the battle for the NCAA Indoor Championships is beginning to heat up, so too is the competition for collegiate track & field’s highest honor, The Bowerman Trophy. The men’s Bowerman Watch List for March, released Wednesday, includes numerous collegiate leaders, world leaders, a collegiate all-time record holder and the owner of an all-time heptathlon world-best.

Four student-athletes made their 2013 Watch List debut in Florida’s Marquis Dendy, Texas A&M’s Deon Lendore, Tulsa’s Chris O’Hare and Washington’s Jeremy Taiwo.

The 10 Watch Listers combined the collegiate lead in a total of nine events, and took home a combined 11 individual conference championships this past weekend.

Dendy’s inclusion on the Watch List makes him the sixth Gator men’s student-athlete to make an appearance – joining a storied group that includes Olympians Jeff Demps, Will Claye, Tony McQuay and Christian Taylor. No other program has had more than three student-athletes named to the men’s Watch List, an honor shared by Arkansas, Florida State, Oklahoma and Texas A&M. This also marks the 50th individual appearance by a Florida Gator on the Watch List, most of any school.

O’Hare’s and Taiwo’s addition to the List gives Tulsa and Washington, respectively, their first appearance on the men’s Watch List.

Full synopses of each student-athletes’ accomplishments during the 2012-13 season can be found below.

THE BOWERMAN OFFICIAL WATCH LIST, MARCH 2013
(Updated February 27, 2013. Listed in alphabetical order by last name.)

NAME YEAR SCHOOL EVENTS HOMETOWN
Marquis Dendy SO Florida Jumps Middletown, Del.
Derek Drouin RS SR Indiana Jumps/Cmb. Events Corunna, Ontario
Tim Glover SR Illinois State Javelin Normal, Ill.
Kennedy Kithuka JR Texas Tech Distance Thika, Kenya
Erik Kynard SR Kansas State High Jump Toledo, Ohio
Lawi Lalang JR Arizona Distance Eldoret, Kenya
Deon Lendore SO Texas A&M Sprints Arima, Trinidad & Tobago
Chris O’Hare SR Tulsa Distance Edinburgh, Scotland
Jeremy Taiwo SR Washington Combined Events Renton, Wash.
Alexander Ziegler SR Virginia Tech Throws Dischingen, Germany



QUICKLY – THE WATCH LIST
MARQUIS DENDY, FLORIDA
This Season: Recorded the best collegiate long jump mark of 2013 with a 27-1 (8.25m) in winning the SEC Individual Championship in the event. The jump makes him the ninth-best performer in collegiate history. He surpassed 27 feet twice in the competition, and recorded another just a quarter of an inch shy. He is also ranked fourth in DI in the triple jump at 53-3¾ (16.25m). He is the only collegiate jumper to surpass 27 feet this season, and leads all collegians by more than half a foot.

DEREK DROUIN, INDIANA
This Season: Cleared a then-nation-leading 7-7¼ (2.32m) in the high jump at the Hoosier Hills Open, good for the tenth-best clearance in collegiate history. Currently No. 2 among collegians in the high jump this season. Set the all-time world-best in the heptathlon high jump with a clearance of 7-6½ (2.30m). Won the Big Ten title in the high jump with a mark of 7-5 (2.26m) and finished third in the heptathlon (5,817) with the eighth-best collegiate score this season. Has won his past six indoor high jump events against collegians dating back to the 2011-12 season.

TIM GLOVER, ILLINOIS STATE
This Season: Has not competed in 2012-13.
Last Season: Was a Bowerman semifinalist in 2012. Won both the 2011 and 2012 NCAA javelin individual championships. Threw a career-best 268-0 (81.70m) at the 2012 NCAA Outdoor Championships to make him the fourth-best American javelin thrower of 2012 and the mark was the best by a collegian during the collegiate season. Was named the 2012 USTFCCCA Male Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year. Won a gold medal in the javelin at the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Under-23 championships in 2012, and finished sixth at the 2012 U.S. Olympics Team Trials.

KENNEDY KITHUKA, TEXAS TECH
This Season: Has gone undefeated in 11 consecutive individual races dating back to cross country season. Ran the nation’s fastest time at 5000 meters in 13:26.65 in a solo effort at the Tyson Invitational – more than 10 seconds faster than the next-best time. Ran the nation’s third-fastest 3000 at the Meyo Invitational in 7:50.26. Is a member of the 11th-ranked DMR team. Won 2013 Big 12 individual titles at both 3000 and 5000 meters.
Cross Country: Won the 2012 NCAA DI Cross Country Championship in his first season at Texas Tech after transferring from Wayland Baptist University. Went undefeated in seven meets in 2012 en route to Big 12 and Mountain Regional championships and set four course records, including a 28:31.3 at the NCAA National Championship Meet at the E.P. Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville, Ky. Became the first individual men’s cross country champion in Texas Tech history. Claimed 11 individual NAIA National Championships in three track & field seasons and two cross country seasons at Wayland Baptist.

ERIK KYNARD, KANSAS STATE
This Season: Leads the nation in the high jump with a mark of 7-7¾ (2.33m), set at the KSU Open, tying his indoor career-best and No. 3 all-time collegiate mark. Has won each of his five events this season and 24 of his past 26 events – indoors and outdoors – against collegians dating back to the 2010-11 season. Claimed the 2013 Big 12 high jump individual title with a mark of 7-7 (2.31m), defeating the field by more than five inches. Has cleared heights of 7-6 or higher in four of his five events this season.

LAWI LALANG, ARIZONA
This Season: Appears on the Bowerman Watch List for the 11th time, most among all active student-athletes and fifth all-time. Ran the third-fastest indoor mile in collegiate history when he finished fifth overall and second among collegians at the Millrose Games with a 3:54.56. Became the third-fastest performer in the 3000 in collegiate history when he clocked a solo 7:42.79 at the Razorback Invitational to win by 15 seconds over the then-No. 2 performer in DI.

DEON LENDORE, TEXAS A&M
This Season: Ran the world’s fastest time at 400 meters in 2013 with a 45.15 in the prelims of the SEC Championships 400, and won the finals in 45.23 – this year’s second-fastest time in the world. His 45.15 stands as the sixth-best time in indoor collegiate history. Ran a then-world-leading 45.91 in his season debut at the Texas A&M Triangular. Ran the anchor leg of the SEC Championship 4×400 relay, coming from behind to take the title on the final straightaway with a 44.51 split and recorded the fifth-fastest time in collegiate history at 3:04.18. Has won all three finals at 400 meters this season.

CHRIS O’HARE, TULSA
This Season: Made the most of his 2013 indoor debut, breaking the collegiate indoor mile record by a second and a half with a 3:52.98 at the Millrose Games, and running the second-fastest all-conditions collegiate mile. Finished fourth in the Millrose Wanamaker Mile in the same race that featured three 2012 Olympians ahead of him and the third- and fourth-fastest indoor miles in collegiate history behind him. He also set the collegiate indoor record in the 1500 with an en route time of 3:37.25. Won Conference USA individual titles in the 800 and mile, and ran a leg of the conference championship distance medley relay.

JEREMY TAIWO, WASHINGTON
This Season: Scored a collegiate-leading and then-world-leading 6,156 in the heptathlon at the Boise State Team Challenge, including a then-all-time world best clearance of 7-4½ (2.25m) in the heptathlon high jump. Ranked as the third-best collegiate performer in the heptathlon in history, and his score was the fifth-best in collegiate history. Competing for the first time since 2011 outdoor season because of injury.

ALEXANDER ZIEGLER, VIRGINIA TECH
This Season: Won the ACC weight throw individual title with a nation-leading mark of 77-8¾ (23.69m), winning the event by more than eight feet. His throw places him eighth on the all-time collegiate performers list. Each of his five legal attempts at the ACC Championships were measured farther than 75-6, and all would have given him the collegiate lead. Has won eight consecutive weight throw and hammer throw events against collegians dating back to the 2012 outdoor season.

ALSO RECEIVING MENTION
NAME YEAR SCHOOL EVENTS HOMETOWN
Harry Adams SR Auburn Sprints Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Shawn Barber FR Akron Pole Vault Kingwood, Texas
Mike Berry JR Oregon Sprints Seattle, Wash.
Jordan Clarke RS SR Arizona State Throws Anchorage, Ala.

ABOUT THE BOWERMAN
The Bowerman, which debuted in 2009, is presented annually by the USTFCCCA to the most outstanding male and female collegiate track & field athletes in the nation.

Southern Utah’s Cam Levins and LSU’s Kimberlyn Duncan are the reigning winners of The Bowerman, which is named for legendary Oregon track & field and cross country coach Bill Bowerman.

Past winners include Olympic gold medalist and decathlon world-record holder Ashton Eaton (2010), 10,000-meter Olympic silver medalist Galen Rupp (2009), and 2011 IAAF World Champion at 1500 meters, Jenny Simpson (2009).

Bowerman served the sport of track and field in numerous ways. His leadership in the USTFCCCA’s predecessor organization, the National Collegiate Track Coaches Association, and his contributions to NCAA track and field and the running community as a whole are among his many lasting legacies.

For more information on The Bowerman, the award, the trophy and Bill Bowerman himself, visit TheBowerman.org.

ABOUT THE USTFCCCA
The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) is a non-profit professional organization representing cross country and track & field coaches of all levels. The organization represents over 8,000 coaching members encompassing 94% of all NCAA track & field programs (DI, DII, and DIII) and includes members representing the NAIA as well as a number of state high school coaches associations. The USTFCCCA serves as an advocate for cross country and track & field coaches, providing a leadership structure to assist the needs of a diverse membership, serving as a lobbyist for coaches’ interests, and working as a liaison between the various stakeholders in the sports of cross country and track & field.




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Kyle Terwillegar

U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association

Communications Assistant

1100 Poydras St., Suite 1750

New Orleans, LA 70163

(O) 504-599-8905 (F) 504-599-8909

Email: kyle@ustfccca.org

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