Barrett, Carter, Rollins Selected as 2013 Women's Finalists for The Bowerman

July 11, 2013

NEW ORLEANS – A trio of collegiate record holders make up the class of three women’s finalists for the 2013 The Bowerman Trophy, announced Wednesday by the Bowerman Advisory Committee. Arizona high jumper Brigetta Barrett, Stanford hurdler Kori Carter and Clemson hurdler Brianna Rollins are the three finalists up for consideration as the most outstanding women’s collegiate track & field student-athlete of the 2013 season.

Barrett, Carter and Rollins were the three finalists selected from the 10 semifinalists by the Committee to attend December’s U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Convention in Orlando, where the 2013 winner will be announced during The Bowerman Ceremony. The men’s finalists were announced Wednesday.

Season Review PDFs: Brigetta Barrett | Kori Carter | Brianna Rollins

2013 The Bowerman Women’s Finalists Announcement Video


2013 The Bowerman – Women’s Finalists from USTFCCCA on Vimeo.

Barrett — also a finalist for the 2012 award a year ago — claimed both the indoor and outdoor NCAA Division I high jump titles for the third consecutive year, setting a new collegiate record during the outdoor season; Carter won a title in the 400 hurdles in a collegiate-record time after dominating Olympic competition all outdoor season; and Rollins bookended her 2013 campaign with a 60 hurdles collegiate record in her first final of the indoor season and a collegiate record in the 100 hurdles at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

The trio emerged from a field of women’s candidates that was exceptionally deep. Not making the trip to Orlando are the defending Bowerman winner Kimberlyn Duncan of LSU, shot put collegiate record holder Tia Brooks of Oklahoma, and three-time NCAA champ Abbey D’Agostino of Dartmouth among many others.

With her appearance as a finalist for the second year in a row, Barrett joins Duncan (2011 and 2012) as the only two-time women’s finalists. Oregon’s Ashton Eaton accomplished that feat on the men’s side in 2009 and 2010.

Just as on the men’s side, the Pac-12 is well-represented by the women finalists, with Barrett and Carter joining with men’s finalists Lawi Lalang of Arizona and Julian Wruck of UCLA to account for two-thirds of the finalists. This continues a larger historical trend of Pac-12 dominance in overall finalists, as the conference now has 12 between both men and women with the next closest being the Big 12 with six total.

The Pac-12 now has had four women’s finalists, second to the Big 12′s five. A winner from the conference by either Carter or Barrett would its first.

Rollins is the second woman from the ACC to be named a finalist for the Bowerman, joining 2010 winner Queen Harrison of Virginia Tech. Only one man from the ACC has been named a finalist, that being 2011 winner Ngoni Makusha of Florida State. Rollins would keep the ACC a perfect 3-for-3 should she win the award.

In the coming weeks, dozens of select media personnel, track & field statisticians, and collegiate administrators will choose the top male and top female as the award winners. In addition, beginning July 29, fans can visit TheBowerman.org to submit their choices as online voting will account for one full vote in the process.

Finalists were chosen by The Bowerman Advisory Board, a ten-person panel of experts in the sport, based on performances recorded during the indoor and outdoor 2013 track & field seasons. Only performances through the conclusion of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships are used in consideration. Notable competitions and results beyond that point are included in their biographies below, but played no part in the selection process.

The winners will be first announced during a ceremony held in conjunction with the USTFCCCA Convention. The finalists and their families will be invited to take part in the special event that will be held at the JW Marriott Grande Lakes in Orlando, Fla., on December 18.



QUICKLY – THE FINALISTS
Brigetta Barrett, Arizona

Courtesy: ArizonaWildcats.com
Year: Senior
Event: High Jump
Hometown: Wappinger’s Falls, N.Y.

Arizona senior Brigetta Barrett closed out her collegiate career on a high note after sweeping both the indoor and outdoor NCAA Division I high jump titles for the third consecutive season and setting the outdoor collegiate record and the all-time dual meet record in the event, all while going unbeaten against collegians in 10 event finals between the indoor and outdoor seasons. She cleared winning heights of 6-3¼ (1.91m) in seven of those finals, and five times took attempts at breaking the collegiate record — succeeding at the Pac-12 Championships with a clearance of 6-6¼ (1.99m).

Her brief four-event indoor season culminated with a season’s-best clearance of 6-4¾ (1.95m) to take the NCAA Division I indoor title by two inches over the nearest competitor. She missed just once through her first seven heights before taking three tries at an indoor collegiate-record 6-6¼ (1.99m), which she did not clear but eventually would during the outdoor season. Her previous season’s best prior to the indoor championships had been a clearance of 6-3¼ (1.91m) in her 2013 debut at the Razorback Team Invitational.

Her outdoor season was one for the record books, as she not only claimed the Division I Outdoor high jump title but also set collegiate and all-time dual meet records along the way with two of the ten best clearances in collegiate history. Just as she did indoors, she took the outdoor Division I title with a winning height of 6-4¾ (1.95m), this time with a bit more drama as she cleared her final height on her third attempt, before taking three tries at a new collegiate record of 6-6¾ (2.00m).

The record she was attempting to usurp was none other than her own, set a month prior at the Pac-12 Championships. After a long build-up featuring 13 heights cleared in one attempt and five others on which she passed, she was successful on her third and final attempt at 6-6¼ (1.99m) to break the previous collegiate record of 6-6 (1.98m) held by Amy Acuff of UCLA (1995) and Kajsa Bergqvist of SMU (1999). She then missed on three attempts at 6-7½ (2.02m).

The collegiate record wasn’t the only all-time mark she took from Acuff, as Barrett cleared 6-4¼ at the Arizona-Arizona State-Northern Arizona tri meet to surpass Acuff’s all-time dual meet high jump record of 6-4 (1.93m) set in 1995. That was also Barrett’s winning height at the Stanford Invitational to launch her 2013 outdoor campaign.

Barrett continued her success at the USA Outdoor Championships, where she cleared a personal-best 6-8¼ (2.04m) to win the national title by nearly five inches. Hers is the highest clearance in the world for 2013.



Kori Carter, Stanford

Courtesy: GoStanford.com
Year: Junior
Events: Hurdles
Hometown: Claremont, Calif.

Stanford’s Kori Carter became a hurdling force to be reckoned with not only at the collegiate level but also on the world stage during her 2013 outdoor campaign, winning an NCAA Division I title in the 400 hurdles in collegiate-record style and finishing runner-up nationally in the 100 hurdles — both against some of the best competition the world has to offer.

She finished undefeated in eight races in the 400 hurdles — five of which came against 2012 Olympic Finalist Georganne Moline of Arizona, who finished fifth on the world stage in London — with two of the four fastest times in collegiate history, and lost just once in five finals in the 100 hurdles. The lone loss came in the NCAA final against collegiate record-holder Brianna Rollins of Clemson.

Carter, whose collegiate best in the 400 hurdles had been 57.10 set two seasons ago, finished her 2013 campaign with an NCAA title in an collegiate-record 53.21, surpassing the previous record of 53.54 set by Sheena Johnson of UCLA in 2004 and becoming just the second woman to dip under 54 seconds during the collegiate season.

A testament to how strong her competition was this season, Moline finished an instant later to become the third woman to dip under 54 during the collegiate season in 53.72, a time that would have won 30 of the 32 400 hurdles NCAA finals ever contested. The next day she finished runner-up in the 100 hurdles in a career-best 12.79.

She won Pac-12 titles in both the 400 and 100 hurdles, with her winning time of 54.21 in the former giving her the second-fastest collegiate history at the time, which now ranks No. 4. That victory was part of a series of victories over Moline. She also defeated the 2012 Olympian on her home track at the Jim Click Shootout at Arizona, at the NCAA West Prelims and twice at the NCAA Finals.

A long hurdler without her signature event during the indoor season, Carter was still able to finish 14th in the 60 hurdles at the NCAA Division I Indoor Championships and ran a 400 leg of Stanford’s DMR team at the meet.

She has signed professionally with Nike and will not return to Stanford for her senior season.




Brianna Rollins, Clemson

Courtesy: ClemsonTigers.com
Year: Junior
Event: Hurdles
Hometown: Miami, Fla.

Clemson hurdler Brianna Rollins ended her final year at the collegiate ranks — she has signed with Nike and will forego her final year of eligibility — the exact same way she started it: with a collegiate record. The Tiger hurdler set the collegiate record in the indoor 60 hurdles in her very first final of the season and ended her campaign with the 100 hurdles collegiate record outdoors en route to an NCAA Division I title in the event.

In total, Rollins’ season featured NCAA DI titles in both the 60 and 100 hurdles; collegiate records in both events, setting it twice in the span of two days in the NCAA Championships 100 hurdles; five of the ten fastest times in collegiate history in the 60 hurdles; three of the seven fastest 100 hurdles all-conditions time in collegiate history; and an unbeaten streak of 17 races between the two events.

She left no doubt who was the best collegiate sprint hurdler of 2013, running away from the finals field to win in a collegiate record 12.39 (+1.7m/s) by .4 of a second — becoming the first collegiate woman to run faster than 12.40 in any conditions.

The time gives her the second-fastest in American history of any race run on U.S. soil, with Gail Devers’ 12.33 in 2000 the only mark better. In overall American history, Rollins is now the fourth-fastest performer. She is also tied for No. 9 on the IAAF all-time world performers list with two others.

The collegiate record she broke? None other than her own, set two days prior in the semifinals in 12.47 (+1.2m/s) to win by nearly half a second over eventual national runner-up Kori Carter of Stanford, who ended up setting a collegiate record of her own in the 400 hurdles. Rollins’ 12.47 surpassed the 12.48 posted by USC’s Ginnie Powell in 2006.

Her indoor season followed a similar arc to her entire 2013 campaign as a whole, winning the Tiger Challenge 60 hurdles in 7.78 to break Powell’s record of 7.84 from 2006. She did not run slower than 7.96 for the remainder of the season, ending with 7.82q and 7.79 performances to win the NCAA Indoor title in the event, giving her the three fastest times in collegiate history.

Following the collegiate season, Rollins signed with Nike and decided to forego her senior year at Clemson. At the USA Championships in her first competition as a professional, Rollins set the American record in the 100 hurdles in 12.26 (+1.2m/s) to win the American title in the event. She is now tied for the third-fastest in the world in the history of the event with Russia’s Ludmila Engquist, who ran an identical time in 1992. Rollins also ran 12.33Qw (+2.3m/s) and 12.30Qw (+2.8m/s) in the quarter finals and semifinals, respectively.




WINNER SELECTION PROCESS
The Bowerman Voters will receive ballots listing each of the finalists and must rank them by first, second and third choice. First-place votes will receive three points, second place will notch two, and third will receive one point. The finalist with the highest point total will be declared the winner.

The Bowerman Voters consist of:

The Bowerman Advisory Board (10 members)
Select media personnel, statisticians, and collegiate administrators
Galen Rupp, 2009 men’s winner of The Bowerman
Ashton Eaton, 2010 men’s winner of The Bowerman
Ngoni Makusha, 2011 men’s winner of The Bowerman
Cam Levins, 2012 men’s winner of The Bowerman
Jenny (Barringer) Simpson, 2009 women’s winner of The Bowerman
Queen Harrison, 2010 women’s winner of The Bowerman
Jessica Beard, 2011 women’s winner of The Bowerman
Kimberlyn Duncan, 2012 women’s winner of The Bowerman
Online voting by the public will constitute one collective vote (ranking of choices will be made by order of total single votes)
Online voting by USTFCCCA members will constitute one collective vote (ranking of choices will be made by order of total single votes)
Paper balloting will conclude in the coming weeks while online voting will begin on Monday, July 29 and will last until Tuesday, August 13. An independent accounting firm will collect, tabulate, and certify final results and will keep the result secret until the envelope is opened in December.



THE BOWERMAN PAST FINALISTS & AWARD HISTORY
MEN

2009
Winner: Galen Rupp, Oregon
Finalist: Ashton Eaton, Oregon
Finalist: German Fernandez, Oklahoma State

2010
Winner: Ashton Eaton, Oregon
Finalist: Andrew Wheating, Oregon
Finalist: Ryan Whiting, Arizona State

2011
Winner: Ngoni Makusha, Florida State
Finalist: Jeshua Anderson, Washington State
Finalist: Christian Taylor, Florida

2012
Winner: Cam Levins, Southern Utah
Finalist: Tony McQuay, Florida
Finalist: Andrew Riley, Illinois

WOMEN

2009
Winner: Jenny Barringer, Colorado
Finalist: Destinee Hooker, Texas
Finalist: Porscha Lucas, Texas A&M

2010
Winner: Queen Harrison, Virginia Tech
Finalist: Lisa Koll, Iowa State
Finalist: Blessing Okagbare, UTEP

2011
Winner: Jessica Beard, Texas A&M
Finalist: Kimberlyn Duncan, LSU
Finalist: Tina Sutej, Arkansas

2012
Winner: Kimberlyn Duncan, LSU
Finalist: Brigetta Barrett, Arizona
Finalist: Brianne Theisen, Oregon

Combined Genders
Multiple Finalists by School (2009-2013)

Oregon (5): Ashton Eaton (2)*, Galen Rupp*, Brianne Theisen, Andrew Wheating
Arizona (3): Brigetta Barrett (2), Lawi Lalang
Texas A&M (2): Jessica Beard*, Porscha Lucas
Florida (2): Tony McQuay, Christian Taylor
LSU (2): Kimberlyn Duncan (2)*
* Previous Winner

All-Time Finalists by Conference
(using conference affiliation for seasons in question, change in affiliation is noted by finalists listed. Includes both men and women.)

Pac-12 (10):
OREGON – 5
ARIZONA – 3
ARIZONA STATE – 1
STANFORD
– 1
UCLA – 1
WASHINGTON STATE – 1

Big 12 (6):
TEXAS A&M – 2
COLORADO – 1 (Barringer, 2009)
IOWA STATE – 1
OKLAHOMA STATE – 1
TEXAS – 1

SEC (5):
FLORIDA – 2
LSU – 2
ARKANSAS – 1

ACC (2):
CLEMSON – 1
FLORIDA STATE – 1
VIRGINIA TECH – 1

Big Ten (2):
ILLINOIS – 1
INDIANA – 1

One Each:
Conference USA (UTEP), Summit League (Southern Utah)



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

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