June 23, 2015
NEW ORLEANS – The Bowerman Watch List Committee has named 10 women as Semifinalists for collegiate track & field’s highest individual honor, The Bowerman Trophy.
The Bowerman Women’s 2015 Semifinalists
(Click student-athletes’ names for biographies & notes)
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The other half joined the list after winning national titles in Eugene. Those five were Emily Sisson, Quanesha Burks, Dezerea Bryant, Shamier Little, and Keturah Orji.
The Committee will now vote those 10 women down to three Finalists; on July 9, the Finalists will be revealed and the voting for the Bowerman winner will begin shortly thereafter.
All 10 women won at least one NCAA title in 2015, all except for Bryant and Prandini were the outdoor conference champions in their event, and five of them set collegiate records in some way shape or form. Here are their 2015 résumés in brief.
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Her teammate Harrison won two national championships in 2015 and came a few tenths shy of winning a third. She won the 60 hurdles indoors, the 100 hurdles outdoors, and took second in the 400H outdoors. Her times in the 100 (12.50) and 60 (7.87) make her the third fastest college woman ever, trailing only Ginnie Powell and Bowerman winner Brianna Rollins in both events, and she is the fifth-fastest collegian ever in the 400H. She won SEC championships in both short hurdles.
The Texas A&M duo of Little and Vaughan made the most of their outdoor-only events. Little went unbeaten in the 400 hurdles and defended her national title in the event. Vaughan did the same in the discus. Both won their events at the SEC outdoor meet; Little also ran a leg on the Aggies’ runner-up 4×400. Little primarily focused on the flat 400 indoors, as she took fourth in the event at the NCAA indoor meet.
Vaughan ends her junior year as the fifth best women’s disc thrower ever, with a PB of 64.52m (211-8) set at this year’s SECs. And Little ends her sophomore year at No. 4 on the 400 hurdles list with her winning time of 53.74 from nationals.
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Arkansas’s Morris and Stephen F. Austin’s Payne shared pole vault honors in historic fashion. Morris has the indoor national title and outdoor national record; Payne has the outdoor national title and indoor national record. They have the eight best outdoor clearances ever (and nine of the best 10) by collegians outdoors–Payne has six of them–led by Morris’s 4.72m (15-5¾). Indoors, it’s roughly the same story. They have nine of the 10 best college heights ever, and all of the top eight. Payne’s 4.75m (15-7) is the record there. Both swept conference titles in the event.
Orji is the third freshman to be named a women’s semifinalist. She broke the American junior record and won SEC titles in the triple jump indoors and out, took second at indoor nationals, and won outdoor nationals. The Georgia Bulldog ranks in the top 10 in-season all time indoors and out. Her mark of 13.98m (45-10½) makes her the No. 10 indoor performer, while her winning mark of 14.15m (46-5¼) at outdoor nationals ties her for the fourth best performer ever.
In two national meets this year, Prandini scored forty-nine total points. At indoor nationals, she won the long jump, took fourth in the 60, and finished runner-up in the 200. On her home track at outdoor nationals, she won the 100 and took second in the long jump and 200. Her twenty-six points outdoors were tied for the third most in meet history and helped Oregon win its first team title in thirty years. She ranks in the top 10 all time indoors in the 60 (7.15) and 200 (22.52) and in the top five all time outdoors in the 100 (10.92) and 200 (22.21). Prandini’s time in the 100–from the Mt. SAC Relays–is the fastest ever run by a collegian at low altitude in-season.
Providence’s Sisson led the 5000s at indoor and outdoor nationals start to finish and posted historically great times in both seasons. Her 15:12.22 at the Big East meet is the collegiate indoor record (for a 200m track) and her 31:38.03 10k at Stanford is the fourth best ever by a collegian.
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.
Oregon’s Laura Roesler and Texas A&M’s Deon Lendore 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, World Champion and decathlon world-record holder Ashton Eaton (2010), 10,000-meter Olympic silver medalist Galen Rupp (2009), 2011 IAAF World Champion at 1500 meters Jenny Simpson (2009), 2013 100-meter hurdles World Champion Brianna Rollins (2013) and 2012 Olympic high jump bronze medalist Derek Drouin (2013).
In total, the winners from the award’s first five years have won three Olympic Medals, two World Championships and six World Championships medals. When considering finalists for the award, 13 individuals have earned a combined seven Olympic medals, four World Championships and 17 World Championships medals.
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.
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