2015 Men’s Bowerman Trophy Finalists Announced

 

July 8, 2015  

NEW ORLEANS – Pole vaulter Shawn Barber of Akron, distance runner Edward Cheserek of Oregon, and jumper Marquis Dendy of Florida were announced Wednesday as men’s Finalists for The Bowerman Trophy, collegiate track & field’s highest individual honor.
Following their exceptional indoor and outdoor track & field campaigns in 2014-15, these three men were selected to travel to San Antonio, Texas, for the presentation of The Bowerman Trophy on December 17 in a live-streamed award show as part of the USTFCCCA Convention at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa.
The announcement from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) and the Bowerman Advisory Board was made Wednesday afternoon via webstream. The video can be watched in its entirety below.

Only one man can claim the 2015 Bowerman Trophy, and in doing so he’ll join a very elite group of former winners. Among those who have won the award over the past six years are Olympic Champion/world-record-holding decathlete Ashton Eaton, Olympic silver medalist distance runner Galen Rupp and Olympic bronze-medal winning high jumper Derek Drouin.
With a combined 10 national titles and a collegiate record between this year’s finalists, joining that group won’t be easy.
Barber turned in one of the greatest pole vault campaigns in collegiate history, winning two NCAA titles and topping the indoor collegiate record on four different occasions. His fourth and final collegiate record came at the NCAA Indoor Championships, where he cleared 19-4¾ (5.91m) to win the national title.
He matched that height outdoors at the Texas Relays to for the second-highest clearance in outdoor collegiate history. Those two clearances headlined an overall season that saw him 13 different times equal or surpass heights of 19 feet.
The 2015 season was all about winning NCAA titles for Cheserek. Indoors, he won the mile title and ran anchor for the winning distance medley relay, and outdoors he swept both the 5000- and 10,000-meter national titles. He also finished runner-up indoors at 3000 meters to teammate Eric Jenkins.
In winning both the mile title indoors and the 10,000 meters crown outdoors, he demonstrated the range that has made him the top distance runner in the collegiate ranks. He ran three sub-four-minute miles during the indoor season, including two at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Dendy won more individual NCAA titles than anyone in the country this season, sweeping the long jump and the triple jump at both the indoor and outdoor national championships.
His triple jumping in 2015 was particularly historic. With an NCAA indoor-winning jump of 57 feet (17.37m) for the No. 3 jump in college indoor history, he became the first collegian to jump 57 feet or farther indoors since 1986, and his winning outdoor leap, a windy  58-1½ (17.71m), was the third-farthest ever by a collegian under all conditions.
He checked in at No. 7 on the all-time performers list in the indoor long jump with an NCAA winning-leap of 27-2 (8.28m).
Now in the seventh year of The Bowerman Trophy, there are plenty of “firsts” that could be achieved any one of these three men.
– Barber is a first-time finalist not only for Akron, but also for the Mid-American Conference
– Neither Akron nor Florida have produced a Bowerman Trophy winner for either gender
– Never before has a sophomore won The Bowerman Trophy for either gender
– Never before has a horizontal jumps specialist won The Bowerman Trophy for either gender
This year’s winner could also continue several recent trends. Cheserek could be the third man from Oregon and the fourth overall Duck to win the Bowerman Trophy, while Barber could become the third Canadian in the past four seasons to win the men’s Trophy.
Voting to determine both the men’s trophy and women’s trophy – the finalists for which will be announced at 3pm ET on TheBowerman.org – will commence July 27 and conclude August 11.
Fan voting will take place simultaneously on TheBowerman.org. The results will collectively count as one ballot alongside those cast by media members, statisticians, USTFCCCA member coaches and other experts from around the nation.
Finalists were chosen by The Bowerman Advisory Board, a ten-person panel of track & field experts from around the country, based on performances recorded during the 2014 indoor and outdoor track & field seasons. Only performances through the conclusion of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships are eligible for consideration.

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
• Derek Drouin, 2013 men’s winner of The Bowerman
• Deon Lendore, 2014 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
• Brianna Rollins, 2013 women’s winner of The Bowerman
• Laura Roesler, 2014 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 27 and will last until Tuesday, August 11. An independent accounting firm will collect, tabulate, and certify final results and will keep the result secret until the envelope is opened December 17 at The Bowerman Trophy Award Show.

THE BOWERMAN PAST FINALISTS & AWARD HISTORY

MEN
2009
Winner: Galen Rupp, Oregon
Finalist: Ashton Eaton, Oregon
Finalist: German Fernandez, Oklahoma State; Riverbank HS, Ca
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; Taft HS, Woodland Hills, CA 
  Finalist: Christian Taylor, Florida
2012
Winner: Cam Levins, Southern Utah
Finalist: Tony McQuay, Florida
Finalist: Andrew Riley, Illinois
2013
Winner: Derek Drouin, Indiana
Finalist: Lawi Lalang, Arizona
Finalist: Julian Wruck, UCLA
2014
Winner: Deon Lendore, Texas A&M
Finalist: Edward Cheserek, Oregon
Finalist: Lawi Lalang, Arizona
WOMEN
2009
Winner: Jenny Barringer/Simpson, 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
2013
Winner: Brianna Rollins, Clemson
Finalist: Brigetta Barrett, Arizona
Finalist: Kori Carter, Stanford; Claremont HS
2014
Winner: Laura Roesler, Oregon
Finalist: Sharika Nelvis, Arkansas State
Finalist: Courtney Okolo, Texas
Combined Genders
Multiple Finalists by School (2009-2015)
Does not include 2015 women’s finalists.
Oregon (8): Ashton Eaton (2)*, Galen Rupp*, Laura Roesler*, Brianne Theisen, Andrew Wheating, Edward Cheserek (2)
Arizona (4): Brigetta Barrett (2), Lawi Lalang (2)
Florida (3): Tony McQuay, Christian Taylor, Marquis Dendy
Texas A&M (3): Jessica Beard*, Porscha Lucas, Deon Lendore*
LSU (2): Kimberlyn Duncan (2)*
Texas (2): Courtney Okolo, Destinee Hooker
* 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 (16):
OREGON – 8
ARIZONA – 4
ARIZONA STATE – 1
STANFORD – 1
UCLA – 1
WASHINGTON STATE – 1
SEC (7):
FLORIDA – 3
LSU – 2
ARKANSAS – 1
TEXAS A&M – 1
Big 12 (7):
TEXAS – 2
TEXAS A&M – 2
COLORADO – 1 (Barringer, 2009)
IOWA STATE – 1
OKLAHOMA STATE – 1
ACC (3):
CLEMSON – 1
FLORIDA STATE – 1
VIRGINIA TECH – 1
Big Ten (2):ILLINOIS – 1
INDIANA – 1
One Each:
Conference USA (UTEP), Summit League (Southern Utah), Sun Belt (Arkansas State), Mid-American (Akron)

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.

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 9,000 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.