Thursday, April 08, 2010

UNDERCLASSMEN DEMPS AND TATE ARE NEW ADDITIONS TO THE BOWERMAN WATCH

Speedsters from Florida and Mississippi State now watched closely by The Bowerman voters



April 7, 2010



NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced on Wednesday the fourth update of the official watch list for The Bowerman as selected by The Bowerman Men’s Watch Committee. Florida’s Jeff Demps and Mississippi State’s Tavaris Tate are new additions to the ten names that comprise The Bowerman watch list.



Demps, just a sophomore, clocked a world-leading 10.11 in winning the 100 meters at the Florida Relays last weekend. Tate, just a freshman, is the co-world leader in the 400, having posted a 44.86 in distance so far this season. During the indoor season, Demps won the NCAA Indoor title in the 60 while Tate won a world title as part of Team USA’s 4x400-meter relay team.



This group of ten on The Bowerman Watch List is responsible for four world-leading marks, six American-leading marks, and eight collegiate-leading marks so far this outdoor season.



The Bowerman Advisory Board appointed four of its members to comprise The Bowerman Men’s Watch Committee and another four of its members to make up The Bowerman Women’s Watch Committee. The committee will release its next update on Wednesday, May 5. The three men and three women finalists will be named on July 13. Award winners will be announced at the USTFCCCA Annual Convention, held December 13-16 in San Antonio, Texas.



For more information on The Bowerman, the award, the recently-debuted trophy, and Bill Bowerman himself, visit TheBowerman.org. Keep up with Bowerman candidates on the USTFCCCA’s weekly results page (http://www.ustfccca.org/weekly-results) and by following the organization’s twitter feed twitter.com/TheBowerman.



THE BOWERMAN OFFICIAL WATCH LIST, 2010 MEN

(updated April 7, 2010, listed in alphabetical order)

NAME
YEAR
SCHOOL
EVENTS
HOMETOWN
HIGH SCHOOL/PREVIOUS

Jeshua Anderson
JR
Washington State
Hurdles
Woodland Hills, Calif.
Taft HS


Ronnie Ash
JR
Oklahoma
Hurdles
Raleigh, N.C.
Knightdale HS/Bethune-Cookman

Jeff Demps
FR/SO
Florida
Sprints
Winter Garden, Fla.
South Lake HS

Ashton Eaton
SR
Oregon
Combined Events
Bend, Ore.
Mountain View HS

German Fernandez
SO
Oklahoma State
Distance
Riverbank, Calif.
Riverbank HS


Torrin Lawrence
SO
Georgia
Sprints
Jacksonville, Fla.
Andrew Jackson HS

David McNeill
SR
Northern Arizona
Distance
Melbourne, Australia
Xavier College

Tavaris Tate
FR
Mississippi State
Sprints
Starkville, Miss.
Starkville HS

Christian Taylor
SO
Florida
Jumps
Fayetteville, Ga.
Sandy Creek HS

Ryan Whiting
SR
Arizona State
Throws
Harrisburg, Pa.
Central Dauphin HS









Also Receiving Mention



NAME
YEAR
SCHOOL
EVENTS
HOMETOWN

Aaron Braun
SR (ind.)
Adams State
Distance
Fort Collins, Colo.

Sam Chelanga
RS JR
Liberty
Distance
Nairobi, Kenya

Charles Clark
SR
Florida State
Sprints
Virginia Beach, Va.

Will Claye
SO
Oklahoma
Jumps
Phoenix, Ariz.

Jason Colwick
SR
Rice
Pole Vault
San Marcos, Texas

Lee Emanuel
SR
New Mexico
Distance
Hastings, England

Ricky Flynn
SR
Lynchburg
Distance
Gaithersburg, Va.

Ryan Foster
JR
Penn State
Mid-Distance
Tasmania, Australia

Ramon Gittens
JR
St. Augustine's
Sprints

Walter Henning
JR
LSU
Throws
Kings Park, N.Y.

Tabarie Henry
JR
Texas A&M
Sprints
U.S. Virgin Islands

Trindon Holliday
SR (ind.)
LSU
Sprints
Zachary, La.

Bryce Lamb
FR
Texas Tech
Jumps
Chandler, Ariz.

Ngonidzashe Makusha
JR
Florida State
Jumps
Zimbabwe

Curtis Mitchell
JR
Texas A&M
Sprints
Dayton Beach, Fla.

Kurt Roberts
JR
Ashland
Throws
Lancaster, Ohio

Scott Roth
JR
Washington
Pole Vault
Granite Bay, Calif.


Josh Scott
JR
St. Augustine's
Sprints

Ramon Sparks
JR
Abilene Christian
Jumps
Kansas City, Mo.

Delannie Spriggs
SR
Salisbury
Sprints
Owings, Md.

Andrew Wheating
SR
Oregon
Distance
Norwich, Vt.






Jeshua Anderson, Jr., Washington State,

Hurdles, Woodland Hills, Calif., Taft HS



OUTDOOR: Anderson kicked off his outdoor campaign by winning the Stanford Invite 400-meter hurdles in a season best 49.64, a time that’s No. 2 in the collegiate ranks this season … Anderson captured the Texas Relays title in the same event, running 49.77.



INDOOR: Anderson notched a 46.38 indoor personal best over 400 meters in earning runner-up honors at the MSPF Championships, a mark that ranks No. 10 in the NCAA this season … Anderson, the 400-meter hurdle standout in the outdoor season, put together a solid 2010 indoor campaign and tallied a season best of 8.04 in the short-distance hurdles.







Ronnie Ash, Jr., Oklahoma,

Hurdles, Raleigh, N.C., Knightdale HS/Bethune-Cookman



OUTDOOR: Ash won the 110-meter hurdles at the Texas Relays in a wind-aided 13.50, the best time clocked by a collegian in all conditions this year.



INDOOR: Ash captured his second-straight 60-meter hurdle NCAA crown this indoor season, joining Antwon Hicks of Mississippi (2004-05), Terrence Trammell of South Carolina (1999-2000), Tony Li of Washington State (1990-91, 55mH), Renaldo Nehemiah of Maryland (1978-79, 55mH), and Danny Smith of Florida State (1974-75, 55mH) as back-to-back high hurdle champs … Ash notched his personal best and collegiate-leading time of the season in the preliminary round of the NCAA Championships at 7.55 … Ash blazed a 7.59 in winning his first Big 12 Championship in Ames … Ash’s performance not only helped the Sooners to a Big 12 team title, but it also placed him among the all-time top 10 collegians in the event.











Jeff Demps, Fr./So., Florida,

Sprints, Winter Garden, Fla., South Lake HS



OUTDOOR: Demps took the 100-meter dash title at the Florida Relays by running a world-leading time of 10.11 … also at the Florida Relays, Demps anchored the Gator 4x100-meter relay squad to an American- and collegiate-leading time of 38.93.



INDOOR: Won the NCAA Indoor 60-meter title in 6.57 seconds and clocked 6.60 or better on three occasions during the season … his 6.56 in the preliminaries of the 60 meters was the fastest time by a collegian during the season … Demps placed second at the SEC Championships at 60 meters and was the winner of the Tyson Invitational 60.




Ashton Eaton, Sr., Oregon,

Combined Events, Bend, Ore., Mountain View HS



OUTDOOR: Eaton scored 8,310 points in his first decathlon of the season at the Texas Relays for a new personal best and the collegiate and American lead in the event.



INDOOR: Eaton not only won the NCAA heptathlon title for the second-straight year, but he did it in world-record fashion … Scoring 6,499 points, Eaton reset what was Dan O’Brien’s 1993 record of 6,476 with five new personal bests over the seven-event bonanza … In January, Eaton topped what was Trey Hardee’s collegiate record with a 6,256 tally … Eaton would better each of his marks from that January weekend to claim the world record in March … Only a few hours after breaking the world record, Eaton returned to the NCAA meet to run the second leg of the Ducks 4x400 and helped the team to a sixth-place national finish … At the MPSF Championships in Seattle, Eaton claimed scoring positions in the pole vault (fourth) and as a member of the Ducks’ 4x400-meter relay team (second).













German Fernandez, So., Oklahoma State,

Distance, Riverbank, Calif., Riverback HS



OUTDOOR: Has yet to begin outdoor season.



INDOOR: Fernandez clocked a 7:51.02 (OT) over 3000 meters at the Husky Invitational for the third-best time run among collegians this season … Fernandez qualified for the Big 12 final of the mile run, but was unable to finish … Fernandez did not participate at the NCAA Indoor Championships.











Torrin Lawrence, So., Georgia,

Sprints, Jacksonville, Fla., Andrew Jackson HS



OUTDOOR: Has yet to compete in his principle event, the 400 meters, yet this season.



INDOOR: Lawrence had his dream indoor season conclude with his first NCAA title as he won the day with a 45.23 clocking over the 400-meter distance … Lawrence made headlines all season … The sophomore shocked the country with a 32.32, 300-meter race at the Hokie Invitational for an all-time collegiate best in late January … For an encore, Lawrence ran a collegiate-leading 45.03 at the Tyson Invitational over 400 meters to now rank No. 5 all-time in the world indoors and as the No. 3 collegian all time … Lawrence has also been responsible for splits of 45.00 and 45.04 for the Bulldog 4x400-meter relay team … Lawrence won the SEC 400m title in a meet record of 45.10 to become only the third person in history to run under 45.10 indoors twice (Michael Johnson, Danny Everett).













David McNeill, Sr., Northern Arizona,

Distance, Melbourne, Australia, Xavier College



OUTDOOR: Ran to a collegiate-leading time of 13:25.63 in the 5000 meters to win the Stanford Invitational.



INDOOR: McNeill won the NCAA title in the 5000 meters with a the collegiate-season’s best time of 13:36.41 in holding off Liberty’s Sam Chelanga … McNeill nearly also won the 3000-meter title, but was outkicked to the finish by Arkansas’ Dorian Ulrey … Earlier in the season, McNeill claimed two collegiate-leading marks in the distance events on back-to-back weekends … in mid-February, McNeill ran to a 7:47.52 (OT) win over 3000 meters at the Husky Classic in Seattle, marking the best time ever run by a collegian on an oversized track … the following weekend, McNeill claimed an altitude-hindered 14:17.92 clocking over 5000 meters for his second collegiate leader of the season (when converted to 13:39.32) … McNeill also picked up Big Sky titles in the 3000-meter run and the DMR during the indoor season.











Tavaris Tate, Fr., Mississippi State,

Sprints, Starkville, Miss., Starkville HS



OUTDOOR: Opened the outdoor season with a blazing 44.86 one-lapper at the Alabama Relays for the shared-best mark in the world so far this year and the best by American or collegian for the 2010 outdoor season.



INDOOR: Although just a newcomer to the collegiate ranks, Tate earned a world title as part of Team USA’s 4x400-meter relay team in Doha … Tate ran the third leg for the American squad in both the preliminary and final rounds at the IAAF World Indoor Championships to win world gold and help the U.S. to a world-best time of 3:03.40 … at the USATF Championships in Albuquerque, Tate finished fourth overall and ran the fastest qualifying time of 45.89.











Christian Taylor, So., Florida,

Jumps, Fayetteville, Ga., Sandy Creek HS



OUTDOOR: Hasn’t even competed in his known-for events yet this season, but is already part of a world-leading performance in the 4x400-meter relay … Taylor ran the third leg to help the Gators to a Florida Relays win and a time of 3:00.31.



INDOOR: Taylor claimed his second-straight NCAA indoor triple jump title with an American- and collegiate-best for the 2010 indoor season of 56-4½ (17.18m) … Taylor’s best mark in the NCAA meet was preceded by his third-round performance that was just a half-inch shorter … Taylor also used a season’s best of 26-¼ (7.93m) in the long jump to place second nationally … In total, Taylor scored 18 team points for the Gators who went on to win their first NCAA indoor crown … Earlier in the season, Taylor won his second-straight SEC triple jump title and helped the Gators 4x400 to the conference crown.







Ryan Whiting, Sr., Arizona State,

Throws, Harrisburg, Pa., Central Dauphin HS



OUTDOOR: The Sun Devil opened his 2010 season with a world-leader in the shot put at his home Arizona State Invitational, notching a mark of 69-8¾ (21.25m).



INDOOR: Whiting won his third-consecutive NCAA indoor shot put title, becoming the first to grab three straight since UTEP’s Hans Hogland (1973-74-75) … Whiting matched his collegiate-leading season best with a 70-7¼ (21.52m) toss in the fourth round at the NCAA Championships and ultimately defeated his competition by over seven feet … Whiting finished the season No. 3 in the world standings and as the second-best performer in America … Whiting finished second at the USATF Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, earning him a berth on the IAAF Indoor World Championship team … Unfortunately, the world championship in Doha, Qatar, conflicted with the NCAA Indoor Championship.















---

Tom Lewis

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

Communications Manager

1100 Poydras St., Suite 1750

New Orleans, LA 70163

(O) 504-599-8904 (F) 504-599-8909

Email: tom@ustfccca.org

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