First Outdoor Bowerman Trophy Watch List Adds Early-Season Standouts

NEW ORLEANS– The competition for the Bowerman Trophy – collegiate track & field’s highest individual honor – remained ruthless as the track & field season moved outside.
Two new men muscled their way onto the first 2015 outdoor Watch List–annnounced Wednesday by the Bowerman Watch List Committee–and eight more remained on the list based on their stellar credentials.

The Bowerman Men’s Watch List April 2015 (Click student-athletes’ names for biographies & notes) NAME YEAR SCHOOL EVENTS HOMETOWN Shawn Barber JR Akron Pole Vault Kingwood, Texas Trayvon Bromell SO Baylor Sprints St. Petersburg, Fla. Edward Cheserek SO Oregon Distance Newark, N.J. Ryan Crouser SR Texas Throws Gresham, Ore. Marquis Dendy SR Florida Jumps Middletown, Del. Eric Jenkins SR Oregon Distance Portsmouth, N.H. Omar McLeod SO Arkansas Hurdles Kingston, Jamaica Anthony Rotich SR UTEP Distance Nairobi, Kenya Garrett Scantling SR Georgia Multis Jacksonville, Florida Michael Stigler SR Kansas Hurdles Canyon, Texas   Also Receiving Votes: JaCorian Duffield (Texas Tech), Edward Kemboi (Iowa State), Deon Lendore (Texas A&M), Michael Lihrman (Wisconsin), Hayden Reed (Alabama), Bralon Taplin (Texas A&M)   Women’s Watch List: Thursday, April 16 Next Men’s Watch List: May 6

Michael Stigler of Kansas and Garrett Scantling of Georgia were the two men to join the List, replacing NCAA indoor champions Michael Lihrman and Edward Kemboi. Both made their first-ever appearance with historically great performances.
Stigler ran 48.44 in the 400 hurdles at the Texas Relays; that’s the fastest NCAA regular-season time since 2011, and the eighth-fastest time ever–in the world–run in the month of March.
Scantling won the Georgia Bulldog Decathlon with 8232 points, which makes him the ninth best collegiate performer ever.

Total Appearances by School School Appearances Athletes Florida 72 9 Arizona 26 2 Oregon 29 6 Texas 26 3 Texas A&M 22 6 Washington State 16 1 Arkansas 16 6

Both of those men are no stranger to brutal losses: in March, Scantling lost the closest hepthathlon in NCAA indoor championships history by two points to Luca Wieland of Minnesota. And last June, Stigler lost the 400 hurdles at outdoor nationals to Nebraska’s Miles Ukaoma after coming into the race with the fastest time in the nation.
Akron vaulter Shawn Barber broke the collegiate pole vault record indoors, and in this young outdoor season, he’s cleared the second best height in NCAA history. Barber won the Texas Relays with a jump of 5.90 meters (19-4¼) and hasn’t lost a vault final since the Longhorn Invitational last May.
Omar McLeod hasn’t raced yet this outdoor season, and the Arkansas hurdler isn’t entered with his Razorback teammates in the Mt. SAC Relays.
Oregon distance runners Eric Jenkins and Edward Cheserek have turned in relatively quiet regional qualifiers, running 29:04 for 10,000 at Stanford and 14:00 in a tri-meet at Hayward Field. In both races, the pair was separated by 0.02 seconds.

Total Appearances by Conference Conference Appearances SEC 146 Pac-12 102 Big 12 78 ACC 37 Big Ten 15 Conference USA 15 Big South 14

Marquis Dendy now has sole possession of the No. 10 spot on the list of all-time most Watch List appearances. The Florida jumper took second in the long jump at the Texas Relays, and made his career debut in the 100 meters at the Florida Relays.
Trayvon Bromell is the only sub-10 man in the NCAA this year; he’s tied for seventh on the descending order list in the 200 and ran a leg on the fifth-ranked 4×100 meter relay. He most recently won the Texas Relays 100 in 9.90 seconds (with a 3.3 meter per second tailwind), and he hasn’t lost a 100 meter final since the 2014 Florida Relays.
Anthony Rotich’s best race of this outdoor season was a 13:31 5000 at Stanford, where he was the second collegiate finisher. The UTEP senior and two-time defending NCAA steeplechase champion has yet to make his steeple debut in 2015, though his 5k time is the second-best by a collegian so far this season.
Stigler, Barber, Dendy, Bromell, Rotich, and Texas thrower Ryan Crouser all competed at the Texas Relays. Crouser’s winning shot put mark of 21.11m (69-3¼) there is the top-ranked shot put mark in Division I. He’s the defending outdoor shot put champ and took second in that event at indoor nationals this year.
Everyone on the List is a senior except for McLeod, Cheserek, and Bromell; those three are sophomores.
High jumper JaCorian Duffield (Texas Tech) and 400 sprinter Bralon Taplin (Texas A&M) received votes for the first time. They’re joined in that category by prior vote-getters Deon Lendore (Texas A&M), who is the reigning Bowerman Trophy winner; Edward Kemboi (Iowa State); Michael Lihrman (Wisconsin); and Hayden Reed (Alabama).
The next men’s Watch List will be released on May 6; the women’s Watch List will be released tomorrow.

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 four 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.