The Bowerman Award is presented to the most outstanding track or field athlete, based on performance during the athlete's indoor and outdoor season. Despite winning three NCAA titles (1500 and 5000 outdoors, and anchoring the DMR indoors) and finishing second in a fourth NCAA final (3000 meters indoors, where she trailed the winner by less than 1/5th of a second), Villanova's Sheila Reid was left off the list of three finalists. Since the USTFCCCA statement below cites the finalists' post-NCAA efforts at the USATF championships (which are not officially part of the NCAA-based Bowerman criteria), it is worth noting that Reid herself also enjoyed post-NCAA "professional" success: in June she returned to her native Canada and won the national title in the 1500, defeating two World Championship "A" standard PR runners. Counting her NCAA Cross Country individual title in November, over a six-month period, Reid won three NCAA individual titles, one national (Canadian) individual title, two NCAA team/relay titles, and an NCAA runner-up medal. Not good enough, however, to become a Bowerman finalist. Such is the quality of the achievements of these three women.
Here is the press release from the USTFCCCA. For more details, click the title of this post to go to the USTFCCCA website.:
Women's Finalists for The Bowerman are Beard, Duncan, Sutej
July 14, 2011
NEW ORLEANS – The Bowerman Advisory Board in conjunction with the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced on Thursday the three women’s finalists for the highest honor given to collegiate track & field student-athletes – The Bowerman. Representing the best in collegiate track & field during the 2011 seasons, the finalists are Texas A&M senior Jessica Beard, LSU sophomore Kimberlyn Duncan, and Arkansas junior Tina Sutej.
Finalists were chosen by the ten-person Bowerman Advisory Board based on performances recorded during the indoor and outdoor 2011 track & field seasons. Only performances through the conclusion of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships are used in consideration.
The award, in its third year of existence, will be presented in a ceremony at the USTFCCCA Convention on December 14 at the JW Marriott Hill Country, San Antonio, Texas. John Anderson, ESPN SportsCenter anchor and co-host of ABC’s Wipeout, will host the evening’s festivities for the second-straight year. The men’s finalists are Jeshua Anderson (Washington State), Ngoni Makusha (Florida State), and Christian Taylor (Florida).
Women’s Finalists for The Bowerman are Beard, Duncan, Sutej
July 14, 2011
NEW ORLEANS – The Bowerman Advisory Board in conjunction with the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced on Thursday the three women’s finalists for the highest honor given to collegiate track & field student-athletes – The Bowerman. Representing the best in collegiate track & field during the 2011 seasons, the finalists are Texas A&M senior Jessica Beard, LSU sophomore Kimberlyn Duncan, and Arkansas junior Tina Sutej.
Finalists were chosen by the ten-person Bowerman Advisory Board based on performances recorded during the indoor and outdoor 2011 track & field seasons. Only performances through the conclusion of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships are used in consideration.
The award, in its third year of existence, will be presented in a ceremony at the USTFCCCA Convention on December 14 at the JW Marriott Hill Country, San Antonio, Texas. John Anderson, ESPN SportsCenter anchor and co-host of ABC’s Wipeout, will host the evening’s festivities for the second-straight year. The men’s finalists are Jeshua Anderson (Washington State), Ngoni Makusha (Florida State), and Christian Taylor (Florida)
THE BOWERMAN FINALISTS, 2011 WOMEN
Jessica Beard, Texas A&M
Senior, Sprints, Euclid, Ohio (Euclid HS)
Beard became the just the third female in NCAA Division I history, and first since 1999, to win both 400 national titles in the same year and run on both winning 4×400 relays at the NCAA Indoor and NCAA Outdoor Championships. Beard, a four-time Big 12 indoor 400-meter champ, recorded the world’s fastest time over the 400-meter distance indoors with a 50.79 clocking to win the national crown. Outdoors, Beard clocked 51.10 for the NCAA win and split 49.13 for the Aggies as anchor of the NCAA-winning 4×400 relay.
At the USATF Championships (not considered part of the collegiate season), Beard placed fourth in the 400 meters, running a season’s best 51.06 in the national final.
Beard joins Porscha Lucas (2009) as Aggies that have been named Bowerman finalists. The Big 12 has been represented by at least one women’s finalist in each of the three years of the award.
Kimberlyn Duncan, LSU
Sophomore, Sprints, Katy, Texas (Cypress Springs HS)
Duncan swept the NCAA’s 200-meter titles in 2011 and, in both seasons, notched world-leading times. Duncan became the sixth woman in NCAA Division I history and the first since Auburn’s Kerron Stewart in 2007 to sweep 200-meter titles in the same season. Indoors, Duncan won the SEC title in 22.78 for the world’s best time of the season. Outdoors, Duncan was undefeated in the 200 meters and clocked a low-altitude all-time collegiate best (and the third-best overall) with a 22.24 run. Duncan was also the NCAA’s 100-meter runner-up and anchored the Lady Tigers to an NCAA title in the 4×100 (42.64).
At the USATF Championships (not considered part of the collegiate season), Duncan placed fifth in the 200 meters, clocking a 22.35 in the event’s final.
Duncan is the first from LSU to be named a Bowerman finalist. Duncan, Sutej, and men’s finalist Christian Taylor compose the first class of SEC athletes to be a finalist for The Bowerman.
Tina Šutej, Arkansas
Junior, Pole Vault, Ljubljana, Slovenia (Gimnazija Bezigrad)
Sutej set new collegiate records with the pole vault both indoors and outdoors in 2011. Indoors, Sutej would reach a best of 14-10¾ (4.54m) to set the new all-time collegiate best in winning the SEC crown and would go on to win the NCAA title. Outdoors, Sutej again won the SEC league title with a collegiate-record vault – a clearance of 15-1½ (4.61m). Overall, Sutej collected 13-straight meet victories before finishing runner-up at the NCAA outdoor meet where she tied the championship-meet record with Oregon’s Melissa Gergel who took the crown on virtue of misses.
Sutej is the first Arkansas athlete to be a finalist for The Bowerman.
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