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The Bowerman Preseason Watch List Announced for Women’s Award

Seven semifinalists from 2011 back for a run at 2012

January 12, 2012

NEW ORLEANS – The race to acquire collegiate track & field’s most coveted award has begun its 2012 campaign. The official preseason women’s watch list announced by The Bowerman Watch List Committee has many familiar names from the 2011 season including two former finalists and no fewer than seven who have been semifinalists in the past two years.

Kimberlyn Duncan of LSU and Tina Sutej of Arkansas were finalists for The Bowerman in 2011 and are among the stellar returnees to the watch list. In addition, Arizona’s Brigetta Barrett, Colorado’s Emma Coburn, Oregon’s Jordan Hasay, Villanova’s Sheila Reid, and Oregon’s Brianne Theisen – semifinalists in 2011 – are on the preseason watch. Theisen was also a semifinalist in 2010.

Landing on the watch list for the first time are Southern Miss’ Tori Bowie, Oregon’s Anne Kesselring, and Arizona’s Julie Labonte.

LSU’s Semoy Hackett is on the “also receiving mention” list. Hackett was a preseason watchlister in 2011 and a semifinalist while at Lincoln (Mo.) in 2010.

THE BOWERMAN OFFICIAL WATCH LIST, PRESEASON 2012 WOMEN

(updated January 12, 2012, listed in alphabetical order)

QUICKLY – The Watch List

Brigetta Barrett, Arizona – Semifinalist in 2011. Barrett claimed NCAA high jump titles in both the indoor and outdoor seasons in 2011 to join six others that have accomplished the same feat (most recently, Texas’ Destinee Hooker in 2009). Barrett cleared six feet or more in each of her 11 competitions and notched an all-around personal best of 6-4 (1.93m) to win the Pac-10 title. Barrett won 10 of 11 meet crowns in the high jump during both indoor and outdoor 2011 seasons.

Tori Bowie, Southern Miss – In 2011, Bowie swept NCAA long jump titles. At the outdoor championships, Bowie claimed a career-best leap of 21-9½ (6.64m) in taking the crown, needing the final jump to retake the lead from Oklahoma’s Ti’Anca Mock. Bowie was the indoor champion after posting a jump of 21-4¾ (6.52m) in the event’s final.

Emma Coburn, Colorado – Semifinalist in 2011. Coburn won the NCAA’s 3000-meter steeplechase title in 2011 with a wire-to-wire victory, clocking 9:41.14 which bettered the field by more than six seconds. Coburn was undefeated in the steeplechase during the season and clocked a 9:40.51 personal best to win the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational race – a mark that ranks sixth among collegians all-time. Coburn also finished eighth at the NCAA Indoor Championships in the mile.

Kimberlyn Duncan, LSU – A 2011 finalist for The Bowerman. 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 collegiate record (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).

Jordan Hasay, Oregon – Semifinalist in 2011. Hasay won NCAA indoor titles in the mile and 3000 meters in 2011, becoming the fifth overall and the first since Northern Arizona’s Johanna Nilsson (2006) to claim such a double. Hasay also led the Ducks to a runner-up finish in the distance medley relay at the national indoor meet. Outdoors, Hasay finished fourth nationally in the 5000 meters and eighth in the 1500 meters.

Anne Kesselring, Oregon – In 2011, Kesselring took the NCAA 800-meter outdoor title as a sophomore, posting a career-best 2:02.15 to outdistance Oklahoma State frosh Natalja Piliusina by just one hundredth of a second. At the NCAA indoor championships, she scored in the mile (fourth) and distance medley relay (second).

Julie Labonte, Arizona – Last year, Labonte established herself as the top shot putter in the nation as a sophomore, sweeping NCAA titles and lasting the season without being defeated by a collegian. At the NCAA outdoor meet, Labonte won with a career-best put of 60-1 (18.31m). Labonte was the MPSF indoor champ and Pac-10 outdoor champ with the shot for the second-year in a row in 2011.

Sheila Reid, Villanova – Semifinalist in 2011. Reid tallied three NCAA crowns and five Big East titles during the 2011 track & field seasons. Outdoors, Reid became the first woman in Division I history to the NCAA’s 1500 and 5000 in the same championship. Indoors, Reid anchored the Wildcats to the NCAA crown in the DMR and was second nationally in the 3000 meters. In the Big East, Reid would also win the 1500-5000 double outdoors and was a three-time titlist indoors with wins in the 1000 meters, 4×800, and DMR. In cross country – which is not considered for The Bowerman – Reid has won two-consecutive individual NCAA titles and is only the fifth in the history of Division I to do so back-to-back.

Tina Sutej, Arkansas – A 2011 finalist for The Bowerman. 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, but tied the championship-meet record with Oregon’s Melissa Gergel who took the crown on virtue of misses.

Brianne Theisen, Oregon – Semifinalist in 2010 and 2011. Theisen twice set the collegiate record in the pentathlon in the 2011 indoor season and won her second-straight NCAA crown in the event. Her score of 4,540 bettered her previous all-time collegiate best mark of 4,507 set in January at the UW Invitational and ranked among the world’s top five in the event for the season. Theisen also scored at the NCAA indoor meet for the second-straight year as a member of Oregon’s 4×400 relay team. Outdoors, Theisen did not compete as a result of injury.

ALSO RECEIVING MENTION

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.

Florida State’s Ngoni Makusha and Texas A&M’s Jessica Beard are the reigning winners of The Bowerman, which is named for legendary Oregon track & field and cross country coach Bill Bowerman.

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 8,000 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.

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Tom Lewis

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

Communications Manager

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