In 2011, Jessica Beard of Texas A&M and Ngonidzashe Makusha of Florida State took home the Bowerman Awards. Other nominees include Jeshua Anderson of Washington State, Christian Taylor of Florida, Kimberlyn Duncan of LSU, and Tina Sutej of Arkansas. In the end, Beard and Makusha took home the highest honor of track and field in their final seasons as NCAA student-athletes and are still successful in the field today.

Jessica Beard, Texas A&M

Jessica Beard was the 2011 female Bowerman recipient after becoming just the third female in Division I history to win both the indoor and outdoor 400m and 4x4 titles in the same year. At the time, Beard was already a World Champion (Berlin, 2009) as a member of the United States' winning 4x4. The time she clocked en route to winning her NCAA Indoor title, 50.79, was the fastest indoor time in the world that year. She clocked a 51.10 to win the NCAA Outdoor title, also splitting 49.13 as the anchor leg of the winning 4x4. She was also a four-time Big 12 indoor champion in the 400m. Below, watch Beard anchor the Texas A&M squad to a 3:27 at the 2011 Texas Relays, the #4 all-time best (at the time). 



Ngonidzashe Makusha, Florida State

Ngoni Makusha took home the Bowerman Award after becoming the fourth man to win the 100m and long jump at the 2011 NCAA Outdoor Championships. The accolades place him on a list accompanied by Michigan's DeHart Hubbard, Jesse Owens, and Carl Lewis. His winning 100m time of 9.89 set the collegiate and championship meet record, breaking Ato Bolden's 9.92. It was also the Zimbabwean national record. His winning outdoor jump of 8.40m was another Zimbabwean record. Makusha won NCAA Indoor long jump title and was a member of the NCAA Outdoor first place 4x1 Seminole squad. After his junior season in 2011, he announced that he would forgo his final season of eligibility to turn pro. He won the bronze medal at the 2011 World Championships in the long jump.

Tune into the LIVE stream of the Bowerman Awards tonight at 7:25 CT.