The Women's Bowerman: Who Will Win And Who Should Win
The Women's Bowerman: Who Will Win And Who Should Win
FloTrack predicts who will win The Bowerman on Friday evening: Texas sprinter Courtney Okolo, Georgia triple jumper Keturah Orji, or Mississippi shot putter Raven Saunders
The Bowerman, collegiate track and field's highest individual honor, will be awarded live on FloTrack starting at 7 PM Eastern on Friday, December 16. The women's finalists are Texas sprinter Courtney Okolo, Georgia triple jumper Keturah Orji, and Mississippi shot putter Raven Saunders. (Here are their resumes for a refresher.) Below, we break down who we think should win and who we think will win.
​Taylor Dutch: Courtney Okolo should receive The Bowerman Award after her historic final season at Texas. She was nominated in 2014 and lost to Laura Roesler, but as a senior, Okolo shattered her own 400m collegiate record and won nearly every race she competed in, including four NCAA championships. I think the voters will see it this way, too.
​Gordon Mack: ​Okolo should win. She went 4 for 4 at NCAAs in 2016, with two individual 400m titles and two 4x400m relay titles; she also broke her own collegiate record. Enough said. But Orji will win; she broke the American and collegiate triple jump record. The voters like it when you break records, especially records bigger than the NCAA.
Meg Bellino: Courtney Okolo should and will win. She never lost a 400m race in 2016 while in a Texas uniform and became the first collegian to dip under 50 seconds, smashing her collegiate record with a time of 49.71.
​Dennis Young: ​Okolo should and will win, though it's very close between her and Orji. This is what I wrote in June: "Both collected indoor and outdoor titles in their events and broke collegiate records in the process. But Okolo's two championships in the indoor and outdoor 4x400 put her over the top. Here's how arbitrary awards voting is: I'm really picking Okolo, because she's the first woman to break 50 seconds in college, which just feels special. She's getting an undeserved benefit from a round number. Orji is the first woman to triple jump over 47 feet."
​Taylor Dutch: Courtney Okolo should receive The Bowerman Award after her historic final season at Texas. She was nominated in 2014 and lost to Laura Roesler, but as a senior, Okolo shattered her own 400m collegiate record and won nearly every race she competed in, including four NCAA championships. I think the voters will see it this way, too.
​Gordon Mack: ​Okolo should win. She went 4 for 4 at NCAAs in 2016, with two individual 400m titles and two 4x400m relay titles; she also broke her own collegiate record. Enough said. But Orji will win; she broke the American and collegiate triple jump record. The voters like it when you break records, especially records bigger than the NCAA.
Meg Bellino: Courtney Okolo should and will win. She never lost a 400m race in 2016 while in a Texas uniform and became the first collegian to dip under 50 seconds, smashing her collegiate record with a time of 49.71.
​Dennis Young: ​Okolo should and will win, though it's very close between her and Orji. This is what I wrote in June: "Both collected indoor and outdoor titles in their events and broke collegiate records in the process. But Okolo's two championships in the indoor and outdoor 4x400 put her over the top. Here's how arbitrary awards voting is: I'm really picking Okolo, because she's the first woman to break 50 seconds in college, which just feels special. She's getting an undeserved benefit from a round number. Orji is the first woman to triple jump over 47 feet."
| Women | Who Should Win | Who Will Win |
|---|---|---|
| Gordon | Okolo | Orji |
| Meg | Okolo | Okolo |
| Taylor | Okolo | Okolo |
| Adam | Okolo | Okolo |
| Dennis | Okolo | Okolo |