The Bowerman: Women’s Post-Outdoor Conference Championships Watch List

NEW ORLEANS – Team points may have been the focus during Conference Championship Weekend, but incredible individual performances helped form the current Women’s Watch List for The Bowerman.

Indeed, each of the ten athletes on the Post-Outdoor Conference Championships edition of the Women’s Watch List had dominating victories and/or high-ranking all-time performances at those respective meets.

Two athletes make their Watch List debut: McKenzie Long of Ole Miss and Nickisha Pryce of Arkansas. They join eight returners: JaMeesia Ford of South Carolina, Rachel Glenn of Arkansas, Jasmine Jones of Southern California, Brianna Lyston of LSU, Maia Ramsden of Harvard, Michaela Rose of LSU, Jaida Ross of Oregon and Parker Valby of Florida.

The Bowerman will be awarded in December at the USTFCCCA Convention in Orlando, Florida.

Ford, who hails from Fayetteville, North Carolina, raced to a PR 22.11 in taking second in the loaded SEC Championships 200 to rate No. 9 all-time among collegians. In other events this spring she has clocked bests of 11.13 in the 100 and 50.81 in the 400 and has multiple sub-50 splits in the 4×400 (fastest at 49.38). In the winter, she was undefeated at all distances and won the 200 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships in 22.34 to become No. 7 collegian all-time indoors after earlier clocking 22.36 twice, both of which rate No. =8 among collegiate indoor performances all-time. She also registered two quick 300s (35.83 is No. 2 all-time collegiately and she also ran a 36.00 that rates as No. 5 performance all-time) and anchored two of the three fastest 4x400s indoors, leading the Gamecocks to victories at the NCAA and SEC Indoor Championships (the latter with a split of 49.80). This is her sixth Watch List appearance.

Glenn, who hails from Long Beach, California, moved to No. 8 all-time in the 400 hurdles with a 54.02 in the SEC Championships heats before falling in the final with a large lead. She was also runner-up in the high jump with a seasonal-best 1.92m (6-3½) and earlier this spring had a 50.88 split in the 4×400. In the winter she won the NCAA Indoor high jump and equaled the CR of 2.00m (6-6¾) after a busy SEC Indoor Championships, in which she finished second in the high jump at 1.94m (6-4¼) in addition to taking seventh in the 60 hurdles (8.15, just off her PR 8.14), running the 200 prelims (PR 23.03) and contributing a 51.46 split on the second leg of the Razorbacks’ runner-up 4×400 relay. This is her fourth Watch List appearance.

Jones, who hails from Atlanta, Georgia, was a double-winner at the Pac-12 Championships, including a 53.87 PR in the 400 hurdles to become No. 7 all-time collegiately. Earlier that day she equaled her seasonal-best 12.86 in the 100 hurdles despite a strong headwind. She was undefeated by collegians in the indoor 60 hurdles, topped by winning the NCAA Indoor Championships in 7.77 to become No. 3 on the all-time collegiate over a field that had two others among the top-6 all-time collegiately. That time of 7.77 shaved a hundredth off the 7.78 she clocked as runner-up in the USATF Indoor Championships that is now the No. =7 performance all-time by a collegian. This is her fifth appearance on the Watch List.

Long, who hails from Ironton, Ohio, debuts on the Watch List after winning the 200 at the SEC Championships in 22.03, a time that places her No. 5 all-time collegiately. She bypassed the 100 (in which her seasonal best is a wind-aided 10.89) but ran the backstretch leg for the Rebels’ runner-up 4×100 squad that clocked 42.47 (No. 8 program all-time). Indoors she was runner-up in the NCAA 200 at 22.51. Not considered by the Watch List Committee were performances last year – wind-aided times of 10.80 in the 100 and 21.88 in the 200 that rate Nos. 7 and 3, respectively, on the all-time, all-conditions list. Long is the third Ole Miss woman named to a Watch List, joining 2016 finalist Raven Saunders and Shey Taiwo (2022).

Lyston, who hails from Portmore, Jamaica, won the 100 at the SEC Championships in a PR 10.91 to move to No. 9 all-time collegiately. She also was fourth in the 200 (22.37 after a PR 22.31 in the prelims) and led off LSU’s third-place 4×100 team (42.49). Earlier in the spring she clocked a wind-aided 10.84w in the 100. She was undefeated indoors in the 60, culminating with the NCAA Indoor title in 7.03 to become No. 2 collegian all-time behind only 2023 The Bowerman winner Julien Alfred. She had three other sub-7.10 times – 7.07 twice (one that made her previously No. =4 all-time collegiately) and a 7.08 to win the SEC Indoor Championships. This is her sixth Watch List appearance.

Pryce, who hails from St. Mary, Jamaica, debuts on the Watch List after winning the 400 at the SEC Championships in 49.32 to become No. 3 collegian all-time in a race that featured four sub-50 collegians for the first time. She followed with an outdoor PR 22.67 for seventh in 200. In the winter, she was runner-up in the 400 at both the SEC Indoor and NCAA Indoor 400 with a best of 50.83 while also clocking an absolute PR of 22.62 in the 200. Pryce is the 13th Arkansas woman named to the Watch List, leaving the Razorbacks behind only Oregon (18) and Texas A&M (15) all-time in that regard.

Ramsden, who hails from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was a double-winner in the Ivy League Championships, setting meet records in the 1500 (4:09.29) and 5000 (15:47.23) while winning by margins of 3.23 and 7.91 seconds, respectively. She anchored Harvard’s CR-setting distance medley relay (10:37.55) to victory at the Penn Relays with a 4:21.47 split for 1600 – the fastest ever, indoors or outdoors. Two weeks earlier she moved to No. 10 all-time collegiately in the outdoor 1500 at 4:07.30 as the top collegian in the Wake Forest Invitational, and doubled back less than an hour later to clock 15:44.36 in the 5000. During the winter she won the mile at the NCAA Indoor Championships in a meet-record 4:25.13 that was also the No. 3 performance in collegiate history. She was even faster in the Women’s Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games, clocking 4:24.83 for the No. 2 performance all-time by a collegian. She also was a finalist in the 1500 meters at the World Indoor Championships, missing the CR by 0.02 seconds with her 4:06.51 in the prelims, and also posted a 3k best of 8:46.84 in December that has her No. 7 on the all-time collegiate list in that event. This is her fifth Watch List appearance.

Rose, who hails from Suffolk, Virginia, won the 800 at the SEC Championships in 1:58.89, a time bettered among collegians by herself (1:58.37 in April) and 2021 The Bowerman winner Athing Mu (1:57.73). She came back for a 50.81-second split on LSU’s fifth-place 4×400 relay team. Earlier this spring she clocked 1:25.75 in the 600 (an all-time collegiate outdoor best) and 4:12.88 in the 1500. Indoors, she set a CR (and world best) in the 600 yards at 1:16.76 before compiling three sub-2 races in the 800 that give her three of the top-5 collegiate performances all-time – her fastest of 1:59.25 to win the SEC Indoor Championships and become No. 2 collegian all-time behind only Mu. Another of those sub-2 clockings earned a runner-up finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships. This is her eighth career Watch List appearance.

Ross, who hails from Medford, Oregon, was a double-winner at the Pac-12 Championships, winning the shot put by over seven feet at 19.01m (62-4 ½) before taking the discus with a PR 59.74m (196-0). In April, she set the shot put CR twice at 19.71m (64-8) and has four of the top-9 marks in outdoor collegiate history with additional efforts of 19.41m (63-8¼) and No. 9 at 19.30 (63-4). In the winter, she moved to No. 9 all-time collegiately with a best of 18.84m (61-9¾) before earning runner-up honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships. This is her third career Watch List appearance.

Valby, who hails from Tampa, Florida, won the 5000 at the SEC Championships by 18.00 seconds in an outdoor PR 15:07.86 to move to No. 4 all-time on the collegiate list. In her only other outdoor race, she chopped 27 seconds off the CR in the 10,000 at 30:50.43 at April’s Bryan Clay Invitational, lapping the entire field at least once. She was also dominant in the winter, winning the 5000 and 3000 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships in record-setting form. In the 5k, she lowered her own CR to 14:52.79 while she came back the next day to break the meet record in the 3k at 8:51.30 in becoming No. 3 all-time collegiately indoors. Her undefeated season included the No. 2 time in the 5000 at 14:56.11 from December with the first collegiate sub-15 time indoors or outdoors, along with the No. 6 all-time indoor performance in the 3000 at 8:42.29 in winning the SEC Indoor Championships. This is her seventh career Watch List appearance.

Four athletes received votes from The Bowerman Watch List Committee but fell outside the Top 10: Lamara Distin of Texas A&M, Elena Kulichenko of Georgia, Doris Lemngole of Alabama and Grace Stark of Florida.

The next women’s Watch List is scheduled for May 29.