The Bowerman Award

The 2012 winners of The Bowerman — the highest honor given to the most outstanding athletes in collegiate track & field — will be first announced during a ceremony held in conjunction with the USTFCCCA Convention. The finalists and their families will be invited to take part in the special event that will be held at the JW Marriott Grande Lakes in Orlando, Fla., on Wed., Dec. 19 at 7 pm. [Link to youTube Video]

This year’s finalists, past winners, and ESPN’s John Anderson will take center stage in what is sure to be a night of celebration and spectacle. Past winners Jenny Simpson (Barringer), Queen Harrison, Jessica Beard, Ashton Eaton and Ngoni Makusha will comprise the largest gathering to date of those who have won the prestigious award.

The Bowerman Advisory Board selected Cam Levins (Southern Utah), Tony McQuay (Florida) and Andrew Riley (Illinois) as this year’s men’s finalists and Brigetta Barrett (Arizona), Kimberlyn Duncan (LSU) and Brianne Theisen (Oregon) as women’s finalists for the prestigious award.

In 2012, Levins won the NCAA outdoor titles at 5000 and 10,000 meters while McQuay captured national outdoor crowns in the 400 and as anchor of Florida’s 4×400 relay. Riley became the first in NCAA Division I history to take victory in the 100 meters and 110 hurdles at the same national championships.

Barrett — who claimed NCAA high jump crowns both indoors and outdoors for the second-straight year in 2012 — won silver at the London Olympics. Duncan was again the indoor and outdoor NCAA champ at 200 meters and anchored LSU to the nation’s top spot in 4×100. And, Theisen was the NCAA champ in the pentathlon, indoors, and heptathlon, outdoors, for the third time, setting the collegiate record in the pentathlon twice in 2012.

LSU’s Duncan — a finalist in 2011 — is the first two-time female finalist in award history.

Only performances through the conclusion of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships were used in consideration of the award.