Former Arizona State, Georgia stars look to end drought by becoming first female field event athlete to secure sport’s top honor; McLaughlin also pursuing history by becoming first nominee to earn recognition following freshman year

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Maggie Ewen is the only female athlete in NCAA Division 1 track and field history to win individual titles in three throwing events.

But the Arizona State graduate and 11-time All-American credits Keturah Orji and Georgia for making perhaps the biggest contribution to the recognition of women’s field event athletes during her historic career.

Georgia nearly captured the women’s team title at the 2017 NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Championships by only accumulating points from field and multi-event athletes, including Orji winning the triple jump and taking second in the long jump, before the Bulldogs were edged by 1.8 points by host Oregon.

So it’s only fitting that Orji, an eight-time NCAA champion, and four-time winner Ewen are women’s finalists again for the Bowerman Award, each looking to become the first female field event recipient in the 10-year existence of the sport’s most prestigious accolade when the winner is announced Thursday at the annual ceremony at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa.

The ceremony is being streamed live at 8 p.m. EST on ESPN3.

Ewen and Orji, the only three-time female finalist in the history of the award, are joined by former Kentucky star Sydney McLaughlin, who set collegiate and World U-20 records in the 400-meter hurdles in her only year competing in college, before turning professional and signing with New Balance.

“When Georgia’s team almost won the national title with just field events, it absolutely shocked everybody that thought was possible. But of course, that’s possible,” Ewen said. “That was a really big moment where a lot of teams realized, ‘Oh, the field is like a thing. And the field can potentially be a useful thing if we invest in it,’ and I thought that was really cool. It was a moment that started creating awareness that we need to start giving more recognition for these athletes because they can compete on the same level as these runners, and they deserve the same level of respect and attention.”

Ewen, the collegiate record holder in the hammer throw along with the outdoor shot put, became the sixth female athlete in Division 1 history to capture titles in the discus throw and shot put in the same year. She also prevailed in the indoor shot put in March, in addition to securing the hammer throw championship as a junior.

Ewen became the first thrower in either gender to become a two-time finalist and joined former Arizona high jumper Brigetta Barrett (2012-13) and Orji as the only female field event athletes to be selected as a finalist in consecutive years.

“There have been so many great athletes, throwing athletes, who have come through and so many great ones who are competing right now and competing at a high level on the world level,” Ewen said. “To bring that awareness and that recognition and that respect to everything that we do means a lot to me for all the past and future throwers, and present throwers as well.”

Orji was edged by Texas sprinter Courtney Okolo for the award in 2016, with she and Ewen being overshadowed last year by Oregon’s Raevyn Rogers. Only Oregon distance standout Edward Cheserek, a 17-time NCAA champion, has been a three-time finalist (2014-16) before Orji this year.

“I feel like it becomes really hard when you have so many people performing at such an elite level, it becomes very hard to just choose one,” Orji said. “I think the Bowerman always does a great job of choosing three really good finalists because everyone always has such really good seasons. I just think it’s hard sometimes to choose between so many great performances.”

Orji led Georgia to its first women’s indoor team title in March, capturing another triple jump title and placing second in the long jump. The Bulldogs were runner-up again outdoors, with Orji sweeping both long jump and triple jump championships in her final collegiate meet.

“This is not just for the field event athletes and not just for jumpers, but specifically for women’s triple jumpers, it would be a huge stepping stone to promote the event a little more,” said Orji, who boasts both collegiate indoor and outdoor women’s triple jump records.

“I would love to set that standard for other field eventers to get some recognition because the sprinting events and the other track events are usually more popular than the field events.

“So to win it would create more meaning, especially for the women’s triple jump as a whole.”

Each female finalist has earned an impressive accolade in the past six months already, with Ewen receiving the Honda Award, McLaughlin being honored as the IAAF Female Rising Star and Orji being selected as the NCAA Woman of the Year.

“To look around and look at people like (Stanford swimmer and Olympian) Simone Manuel, who is just absolutely such an outstanding athlete, and beyond that, they’re all such outstanding people and human beings, to be considered one of their equals and then to have been in that top three group really meant a lot to me,” Ewen said. “It meant even more as a thrower because we don’t get that same amount of recognition within our own sport, so to have a completely unaffiliated group really recognize what I did and put me on that level with these same amazing women was really just an honor that I still struggle to put into words.”

McLaughlin, who won the NCAA title in the 400 hurdles and also set World U-20 records in the indoor 300 and 400 meters, is looking to make history by becoming the first athlete to receive the award following their freshman season.

“At the end of the day, all three finalists had really great seasons, so we can’t really get upset about the decision,” Orji said. “I have lost both years, but I know both of the women that beat me had really good seasons, too.”

Although Ewen has profound respect for McLaughlin’s accomplishments, she is hoping for a sentimental and significant victory for female field event athletes with her or Orji – who both followed their collegiate careers by capturing national titles in June at the USATF Outdoor Championships in Iowa – finally ending the decade-long drought.

“It’s really hard, it’s like a double-edge sword,” Ewen said. “I really want to win, but I also really don’t want Keturah to lose.”