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Stan Becton | NCAA.com | January 20, 2023

The Bowerman: Complete history of the track and field honor

Watch Kentucky's Abby Steiner's record-setting championship run in the women's 200m

The Bowerman is given each year to the most outstanding male and female NCAA track & field athletes. Florida State's Trey Cunningham won the 2022 men's award and Kentucky's Abby Steiner won the 2022 women's award.

Here's everything you need to know about the annual honor, presented by the USTFCCCA.

What is The Bowerman and who is it named after?

The Bowerman debuted in 2009 as an award to honor the most outstanding male and female NCAA track & field athletes.

The athlete of the year award's namesake, Bill Bowerman, is a legend in track and field, coaching at Oregon from 1949-72. Bowerman’s Ducks won four national team titles and finished twice as runner-up. Individually, Bowerman coached 24 NCAA individual champs, 33 Olympians and 64 All-Americans. Bowerman also coached the 1972 Olympic Team. 

Off the track, Bowerman was president of the USTFCCCA’s predecessor organization, the National Collegiate Track Coaches Association, and later co-founded Nike. Bowerman also was one of the primary leaders in the formation of the United States Track and Field Federation. For his contributions to the sport, Bowerman was an inaugural inductee into the USTFCCCA Hall of Fame in 1995.

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How does Bowerman voting work?

A panel of national and regional media personnel, track & field statisticians, NCAA collegiate administrators, past winners and Presidents of affiliated organizations vote on the award's winner, based on players' regular-season performances. Moreover, USTFCCCA members and fans each collectively receive one vote in The Bowerman voting. 

On ballots, each first choice vote is worth three points, with second and third choice votes receiving two and one points, respectively.

Voters consider athletes’ performances from the NCAA indoor track & field and outdoor track & field seasons. The performance window for The Bowerman is from December 1 through the NCAA outdoor track and field championships. Performances must be from the year in which the award is given to qualify. However, an athlete does not have to compete in both the indoor and outdoor seasons to be eligible for the award. Cross country performances are not considered.

When is The Bowerman winner announced?

Below is the annual timeline for The Bowerman.

  • January (first week): Initial meetings of The Bowerman Watch Committees, The Bowerman Men’s and Women’s Preseason Watch Lists published
  • February (first week): First regular-season release of Watch Lists
  • March (post-indoor conference championships): Second regular-season release of Watch Lists
  • March (post-NCAA Indoor Championships): Third regular-season release of Watch Lists
  • April (third full week): Fourth regular-season release of Watch Lists
  • May (first week): Fifth regular-season release of Watch Lists
  • May (post-outdoor conference championships): Sixth regular-season release of Watch Lists
  • June (post-NCAA DI first rounds): Seventh regular-season release of Watch Lists
  • June (post-NCAA DI Outdoor Championship finals): Release of award semifinalists
  • June: Meeting of Bowerman Advisory Board to select three male and three female finalists
  • June: The Bowerman Men’s and Women’s Finalists announced
  • June: The Bowerman ballots delivered to The Bowerman Voters
  • July: The Bowerman voting closes
  • December: The Bowerman winners announced

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Bowerman winners by school

16 schools have won at least one Bowerman, whether that be a men's or women's trophy. From those 15, just five schools have won multiple Bowermans in their history.

Oregon leads all schools with five total Bowermans, followed by Texas A&M and LSU with three each. The latter two programs added to this total with the 2021 women's and men's Bowermans, respectively.

Here are the schools with the most combined (men's and women's) Bowermans.

Number of Bowermans School
5 Oregon
3 Texas A&M, LSU
2 Florida, Florida State
1 Southern Utah, Indiana, Arkansas, Tennessee,
Southern California, Colorado, Virginia Tech, Clemson,
Texas, Georgia, Kentucky

Men’s winners by school

Here are the schools with the most men’s Bowermans.

Number of Bowermans School
2 Oregon, Florida, Florida State
1 Southern Utah, Indiana, Texas A&M,
Arkansas, Tennessee, Southern California, LSU

Women’s winners by school

Here are the schools with the most women’s Bowermans.

Number of Bowermans School
3 Oregon
2 Texas A&M, LSU
1 Colorado, Virginia Tech, Clemson, Texas, Georgia, Kentucky

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Bowerman winners by conference

Here are the conferences with the most combined (men's and women's) Bowermans.

Number of Bowermans Conference
12 SEC
7 Pac-12
4 ACC
1 Big 12, Big Ten, Big Sky

Men’s winners by conference

Here are the conferences with the most men’s Bowermans.

Number of Bowermans Conference
6 SEC
3 Pac-12
2 ACC
1 Big Ten, Big Sky

Women’s winners by conference

Here are the conferences with the most women’s Bowermans.

Number of Bowermans Conference
6 SEC
4 Pac-12
2 ACC
1 Big 12

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Complete history of past Bowerman recipients

2022

Florida State's Trey Cunningham and Kentucky's Abby Steiner won the 2022 men's and women's Bowermans, respectively. 

Cunningham took home the men's award, becoming the second Seminole to take home the hardware. Cunningham swept the short sprint hurdle titles, winning the NCAA championship in the 60 meter hurdles and 110 meter hurdles.

MORE: The top moments from Bowerman winner Trey Cunningham's 2022 season

Steiner won the women's award and is the first athlete in Kentucky history to win the Bowerman. Steiner swept the 200 meter NCAA titles and ran on the winning NCAA 4x400 meter relay team. Steiner set four NCAA records in 2022.

MORE: The top moments from Bowerman winner Abby Steiner's 2022 season

2021

LSU’s JuVaughn Harrison and Texas A&M’s Athing Mu are the 12th recipients of The Bowerman.

Harrison took home the men’s award, becoming the first LSU male to win the hardware. During the indoor season, Harrison became the first Division I athlete to win both the high jump and long jump championships. He then completed the sweep during the outdoor season, in total taking home four NCAA titles in one calendar year.

Mu took home the women’s award after record-shattering performances in the indoor and outdoor seasons. During the indoor season, Mu set new records in both the 600 meters and 800 meters. She also finished with the fifth-fastest 400-meter performance in collegiate indoor history. At the indoor championships, Mu anchored Texas A&M’s title-winning 4x400 meter relay with a 49.54 split, the fastest split ever. During the outdoor season, Mu again set the 800-meter collegiate record. She later set the 400-meter collegiate record and took home the NCAA individual outdoor title.

More

Other notable past honorees include eventual Olympic stars Ashton Eaton (Oregon, 2010), Courtney Okolo (Texas, 2016), Christian Coleman (Tennessee, 2017), Grant Holloway (Florida, 2019), and Sha’Carri Richardson (LSU, 2019). See the full list below.

Year Athlete Gender School Top moments
2022 Trey Cunningham Men's Florida State Watch here
  Abby Steiner Women's Kentucky Watch here
2021 JuVaughn Harrison Men's LSU  
  Athing Mu Women's Texas A&M  
2019 Grant Holloway Men's Florida  
  Sha'Carri Richardson Women's LSU  
2018 Michael Norman Men's Southern California  
  Keturah Orji Women's Georgia  
2017 Christian Coleman Men's Tennessee  
  Raevyn Rogers Women's Oregon  
2016 Jarrion Lawson Men's Arkansas  
  Courtney Okolo Women's Texas  
2015 Marquis Dendy Men's Florida  
  Jenna Prandini Women's Oregon  
2014 Deon Lendore Men's Texas A&M  
  Laura Roesler Women's Oregon  
2013 Derek Drouin Men's Indiana  
  Brianna Rollins Women's Clemson  
2012 Cam Levins Men's Southern Utah  
  Kimberlyn Duncan Women's LSU  
2011 Ngoni Makusha Men's Florida State  
  Jessica Beard Women's Texas A&M  
2010 Ashton Eaton Men's Oregon  
  Queen Harrison Women's Virginia Tech  
2009 Galen Rupp Men's Oregon  
  Jenny Barringer Women's Colorado  

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