The Bowerman award: Complete history of the track and field honor

The Bowerman is given each year to the most outstanding male and female NCAA track & field athletes. LSU’s JuVaughn Harrison and Texas A&M’s Athing Mu received the 2021 awards.

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

What is the Bowerman award and who is it named after?

The Bowerman debuted in 2009 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 award 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 award winner announced?

Below is the annual timeline for The Bowerman award.

• 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 award winners by school

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

Oregon leads all schools with five total Bowerman awards, 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 Bowerman awards, respectively.

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

Men’s winners by school

Here are the schools with the most men’s Bowerman awards.

Women’s winners by school

Here are the schools with the most women’s Bowerman awards.

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Bowerman award winners by conference

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

Men’s winners by conference

Here are the conferences with the most men’s Bowerman awards.

Women’s winners by conference

Here are the conferences with the most women’s Bowerman awards.

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Complete history of past Bowerman award recipients

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.

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.

🏃Track and Field🏃

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💥HISTORY: Programs with the most titles | Men's champ history | Women's champ history | Bowerman history
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🥇 2021 Olympians: Karel Tiga |  JuVaughn Harrison | Cole Hocker | Camryn Rogers | Ruth Usoro | Athing Mu | Tara Davis | Tyra Gittens
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