Two time NCAA 400H champ Jeshua Anderson on initial Bowerman Award watch list...

NEW ORLEANS – The Bowerman Men’s Watch Committee in conjunction with the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) gave their first look at the 2011 male contenders for The Bowerman – collegiate track & field’s biggest and best award. With all three finalists from the 2010 season graduating, a fresh new crop will be among those vying for the award over the next several months.

The watch list includes three out-right sophomores and 2009 finalist German Fernandez. Washington State’s Jeshua Anderson (left/photo by Paul Merca) returns to the watch list for a record ninth time. Anderson, along with 2010 finalists Ashton Eaton and Ryan Whiting, was on the award’s watch lists for each of the updates last year.

Anderson, the NCAA 400-meter hurdle champion in 2008 and 2009, was the national runner-up in the same event in 2010. Only once last year was Anderson bested in the 400 hurdles and that was in the national final to South Carolina’s Johnny Dutch. In running a 48.63 for his third-straight Pac-10 title, Anderson recorded the second-best time by a collegian in 2010 and matched UCLA’s Kevin Young as the only to win three straight league crowns in the event.

Anderson opens his season this Saturday, as Washington State hosts the WSU Indoor Open meet Friday and Saturday at the WSU Indoor Facility.

The USTFCCCA release and the complete list of athletes on the Bowerman watch list is available here.

NOTE: The USTFCCCA contributed to this report.