My 2023 Bowerman Award votes go to...

The bow on the 2023 collegiate track and field season will be put on Thursday evening at the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center outside of Denver, Colorado when the USTFCCCA presents the Bowerman Award to the country's most outstanding collegiate male and female track and field athlete of the 2023 season.

This award, which has been presented since 2010 at the annual USTFCCCA convention, is college track and field's equivalent to football's Heisman Trophy or basketball's Wooden Award.

I've been honored to be a media voter for this award almost from the beginning, and take the task of voting seriously. While the vast majority of meets I attend in person are on the West Coast, I try not to let any conference, regional, or fan/social media/message board biases sway who I pick.

All voting members of The Bowerman, which includes past winners, national and regional media personnel, and track & field statisticians, received their ballots from the USTFCCCA shortly after the NCAA championships, and submitted them in July.

Here is the link to the rules regarding the voting for The Bowerman:

“Athletes’ performances during the NCAA indoor track & field and outdoor track & field seasons shall be considered. An athlete need not have competed in both seasons to be eligible for the award.

“Performances that occur outside the NCAA seasons of indoor track & field and outdoor track & field should not be considered. The performance window for the purposes of The Bowerman runs from December 1 of the preceding year through the respective division’s NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the year in which the award is given.”

In the interest of transparency, I've used my platform on this site to reveal my selections, and the picks for the 2023 season are no different. I've taken a photo of my ballot and posted it as well.

For the first time, I attended both the NCAA Division I indoor and outdoor championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Austin, Texas and saw all six finalists compete. Historically, I've only been able to attend the outdoor championships.

Here's my Bowerman Award picks for the 2023 collegiate season:

WOMEN

In the women's voting, I went with Texas' Julien Alfred (Paul Merca photo) over Britton Wilson of Arkansas and Jasmine Moore of Florida in that order (voters must rank them).

The three combined for ten NCAA titles, a share of 12 collegiate records and 33 all-time top-10 performances in the 2023 season.

Alfred set the collegiate record indoors in both the 60 and 200, running 6.94 and 22.01 at the NCAA championships in Albuquerque.

At the outdoor championships on her home track, she won both the 100 and 200, running wind-aided times of 10.72 and 21.73. Both marks were the fastest all-conditions time in collegiate history. She also helped the Longhorns win the NCAA 4 x 100 meter title, en route to winning the national team title.

The native of Saint Lucia set a national record in the 200, running 21.91 at the Tom Jones Memorial meet in Gainesville, Florida. 

After the collegiate season, Alfred finished fifth in the 100 and fourth in the 200 at the world championships in Budapest, and second in the 100 at the Commonwealth Games.

Britton Wilson of Arkansas, the NCAA indoor champion who set the collegiate record outdoors, got my second place vote just ahead of Jasmine Moore of Florida, the NCAA indoor long jump champion, and the indoor & outdoor champ in the triple jump.

MEN

I was conflicted on this pick, but in the end, I went (in order) with Leo Neugebauer (Paul Merca photo) of Texas, then Kyle Garland of Georgia, and Jaydon Hibbert of Arkansas.

Neugebauer, Garland and Hibbert combined to win four NCAA titles, obliterate four collegiate records and notch ten all-time top-10 performances.

Neugebauer broke the collegiate record in the decathlon at the NCAA championships in Austin, scoring 8836 points. The previous collegiate record was held by Garland, who scored 8720 last year.

Neugebauer represented Germany at the world championships in Budapest, where he finished fifth with 8645 points.

Garland got my second place vote after setting the collegiate record in the heptathlon in Albuquerque, scoring 6639 points. He came within six points of tying the world record set by Ashton Eaton in 2012.

Hibbert broke both the indoor and outdoor collegiate records in the triple jump, jumping 57-6.5 (17.54m) to win the NCAA title in Albuquerque, then broke the outdoor record when the freshman went 58-7.75 (17.87m) at the SEC championships, then won the NCAA outdoor crown with a bound of 57-7.75 (17.56m), the third best performance in collegiate history.

Hibbert won both the fan voting as well as the USTFCCCA membership vote, as did Julien Alfred on the women's side. 

The order of the men’s fan vote and the USTFCCCA membership vote were identical: Hibbert at the top, followed by Leo Neugebauer and Kyle Garland. The women’s fan vote and USTFCCCA membership vote both had Alfred at the top, while Jasmine Moore and Britton Wilson switched places between them.

The Bowerman Award presentation will be announced Thursday at 6pm Pacific time on a live webcast on media partner RunnerSpace.com, hosted by ESPN's John Anderson. You can watch it via this link.

NOTE: The USTFCCCA contributed to this report.

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