The Bowerman: 2024 Men’s Pre-Outdoor Conference Championships Watch List

NEW ORLEANS – The race for The Bowerman is winding down. Or is it heating up?

We guess it depends on how you look at it.

Just six weeks remain in the outdoor season. That’s right. The 2024 NCAA DI Outdoor Track & Field Championships, from June 5-8 in Eugene, Oregon, are the last opportunity to impress The Bowerman Watch List Committee and summarily The Bowerman Advisory Board.

Ten athletes have done enough through the year so far to be on the Men’s Pre-Outdoor Conference Championships Watch List for The Bowerman in 2024: Romaine Beckford of Arkansas, Graham Blanks of Harvard, Terrence Jones of Texas Tech, Christopher Morales Williams of Georgia, Leo Neugebauer of Texas, Wayne Pinnock of Arkansas, Chris Robinson of Alabama, Colin Sahlman of Northern Arizona, Sam Whitmarsh of Texas A&M and Nico Young of Northern Arizona.

The Bowerman will be awarded in December at the annual USTFCCCA Convention.

Beckford, who hails from Portland, Jamaica, was victorious in his season debut this past weekend. The Arkansas standout topped 2.23m (7-3¾) at the LSU Invitational, which puts him =No. 5 on the seasonal chart. During the indoor season, Beckford successfully defended his NCAA title in the high jump with a PR clearance of 2.27m (7-5¼). Beckford scaled 2.25m (7-4½) on three different occasions under a roof. This is Beckford’s sixth career Watch List appearance.

Blanks, who hails from Athens, Georgia, ran his first race in more than four months two weeks ago at the Wake Forest Invitational. The Harvard standout finished fourth in the 5000 meters in 13:37.34. Blanks clocked a much faster time in that event back in December when he originally set the collegiate indoor record of 13:03.78 at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener. This is Blanks’ sixth career Watch List appearance.

Jones, who hails from Freeport, Bahamas, has yet to compete individually this outdoor season, but ran legs on Texas Tech’s 4×100 relay at the Texas Relays. Back in March, Jones doubled up on NCAA titles at the NCAA Indoor Championships with victories in both the 60 meters and 200 meters. His indoor season included a blistering 6.47 60-meter effort at the Jarvis Scott Open back in early February. This is Jones’s seventh career Watch List appearance.

Morales Williams, who hails from Vaughan, Ontario, made a statement in his third individual race of the outdoor season at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational. CMW won the 400 meters in a collegiate-leading 44.91, which came in a race where eight of the ten fastest marks on the seasonal chart were clocked. During the indoor season, CMW registered an all-time world best in the 400 of 44.49 to win the SEC title and later won the NCAA crown in 44.67. This is CMW’s fourth career Watch List appearance.

Neugebauer, who hails from Leinfeldene-Echterdingen, Germany, took a well-deserved break after an otherworldly performance in the decathlon at the Texas Relays. Back in March, and not long after winning the heptathlon at the NCAA Indoor Championships, Neugebauer amassed 8708 points for the third-best total in collegiate history. Fast forward several weeks and the Texas standout returned to competition at the Mt. SAC Relays in mid-April. Neugebauer delivered a dynamic effort in the discus, whirling the platter 58.70m (192-7) to finish second with a new PR.

Pinnock, who hails from Kingston, Jamaica, opened his outdoor season this past weekend at the LSU Invitational. The Arkansas standout soared a very wind-aided 8.44m (27-8¼) to win the competition by more than one foot. Pinnock added two other wind-aided marks of 8.15m (26-9) or farther in the series. Back in March, Pinnock won the NCAA title with a PR of 8.40m (27-6¾) that equaled both the Jamaican national record and the fifth-best performer on the all-time collegiate chart (Carey McLeod, a former teammate, shares those accolades). This is Pinnock’s seventh career Watch List appearance.

Robinson, who hails from Tallahassee, Florida, and makes his Watch List debut, is the collegiate leader in the 400-meter hurdles. He threw down a 47.95 PR at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational for his second win of the season. Robinson’s first win of the season in the 400H came at the LSU Battle on the Bayou where he also toted the baton on the collegiate-leading 4×400 relay. Indoors, Robinson finished third in the 400 meters at the SEC Championships in 45.62, but didn’t advance to the final at the NCAA Championships. Robinson is the fifth Alabama male athlete named to the Watch List in program history, joining 2011 semifinalist Kirani James, Shelby McEwen (2019), 2021 semifinalist Robert Dunning, and Eliud Kipsang (2021, 2022).

Sahlman, who hails from Camarillo, California, and makes his Watch List debut, left his mark on the collegiate record book in his second race of the outdoor season. The Northern Arizona standout won the 1500 meters at the Bryan Clay Invitational in 3:33.96 for the second-fastest time in collegiate history. Two weeks later, Sahlman went 1:45.63 over 800 meters to move up to No. 2 on the seasonal chart behind Sam Whitmarsh, another member of The Bowerman Watch List. Back in March, Sahlman was sixth in the final of the mile at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Sahlman is the seventh NAU male athlete to be named to the Watch List in program history.

Whitmarsh, who hails from Lake Jackson, Texas, has rode a wave of momentum this outdoor season that began with his 800-meter clocking of 1:44.46 at the LSU Battle on the Bayou that made him the seventh-fastest performer in collegiate history. After setting a PR in the 1500 meters two weeks later at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational, Whitmarsh recently anchored Texas A&M to victory in the College Men’s 4×800 Championship of America at the Penn Relays in 1:45.02.

Young, who hails from Camarillo, California, continues to showcase his range. Just this past weekend at the Desert Heat Invitational in Tempe, Arizona, Young notched a 1:47.65 in the 800 meters, two weeks after previously going 1:48.00. You might remember Young from previous performances like his 10,000-meter collegiate record of 26:52.72 at The TEN or his other CR in the indoor 5000 meters of 12:57.14. Then again, Young also won two NCAA indoor titles and set a meet record with his 3000-meter winning time of 7:41.01. This is Young’s sixth career Watch List appearance.

Nine men received votes, but not enough to land on the Watch List: Jordan Davis of Southern Connecticut, BJ Green of Oklahoma, Luke Houser of Washington, Kenneth Ikeji of Harvard, Nathan Mountain of Virginia, Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan of Ole Miss, Claudio Romero of LSU, Caleb Snowden of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, and Parker Wolfe of North Carolina.

The next Watch List will be released on May 16.