By Howard Willman, USTFCCCA January 9, 2024   

NEW ORLEANS – A new year brings a special meaning to “new” when it involves The Bowerman Women’s Preseason Watch List in 2024, which was unveiled Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Among the five athletes making their Watch List debut is Addy Wiley of Huntington (Ind.). Wiley is the first athlete – male or female – from an NAIA institution to be included on a Watch List for The Bowerman.

Joining Wiley in making first Watch List appearances are Axelina Johansson of Nebraska, Olivia Markezich of Notre Dame, Stephanie Ratcliffe of Georgia and Parker Valby of Florida.

The rest of the Women’s Preseason Watch List is completed by five athletes who’ve been here at least once before – Alia Armstrong of LSU, Lamara Distin of Texas A&M, Michaela Rose of LSU, Ackelia Smith of Texas and Roisin Willis of Stanford.

The Bowerman 2024 will be awarded in December at the USTFCCCA Convention in Orlando, Florida.

Collectively, this year’s Women’s Preseason Watch List is impressive, owning 17 national individual titles in collegiate track & field and each athlete rates among the collegiate all-time top-5 at least once.

Armstrong, who hails from New Orleans, Louisiana, was third in a memorable race in the 100-meter hurdles at the NCAA DI Outdoor Championships last year. She won the event at the 2022 NCAA DI Outdoor Championships and rates No. =3 all-time at 12.40. Some of her best races have come when the wind was over 2.0 m/s, as she owns the No. 2 (12.31w) and No. 4 (12.33w) performances under all-conditions. This is her eighth career Watch List appearance.

Distin, who hails from Hanover, Jamaica, has won three NCAA DI high jump titles – twice indoors (2023 and 2022) and once outdoors (2022). She’s cleared 1.97m (6-5½) both indoors and outdoors, rating No. =3 all-time indoors and No. =4 all-time outdoors. Her collegiate war chest includes additional clearances at 1.96m (6-5) – outdoors once for a share at the No. 6 all-time performance, plus three times indoors, all equal to No. 10 all-time indoor performance. This is her seventh career Watch List appearance.

Johansson, who hails from Hok, Sweden, makes a special debut – the first on The Bowerman Watch List for any athlete from Nebraska. She won the NCAA DI Outdoor shot put title last year after finishing runner-up indoors and third in 2022 outdoors. Her outdoor best of 19.54m (64-1¼) places her No. 2 all-time collegiately, and her indoor best of 19.30m (63-4) rates her No. 3.

Markezich, who hails from Woodinville, Washington, is the reigning NCAA DI steeple champion, clocking 9:25.03 for the No. 3 performance in collegiate history. She lowered her best to 9:17.93 post-collegiately to rate No. 3 as well on the all-time collegiate all-dates list. Earlier this season, she became the No. 2 performer in collegiate history in the 3000 meters at 8:40.42.

Ratcliffe, who hails from Melbourne, Australia, won the NCAA DI hammer title last year while at Harvard with an effort of 73.63m (241-7) to become No. 5 all-time on the collegiate list in that event. Her winning effort was an improvement from 73.11m (239-11) that had also placed her No. 5 all-time collegiately. She is now a graduate student at Georgia.

Rose, who hails from Suffolk, Virginia, won the 800 meters at last year’s NCAA DI Outdoor Championships with a time of 1:59.83 that was her third sub-2 clocking – a collection that is the most in collegiate outdoor history. Additionally, Rose contributed a 1:58.40 split in anchoring the LSU 4×800 team to victory at the 2023 Texas Relays. Indoors, she has bests of 2:00.18 in the 800 and 1:17.58 in the 600 yards – No. 4 and No. 2 all-time, respectively, on the all-time collegiate lists. This is her second career Watch List appearance.

Smith, who hails from Clarendon, Jamaica, won the 2023 NCAA DI Outdoor long jump title with the No. 2 collegiate performance all-time at 7.08m (23-2¾). She registered another memorable performance in the same meet, taking second in the triple jump at 14.54m (47-8 ½), making her No. 2 collegiately all-time. Indoors, she was second in the long jump and third in the triple jump at the NCAA Championships, moving to No. =6 and No. 5 collegiately all-time, respectively. This is her third career Watch List appearance.

Valby, who hails from Tampa, Florida, crushed the collegiate indoor record in the 5000 meters last month, chopping 16.11 seconds off the mark with a time of 14:56.11, the first sub-15 performance in collegiate history, including outdoors. Valby won the 5000 meters by nine seconds in June at the NCAA DI Outdoor Championships. She also won the NCAA Cross Country Championships in November by 12.5 seconds, a performance that is not considered for The Bowerman, which is based solely on collegiate track & field achievements.

Wiley, who hails from Huntington, Indiana, was unbeatable last year in NAIA Championship track & field competition, winning six individual titles – four indoors and two outdoors. At the NAIA Indoor Championships, she contributed 42.5 team points in a four-hour span for the Foresters as she added the anchor leg to the winning distance medley relay squad. A week after the NAIA Outdoor Championships, she lowered her 1500-meter PR by 9.31 seconds to 4:03.22 in becoming the No. 2 collegian all-time behind only 2009 The Bowerman winner Jenny Barringer’s CR of 3:59.90. During post-collegiate racing last summer she added bests of 3:59.17 in the 1500 and 1:57.64 in the 800, moving to No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, on the collegiate all-time, all-dates lists.

Willis, who hails from Stevens Point, Wisconsin, became the first collegian with multiple indoor sub-2:00 times in the 800, winning last year’s NCAA Indoor Championships in 1:59.93 after clocking 1:59.95 in February. The only faster collegian indoors is 2021 The Bowerman winner Athing Mu at 1:58.40. Willis earned two victories in the meet, running the third leg (800) of Stanford’s distance medley relay team, which recorded the fastest time ever at high altitude (10:56.34). This is her second career Watch List appearance.

Five athletes received votes from The Bowerman Watch List Committee but fell outside the Top 10: JaMeesia Ford of South Carolina, McKenzie Long of Ole Miss, Hana Moll of Washington, Maia Ramsden of Harvard and Juliette Whittaker of Stanford.

The next women’s Watch List is scheduled for February 7.